Road Trips & Margins

These last six weeks have been full of doing in-person care, so I have been on the road. I do love a good road trip to see new places and to meet new people.

I was debriefings a family of with four teenagers and asked them, “How many beds do you think you’ll sleep in before heading back to their host country?” They thought for a moment and one of the teens came up with maybe 10 beds and the rest of the siblings agreed. I shared with them that in that past week, Wednesday to Wednesday, I had slept in four beds.

This constant change in mobility can start to cause tiredness and possibly weariness. I use to always work steadily until it was time to go and then stress out and hurry to pack everything and leave on time. Then I would usually come back hitting the ground running. This would usually lead to weariness and not just a normal tiredness.

As a member care caregiver, I have taught many people about planning margin around both ends of when there is travel whether one small trip, a big trip, or constant travel like when on furlough and going around to churches to share and seeing family and friends in order to have a life-giving rhythm. These last six weeks, I have been intentional in creating margin on both sides of each one of my travels which has been such a life-giving rhythm. It has given me space to be able to stay in the present and then time to pivot to the next thing in front of me to put my hand too.

Do you intentionally create margin on both ends of your travel?

I am packing my suitcase once again, getting ready to provide care for two different families and this quote comes to my mind.

“Packing your suitcase for a trip and packing up a life are

distinctly different. In the one, you put clothes and necessities,

in the other, you pack your heart. Exposed and

vulnerable, your heart sits in the suitcase and even

the most benign action can damage it.”

--Worlds Apart A Third Culture Kid Journey

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