Category Archives: Travel

What Time Is It?

March 13, 2026Family, Slice of Life, Travelonathought

This slice is part of the March Slice of Life Challenge on Two Writing Teachers! #sol26. I’m slicing every day in March. Thanks for stopping by!

I am not what you would call
great
at what I call
calendar math.
I mean, I can teach it well.
Don’t worry about that.

But ask me how many days or hours until something and I’ll do some,
what some people have called,
crazy math.

“Well, 1:15 to 2:15, 2:15 to 3:15, 3:15 to 4:15…” I’ll say as I hold up my fingers. Knowing full well that I could also do 4-1.
I just really want to feel the cycle of that hour, I guess. It needs the X to X verbal cue and a little circle gesture.

It has taken me months to remember that when my daughter talks to her boyfriend in Japan, he’s saying good morning and she’s saying goodnight. We wake up on Saturday but I can find out if his team won their Saturday night game. What!?!

One time I made a joke asking if he could time a flight to Japan so that he could celebrate his birthday twice. My kids rolled their eyes at me, but he said, “Actually that happened once when I was a kid…”

I think it’s like magic, to be honest.

So when it’s time to change the clocks?
Not my favorite.
Not because I have to change many actual clocks anymore… but it’s just so mind bending to me.
For days I’ll say things like “Well, it would really be 8, but it’s 9, but it feels the 8, right?”

So imagine how I felt when I realized that our road trip to Florida was going to have us cross time zones just hours before the clocks changed.

As we drove closer and closer to our destination, I kept watching the clock on my phone, waiting for it to jump.
Finally it did. But it was so confusing.

What was 4:00 became 3:00, but in just a few hours that 3:00 would become 4:00 again, which would feel regular, but back home it would be … 5:00? Wait. Is there a diagram for this?

And what about those calls to Japan? It had been a 14 hour time difference, but then it became a 15 hour time difference for just a bit, then it went back to 14 hours. But back home, after the time change, I think it’s 13 hours?

“15 hours!” My daughter said it was the longest time difference they had had so far.

My son said, Well once you go past a 12 hour time difference, it sounds like it’s a bigger difference but it’s really a smaller difference because it’s getting closer to 24 hours which is no big deal because then you are just like a day different, but the time is pretty close. Like who cares if it’s Monday here and Tuesday there if it’s 8:00 am in one place, and 7:00 am in the other?

I tried to understand, I did. But I decided that if I am going to understand that, it won’t be after 10 hours in the car.

Once we unpacked, as we were trying to decide on timings and schedules, someone asked about the time change again.

“You gotta spring back!” I said, and my kids looked at me disappointedly. As they should have.

They yelled at me.

“Mom! You spring FORWARD! Maybe you shouldn’t be in charge of our schedule.”

And that’s what long road trips do to my already calendar-confused brain.

This Is The Dog That We Love

March 12, 2026Family, Pets, Slice of Life, Travelonathought

This the dog that we love.

This is the bottle
That was chewed by the dog that we love.

This is the birthday bandana
That sits by the bottle
That was chewed by the dog that we love.

This is the picture of the dog
That wore the bandana
That sits by the bottle
That was chewed by the dog that we love.

This is the beach
That we were on getting the picture of the dog
That wore the bandana
That sits by the bottle
That was chewed by the dog that we love.

This is the book
That I read while I sat at the beach
That we were on getting the picture of the dog
That wore the bandana
That sits by the bottle
That was chewed by the dog that we love.

This is my family
That listened to me talk about the book
That I read while I sat at the beach
That we were on getting the picture of the dog
That wore the bandana
That sits by the bottle
That was chewed by the dog that we love.

These are some of the people we love
That helped my family
That listened to me talk about the book
That I read while I sat at the beach
That we were on getting the picture of the dog
That wore the bandana
That sits by the bottle
That was chewed by the dog that we love.

This is the dog
That loves these people that we love
That helped my family
That listened to me talk about the book
That I read while I sat at the beach
That we were on getting the picture of the dog
That wore the bandana
That sits by the bottle
That was chewed by the dog that we love.

This is my prayer
That I’m sending the dog
That loves these people that we love
That helped my family
That listened to me talk about the book
That I read while I sat at the beach
That we were on getting the picture of the dog
That wore the bandana
That sits by the bottle
That was chewed by the dog that we love.

I’m Driving.

March 11, 2026Family, Slice of Life, Travelonathought

I am driving. And I am writing in my head because what else can you do when it is dark and all the kids are sleeping?

So I am writing.

And skipping from song to song on my shuffled playlist, wondering why there are no good songs.

And I am lying to myself at every exit sign… telling myself I’ll just wait for a good place to stop and make a hotel reservation, and maybe write this for real.

Finally after an hour and a half I think to myself, “The next exit with a few choices that I can see, I will stop there!”

And a minute later, I see the Sheetz sign.

And even though we are still like 8 hours from home, I feel like we are close.

The kids wake up, and we buy weird late night sandwiches. Then we go between groggy silence and ridiculous conversation as I make a hotel reservation, and write this.

“Are you okay?” My daughter asks me?

“Yea. I’m just writing my slice,” I say, because in March… in March I have my priorities.

I mean, hours ago I made my daughter take a picture of the truck in front of us because it said TWT and I felt it was a reminder to write and post…on Two Writing Teachers!

We Are At the Beach.

March 10, 2026Family, Pets, Slice of Life, Travelonathought

We are at the beach.
We are busying ourselves here at the beach.
Trying hard to think only positive thoughts about our Finn.
Watched a funny movie all snuggled in my bed last night.
Worked out this morning, then the pool.
In between we sat in the sun of the rental’s backyard.
I told the kids to pretend for a minute that they believe in intention setting and energy.
We sat and just thought about Finn.
We imagined ourselves next to him in his doggy hospital bed.
We imagined seeing him healthy in a few days, wagging his tail like nothing had happened.
I can’t speak for the kids, but I imagined petting his soft soft ears.
And I told him very lovingly but sternly that the people he is with are taking care of him. He might not be having fun but he needs to do everything they tell him to do, and then we will see him soon.
After he gets better, he can run around and play with his best friend.
His best friend’s person visited him today.
He wagged his tail so hard his bandage flung across the room.
She snuggled him and pet his soft, soft ears.
She told him that the people he is with are taking care of him. She told him he can come play as soon as he’s all better.
We spent the last few hours on the sand.
The kids took a walk.
I read.
I gazed at the turquoise water.
I told the little birds that landed next to me to please send some prayers to Finn.
We are at the beach.
I kept repeating it to myself.
We are at the beach.
We are at the beach.