Trekking

I have been looking forward to driving cross country almost as much as I have been looking forward to moving to San Francisco. I have been planning on leaving on the 18th or 19th of August. Driving the Southern route, stopping to visit friends in Atlanta, Austin, and Los Angeles, then driving up the coast into San Francisco. In between the stopovers to visit friends, I hoped to visit New Orleans, Sedona, the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas...

And I hoped to do all of this with one of my friends. Because we don't get to see each other enough. And because this friend has always wanted to take this trip, too. And because this friend is one of the few people with whom I can sit in a car for a week and not kill. And because this friend doesn't have a job and doesn't have to worry about taking vacation.

But now this friend can't go. And I've asked someone else, but it doesn't seem like that friend can go, either. And I know I'm taking this all wrong, but it's starting to feel like a personal rejection.

I know everyone has work, but doesn't everyone have a boss like mine? Am I the only person who is allowed to dip into negative vacation time? Who doesn't work flex time these days? Can't everyone just load up on 10 and 12 hour days for the next two weeks to compensate for being out of the office for a week? Doesn't everyone have the "freedom" to work from anywhere? They do give you laptops and cell phones and crackberries, right? Don't you find it impossible to leave your job at the office anyway? Surely you can work during the trip - I plan on plugging in at night!

Luckily, I have Old Roommate to keep things in perspective. She reminded me that most people in DC do work strict schedules: 8:30 am to 5:30 pm without much more than two or three weeks vacation that must be booked well in advance. They don't all have laptops and crackberries. Luckily, she pointed out, I'm not likely to run into this problem once I make friends in San Francisco.

So, I have asked one more friend. And I've lowered the companionship requirements from DC to SF down to Austin, TX to Los Angeles, CA. Fingers crossed...