Traveling and Lung Cancer

Traveling with lung cancer is not the easiest feat in the world. I recently attended a lung cancer conference for 3 days. I have 3 animals that are very needy. Therefore, I decided I wanted someone to stay and house sit as well as watch my animals. This allows my animals to still feel the love of another person.

Finding some additional help before my trip

I remembered a girl messaged me through Facebook that dog sat. I couldn't remember her name so was going to post on our island website. Before that happened, like serendipity, she messaged me wanting to come over and do a "meet and greet" with my animals. Although I found this strange, I was desperate and when I met her it seemed like perfect timing. She was helping me as I was running around the house putting things away and explaining to her when to feed and water the animals, their habits, etc.

I also decided to sell some jewelry on the side as a hobby. Honestly, I am not a salesperson but it gets me out of the house. Sometimes I feel so lonely without a job anymore and no human interaction. So, when she wanted to help me do that too because she had a lot of time on her hands, I was so excited. I felt like I met a new friend.

Adjusting to a new environment

My boyfriend and I woke up at 4 a.m. to get ready for our flight. When you are used to getting at least 10 hours of sleep, this was extremely hard. We had a layover in Atlanta and then to our final destination, Washington D.C. My boyfriend hasn't been to Washington D.C. before so we arrived a day early so he could take in so much of the history and building architecture possible.

Of course, I wanted to go with him. I forget to take into account that I have lung cancer and can no longer consistently go like I used too. The air quality isn't great and there wasn't much humidity. Soon enough, my skin was so painful and I desperately needed lotion. I was also at the Washington monument at this point and too exhausted to take the metro back to our hotel. Therefore, I quickly hailed a cab.

Grateful for my time in DC

Over the course of the next few days, we saw so many sites that I never took the time to see out of all the years I've gone. I am grateful I got to see those sites. Washington D.C. is so beautiful at night. Sometimes we get so worried about living, that we forget to take it all in and really live.

The conference went well and was bittersweet because I knew it would be the last time I would see some of my friends. This beast was going to take them, and some of them knew it. I'm glad I went, regardless. There is so much love in this community.

What I came home to...

I arrived home late last evening. Pure exhaustion doesn't even begin to describe how I felt. I actually slept with the lining of an earbud in my ear because I was so out of it.

Upon my arrival, my window was open, the back fence is broken, the litter box is broken, and my entire house rearranged. At this point, I am beyond livid. I began messaging the pet sitter. She thought she was "helping" me by rearranging my house and washing clothes (many of which she shrunk and faded). I am paying her to watch my animals, not run my household. My diary was even out! My diary had been under my bed and was the only thing that was out from under it.

Travel lessons

So, what lessons did I take away from this trip? I have got to get back into shape because it goes quickly. Since I don't work anymore, I'm to stationary.

Also, I will never go with my instinct on a pet sitter because it's obviously horrible. Go online and do research, regardless of how small your town is or how well the family is known. I will be writing my review to warn other people. I spent the entire day trying to fix my house back to the way it was when I left. Sometimes, I don't even want to travel. I hate that my dog gets carsick.