Stories Collected While Living in France

French la Vie

Last Minute Madness

Santons
Photography and Text by: Corey Amaro

Our family has a tradition before leaving on a trip. It is called, "Last Minute Madness."
Not only do we wait for the very last minute to pack our bags, we wait for the very last minute before doing nearly everything, anything. This tradition allows us not to sleep the night before leaving.

This trip was no exception.

Our friends (who came to take care of our home while we are gone) think our tradition is borderline insanity. I confirm that it was, but we are not, "Sorry about the brocante things I found this weekend that are invading the dining room table, rendering it impossible to use. The fridge is empty I thought this was a good thing but thinking about it now you might be hungry. There's a bakery on the corner, and a store at the end of the road, and clean sheets and towels are in place in the dryer." I waved my arms as if it were all good.

My friend Nathalie sent me an email,

 "I knew it was madness that made you spend Saturday night with us, and then made you go  brocanting on Sunday, and I knew you were completely crazy to stay until the very end of the fair, meeting friends for a drink when you had a two hour ride home.

But when I heard you went out the next night as well with some bloggers, and got home after one in the morning, well it is hard to believe that you are even some what normal…. "

Last Minute Madness is about living every single minute to the breaking point. It happens to us right before leaving for a trip. It is as if life gets on a freeway with a Maserati! Yes, we were not at home most of the weekend, arriving home Monday at one in the morning, we hadn't packed our bags amongst a few other things. Our ride was picking us up at 5:30 a.m..

Two minutes before we were to catch our ride to the airport. I still had not find my camera lens. I was beginning to panic. I prayed, "Dear Saint Anthony, it is me again, you gotta help me, like right now, please show me where I left my camera lens."

I found it.

St Anthony allows me to keep sane during the Last Minute Madness.

Do you have a crazy tradition?


 

 

Comments

34 responses to “Last Minute Madness”

  1. Lia deKoster

    You are deliciously mad.
    We are taking all our family
    two sons
    daughter and grand daughter
    to Sydney in on Monday, first day of holidays
    I have decided to
    go on a weekend
    Art on painting
    fun girly
    time
    with some kindred spirits
    I have yet to meet
    with a new
    friend.
    I have a plan
    I will be ready
    I know me
    i wont
    i will
    probably
    be
    like
    you…
    doesn’t matter
    let the fun begin
    Just make sure you have tickets and passport and cute boy to travel with
    love to your family
    ciao
    lia

    Reply
  2. Merisi

    Life is so short and precious, and you are right to live if, even if it involves a little (?) madness here and there. Somehow everything takes on a special glow when the moments are stolen from what one “is supposed to do”, isn’t it?
    My last night before moving to Europe the next morning, I had my king size bed packed full with stuff that somehow needed to fit into one suitcase. Four of my friends showed up at 6 pm, started sorting through it. Each of them took a stack of papers or books or other essentials, promising to take it to Europe when they would come visiting, then packed that one last suitcase. Then we all went out to have tapas and a memorable evening was had by all. I don’t remember anymore how I left our house the last time the next morning and my friends are still sitting on my stuff (hello!!!), but I shall cherish the last evening out with them forever.
    Take care, stay well, and enjoy!

    Reply
  3. Marilyn

    Not quite that mad, but the madness is fun. Have a fun, mad trip the whole way. Enjoy new delights and adventures.

    Reply
  4. Karen

    This made me LOL – I can so relate! Bon voyage, Corey …

    Reply
  5. Julie Ann

    Living life is the most important thing & you are such an example ! I worry, plan & project too much ! Safe journey to a wonderful trip , Jx

    Reply
  6. Jo

    For some of us…travel madness rules. For others, well, I envy their ability to plan ahead, but I just can’t seem to reach that higher plane. As long as I have the most important stuff like passport, camera lenses, a book, a couple sets of clothes and undies I’m ready to go. After that, well, if I didn’t pack it, it either wasn’t necessary or I can get it where ever I land. By the time I get out the door, my home looks like its been thoroughly searched for stolen works of art. But that’s how it always is…and every time I return home to the chaos, I promise myself it will be different next time and I will plan ahead…haha! Enjoy your trip Corey!

    Reply
  7. Betty

    Now I know who my daugher was really born to!!! She is just like you. I start a week before the trip, making a long list, marking off as I go and am already the day before. My daughter, on the other hand, is still not quite ready when the car door is closing. One trip we made to Florida we missed our flight because of tardiness. I think its funny reading your blog, but it drives me crazy when it happens at my house. Hope you have a wonderful trip.

