Who To Visit While Visiting?

I'm on vacation at the moment in St. Pete. I already had dinner with the one person I know here, but it made me think - Who to visit while on vacation?

Now, if you haven't any friends or family who wants to see you, skip down to the pitch to buy Not The Trip We Planned. Otherwise, you may have been faced with this dilemma.

This question doesn't pop up when I’m in Europe because I only have one friend in London. It certainly wasn't a question when I was in Italy (although I wish I had friends or family there) And I don’t know anyone in Mexico or Costa Rica, so I can relax when I vacation in those spots. But, when I go to New York, Chicago or Boston, I’m in trouble. Significant bits of my life (translation: people) have remained in those cities. What if I have too many important people to cram into a visit of several days? It's champagne problems today.

'Be careful you' say, don't post photos to Facebook. Right. Do I only tell certain people I’m coming and then walk around like a criminal, afraid I’ll bump into a third cousin who thinks I’m still in D.C.? Or do I organize my time, “Hi cousin Ophelia, I’ll be in NY and have reserved Tuesday breakfast between the hours of 8:30-10 for you, if you can get to the Village.” That's insulting. Even if Ophelia agrees to a quick and expensive bagel, I would be loathe to confess, “Tomorrow my other cousin Rapunzel and I plan a full day wandering the museums" or "please don't mention this to Aunt Gretel. She doesn’t know I’m here and I want to keep it that way." It's tacky. I am many things, but I've never been called tacky - most observations fall into the 'critical', 'judgey' 'acerbic' sphere.

And what about a vacation where I don’t want to see anyone? Is that allowed in Boston, Chicago or New York? Maybe I should just go to Mexico?

I would be hurt if Ophelia never let me know that she was coming to my town. Does time equal love? If it does, I’m screwed.

Everything seems to circle back to time. Is there enough time? Am I using my time in the best way possible? How much time do I have? If it isn't very much, I intend to eat several hotdogs with sauerkraut for lunch.

In March, 2025, Not The Trip We planned was published by Koehler and it describes a visit to Chicago, a place of memories, even though I don't have cousins there. Read it, enjoy it, pass it around and PLEASE review it.