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It was exactly a week ago, last Monday.

The alarm rang at Six a.m. and I woke up almost mechanically, in an impersonal hotel somewhere in Dallas, near the airport.

Twenty Two hours later I crashed on my comfy bed, in my cozy floating home, exhausted and jet-lagged. I had arrived in Papeete.

Ah, the peculiarities of international travel and time-zone differences.

Been there, done that.

But the similarities between last week’s trip and the ones I used to do in my “previous life” aren’t too many, with one aspect in particular making it very special. It concluded a long period that I have spent full-time with Paulo and Raquel. Five Hundred and Thirty Five days, to be exact.

Never before had I been with them uninterruptedly, for such a long time. From waking up to going to sleep, every day and every single night.

Togetherness was certainly in the mix when we decided to have the life we are having now. But I confess this privilege is definitely more rewarding than I expected. Was I too focused on other aspects of this life – navigation, for instance? Or didn’t I realize then how much I was missing due to the constant, intensive juggling of time and attention that Urban Life demands imposes? I don’t know. It doesn’t matter now. I’m utterly content that I do have such quality time with them.

And now we are away, with Paulo and Raquel spending time with the extended family in Brazil. Loving and being loved. That’s important.

As for me … I am here – here being Papeete, Tahiti, where Pesto is. For the next Six weeks – err, Five weeks now – I will have her all to myself.

And then, there is the To–Do List. Aaaaahhhh, the famous dreaded inter-season To-Do list. A disturbing Eighty Seven items defiantly spreading over Two pages of my logbook. It seems too much to do in Six – err, Five – weeks. It IS too much to be done in Five weeks !

But then, as the saying goes: “Been There, Done That already” 🙂

Have a good week !