    Reply
  8. Holly

    Oh Corey…
    it is so nice to know that I do not live alone in that world!!!

    Reply
  9. marlis

    OOh glad you got it together.. I on the other hand have it all planned out so that if I don’t pack till the last minute (my husband is kin to you) then it’s still not a frantic rush. However, I will go over the list the first hour on the road and realize what I missed.. aah traveling is such an adventure!

    Reply
  10. kim

    Well – I am almost mad but in quite. I don’t pack until the last minute but that never bothers me. However, I start making lists about a week before we leave and then I circle around the list in my little head every day. I probably don’t start actually taking care of things until about two days before departure and I try to keep my cool but sometimes I fail and I have a wee nervous breakdown.

    Reply
  11. Rhonda P.

    I think your crazy tradition sounds like “life” to me. Which is exactly why Saint Anthony comes in handy.
    The closest thing to crazy tradition I can think of is my family trying to get us to the airport going home, they stall, they drive incredibly slow, they act like they hope we miss our plane. Every time, they do this, every time.

    Reply
  12. Susana Stevens

    Hooray for tradition!! This is ours, too! Our feeling is, you can rest and relax when you get there.

    Reply
  13. Christina

    that reminds me when i was a young girl, car packed, all inside and ready for dad to hit the gas… “do you have the passports”? “No, thought you had em”… ugh.
    An hour after searching high and low, we found them, where they where always kept. Why noone looked there first, *shrug*…

    Reply
  14. Amanda May

    My family always cleaned the entire house before leaving on trips. It was a joke amongst my parents’ friends – we would plan to leave in the morning and usually never got out of the house until way past dark (these were all driving travels). I am trying to break that habit. Instead, I clean frantically and then get distracted by something I really must make for this vacation, and spend most of the day doing that, therefore leaving packing to the wee hours of the morning before the taxi comes for the airport. I hear you. It really is last minute madness. The good part is, it makes it that much easier to sleep on the plane!

    Reply
  15. Carrie

    I start getting things ready a week before a big trip–making lists, picking up last minute things–but I have started a new tradition—–I HIRE SOMEONE TO CLEAN MY HOUSE WHILE I AM ON VACATION!!!! Top to bottom…floors scrubbed, carpet shampooed, windows washed…It is heaven to come home from a long vacation with nothing to do but laundry!

    Reply
  16. AnnieElf

    Ya just gotta LOVE St. Anthony. Mom used to check in with him on a regular basis.

    Reply
  17. Everton Terrace

    I think you are right to enjoy every minute regardless of what’s on the plate for tomorrow. I plan, make lists, start packing early etc., then I’m still rushing around like a mad woman at the end anyway. I’m leaving next Friday and I haven’t started yet and it’s making me anxious already.

    Reply
  18. Patt

    I always end up with “best laid plans of men and mice.” I strive for one and end up with the other. I do give myself a A for effort. I would like to give you an early welcome to California.

    Reply
  19. julia

    I prepare my staff after midnight and give it to my husband to pack.And then i pack my bag for the airplane last minut too.
    I have never thought to beg Saint Anthony to help me find last minutes forgotten things, since he is the saint who protects and helps insane people here in Greece :):)
    Have a nice trip

    Reply
  20. Toni Mason

    Corey, We are looking forward to seeing you in California. I am the opposite of you! I make lists, lay out things in the spare room, pack and then sometimes at the last minute repack! Have to leave the house spotless to come home to, and the yard manicured and watered! Safe travels to you and F H. Oh by the way St. Anthony is the best! What a miracle worker!

    Reply
  21. Jenny N

    Knowing this Corey, makes me love you more. I am praying for y’all’s health and sanity while journeying. Any info on Marburger?

    Reply
  22. Tamara

    I was thinking of this just last night. My last-minute tradition happens the night before a surgery, actually. (Also before travel, but last night I just happened to be remembering the pre-surgery tradition.)
    You see, I have had Arthritis since age 6, so I have had a lot of surgeries, over 10 by now!
    The night before I write love letters to everyone in my family. I suppose it seems morbid, but it’s just in case I don’t make it. I started when I had my first surgery at age 16, as I was utterly convinced that for some reason, I was not going to wake up. It’s nice to look back and read those now, even if they’re never given to the intended recipient.
    I usually get a bit (well, quite a bit) nervous the night before a surgery and can’t sleep a wink, so this also gives me something to do with my nervous energy. Before I got married I would also clean the house top to bottom, do all the laundry and hang towels on the curtain rods to block out the light as rest is key for a quick recovery.
    And then the tradition is just somewhat the same when it comes to travel – no I don’t write the letters but I do suffer from insomnia as I am usually overcome with excitement, so I wait til then to pack.
    Bon voyage!
    Tamara

    Reply
  23. Sandy

    Ste. Antoine de Padu aider moi à trouver ce que j’ai perdu.
    I grew up in Quebec City Canada and I used to ask St. Anthony for help on a weekly basis when I was a child. Happy memories were brought back while reading your post.
    Thanks!

