The countdown has begun, and with it, an inner tingling that consists of a cup of anticipation with a tablespoon of fear, a couple of tablespoons of anxiety, a teaspoon of worry, and a good measure of disbelief. The next time i lay down in a bed, i will be in Bangkok.

I comprehend the words and can even imagine the bed, but, really, i still don’t understand time travel. Right now, it’s dinner time in Bangkok, and i will arrive way past my bedtime tomorrow. International travel is a real miracle.

At this moment, i am here, at home, listening to my sweetie sigh in his sleep. Home: where life is familiar.

And very, very soon, i launch into the unfamiliar.

Okay, okay. I give up.

Trying to fit everything into a carry-on roller bag was like putting on a girdle. Oh, i could do it if i were only taking clothes. There’s not many of them. It’s the hostess gifts and the books that put me over the top and into the check-your-bag size piece of luggage.

A trip to the nearby Vermont maple syrup store yielded 2 ounces of maple syrup in glass maple leaf bottles. How cute is that! Maple hard candy and maple taffy! I’m a sucker for local products, including the hand-painted Vermont magnets with fall foliage and white birch trees.

And books! I mostly take paperbacks that i can leave wherever i finish reading them. I’ve been collecting a stash of my favorite mysteries set in Laos, starring Dr. Siri, a 73-year-old Communist (and only remaining doctor in the country in 1975), who has been assigned as coroner of the country due to his irreverence.

So i’m checking my bag with hopes of seeing it again upon arrival in Bangkok.