Here Goes Nothing…

For those that are newer to the blog or those that have forgotten about my nomadic years of 2007-2009, I am a huge travel enthusiast and have made most major life decisions in order to see more of the world including: my profession, opportunities to work abroad and a spouse that is just as willing as I am to go someplace new. Over the years I sharpened my traveling skills, specifically my packing skills, narrowing down exactly what to pack so only the necessities were brought along and no space was wasted. A weekend required a small tote, a three week trip to Asia could be managed in a carry on. Packing for a trip was and still is one of the few skills I bring to my marriage. 

However, after having two beautiful kids my relationship with packing has changed significantly. If packing was a battle of space and efficiency I would definitely be losing. With kids you have to pack everything... and I mean EVERYTHING (I am pretty sure I packed the entire contents of Oskar’s room for our first trip abroad.) Unfortunately this is something no one warns you about and something you truly can’t appreciate or comprehend until you are stuck packing for a weekend trip with your newborn baby.

A few months ago, my friend Anjulee highlighted this issue after trying to pack for a weekend trip with her 10 month old daughter Lilah.  Her comment: forget Dr. Seuss’s Oh the Places You Will Go, one of us should write a book about all of the shit you have to pack when you travel with kids.  I made a mental note and began jotting down ideas and my formalizing my normal packing list.  Over Thanksgiving weekend the ideas officially formed into a rhyme/book and what started out as basic musing turned into a fully baked idea. 

And today I officially submitted my book to Chronicle Books to see if they are interested in illustrating and publishing my children’s book (for adults).  Chronicle Books is a local publishing house and have published some of my favorites including: All My Friends Are Dead and Goodnight Goodnight Construction Site.  And even better, they are one of the few publishing houses that accept unsolicited books. Due to this, I will only get a response if they like the book and their review process can take up to six months.  So stay tuned!  And if I don’t get a response, I plan to publish the book here in July!