    Reply
  24. Victoria Ramos

    Like many of the other ladies who commented earlier — my travel tradition would be on the opposite end of the spectrum than yours…the house has to have been ultra cleaned – me staying home absolutely the night before, I have to plan, pack and repack….and still the outcome is the same as yours — no sleep and freaking out as we run out the door usually forgetting some last minute thing!!!! How can that be??!?!? 🙂 Enjoy your trip girlfriend!

    Reply
  25. Denise Solsrud

    most that i do is somewhat crazy. if this works for you go for it. we each have our own way of living. Bestest,Denise

    Reply
  26. Helene

    I think I am on the other end of the travel-ready spectrum. And I have a great wish to change to a more carefree demeanor. I plan everything ahead, pack early, put myself in charge of all travel arrangements, tickets, transportation, etc. No one else is allowed to do any of this because they might forget something. This is the way it was last Monday when my husband and I were flying home from Denver to Calif. We got to the airport in plenty of time but were still a long way from the gate. Security is always a lengthy, nervous time for us because we have multiple metal body parts (another story). When we finally started out toward our gate I looked at my watch and said OMG we have 10 minutes before our plane leaves. We ran through the airport arriving at the closed gate, no attendant, nothing. I was just about to start pounding on the gangway gate when my ever patient husband said, “It is an hour before our plane is scheduled to leave.” I had misread my watch and caused all that unnecessary panic for nothing. I sat down very chagrined and wouldn’t talk to anyone for the next 45 minutes. Something about my travel angst has to change.

    Reply
  27. yvonne

    If it works don’t fix it. LOL
    yvonne

    Reply
  28. Donna @ An Enchanted Cottage

    St. Anthony is near and dear to me. He has helped me out of many a mess when I have not been able to find something! Glad he had your ear that day! Have a WONDERFUL trip!… Donna

    Reply
  29. Tamra / The Gilded Barn

    I too love a clean house before I leave but my longest tradition is to pack in the smallest suitcase I have no matter how long I’m going to be gone. It makes my family crazy! I just hate to travel with a lot of stuff so I pack as light as possible.
    Two years ago I went to Europe for 3 weeks and took two suitcases. My smallest little travel suitcase with my clothes and then I set it inside my largest one so that I could fill it with fun stuff from the flea markets!

    Reply
  30. Kathie B

    Pre-travel tradition: During the few days preceding departure we do ALL the laundry, so whatever few clothes we decide to take along with us will be clean. In recent years we’ve really cut down on how much we pack — only one carry-on and a tote-bag apiece any more, even on long trips (then we just hand-launder and drip-dry the same few washable garments over and over on the trip).
    Also, make lists beforehand of pre-trip chores to do. First item on my list is always “Make list” — so I can cross one thing off the list right away, which is a great morale-booster when I’m feeling overwhelmed.
    Boa viagem!

    Reply
  31. Sharon, Morrison Mercantile

    I travel the very same way. I can’t stand the anticipation, so I keep very busy with activities until the last hour, then do what you do.
    We are most normal

    Reply
  32. Shelley@thiswhiteshed.blogspot.com

    An old friend of mine hated saying goodbye, so she’d always say ‘See you next Tuesday’, right up till the last time I saw her.
    It was a ‘see you next Tuesday’ we knew would never be, but it felt good and warm and the thread remained unbroken.

    Reply
  33. Birdbrain

    Corey, it’s genetic from the Amaro side. I/We have the same problem. I always arrive at our destination sleep deprived. The only time I had it totally together before a big trip was when we went to pick up Madeleine in China. Somehow knowing a baby would now be totally dependent on me made me put sanity and organization on the top of my “To Do” list. Since then, not so much.

    Reply
  34. Bramble

    Usually can’t sleep the night before leaving, so…spend the night trying to find, remember and pack everything but the kitchen sink. Car comes and takes us to the airport so I can snooze all the way to wherever we are going! Safe travels Corey & Yann!

    Reply

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