… voting in the June recall election.
one upside to going on a “planning binge” in early April was that by the time we left for Spain on May 4, I had the majority of our lodging planned out. it resulted in a more inflexible schedule for distances that we had to complete every day, but came with significant benefits — at least in my opinion. while traveling open ended certainly has its benefits, I’ve always been more of a planner and take comfort in knowing where I’ll bunk up each night. I’ve had fewer bad experiences with planned lodging than with unplanned lodging, but maybe that’s a question of my inability gauge a place on sight. on this particular journey, I found it far less stressful and emotionally taxing on the days I knew I had a bed to sleep in. even if it turned out to be an uncomfortable mattress with terrible pillows and no climate control or cross-breeze.
another benefit to having places planned out — we were able to have absentee ballots for the recall election sent to us! it took us a couple of days to get postage to return them, but it was a thrill to arrive and ask the woman checking us in (in muddled Spanish) if there was any mail addressed to our attention. and there was! in the end, it looks like they might not have made it back on time to be counted (which is rather despairing) but it was exhilarating to be able to exercise our right to vote from someplace so far away in a period when the shape of our daily lives took a shape so outside the ordinary. it’s one of those times where you feel the scope of your freedom and importance of your voice.
