The Stress of Travelling

Not only is sitting in a little seat for hours on end a little stressful but planning the trip can be just as emotionally draining and exhausting.

For the past couple of weeks (since I left home in September really) I've been trying to make the decision about whether or not I should go home for Christmas. I've been considering the cost of a round trip ticket which is ridiculous and how much I would miss being home over the holidays. I was talking with my dad about the cost of the ticket and he said that he would pay for our (my brother's and my) tickets home this one time. So, that issue was quickly put into the "pros" column.

I don't think I would really mind staying here in Scotland for Christmas especially since Greg (that's my brother) would be coming over from Sweden for a few days. I could handle it.

But then, I think about Hilly. For those of you who don't know who Hilly is...well, she's my dog. Not the family dog or my parents' dog, but MY dog. Over the summer I finished raising Hilly for Guide Dogs for the Blind before it was decided that she hadn't made enough progress to continue on to be a Guide. When she was Career Changed (our fancy way of saying she failed Guide Dog Puppy Training) I jumped at the opportunity to make her a permanent part of my family. In short, she's my forever dog; my heart puppy. Unfortunately, bringing a dog with you to University is hard enough when you're just on the other side of the country let alone half way across the world. So, because I know that it was better for her, I left her with my dad and step-mom. I'll be honest, every time I think about not seeing her over this Christmas...I get sad enough to cry.

Now, I've been talking with my brother about what he wants to do and I made the decision that I would stay if he decided to stay so that he would have family. I was talking with him today and he said that he had decided to stay. He doesn't like flying and flying over for only 10 days and then turning around and flying back is stressful. So, I too decided that I would stay and we would spend Christmas together.

Then I found out that my father was getting excited about seeing both of us this Christmas. Way back in September I said that I wouldn't be able to come back for both Christmas and summer break because of the cost of the ticket...but my dad is now offering to pay for the ticket. And I would get to see Hilly and spend some time with some more puppies.

I really want to see Hilly again and if I wait until summer it will have gone almost a year without seeing her. This is getting so stressful! Shouldn't it just be as easy as saying "yes" or "no" and be done with it?