For the last three years, I have been spending my two-week spring break in Chicago, visiting my grandmother, who recently turned 94. I have a lot of extended family in the area as well, and it’s been great to spend time with my cousins and aunts and uncles, and my mom who flies up from Florida to spend time with us while I’m there. It’s been great.
This was my plan for this year as well, and it worked well with the initial timing of the expedition, which was planned to start at the end of April. But just as I was getting ready to buy my tickets to Chicago, Cory, the researcher I will be working with, emailed to let me know the dates had been moved up, and we would now be spending the majority of my spring break in the field. I felt a little disappointed, as it meant less time with my grandma and less opportunity to interact with my students from the field, since they would be on vacation. But I’m really excited about taking part in the expedition, and so glad that I’ll still have time to spend with my grandma before I get to Alaska. And she’s excited for me to have this opportunity as well.
Even better, I’ll also be able to stop in Chicago for one night on the way back to Basel. It means flying through the night in order to have two full days there, and going back to work with severe jet lag, but it will be worth it to spend more time there. I’ll also be able to share my experience with her immediately after it finishes, showing her pictures and telling her stories about what I’ve done, as she doesn’t have access to the internet, so she won’t be able to follow along in real time.
This trip will combine work and play. Work hard, play hard is a good motto to live by. I’m just not sure that most people would consider economy seats, crankiness and fatigue to be “playing hard”, but they don’t know what they’re missing.
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