The bags are packed, besides a few last-minute items that will be squeezed in. The apartment is clean, everything that can be turned off and unplugged is so, the cat’s water and food bowls are full, the plants are well watered. While gone, my mother will be coming in to take care of the cat and plants. Usually, a friend helps but mom owed us one this time. We tend to try to travel light although, as we get older, this seems a bit heavy to us. When we were living in Germany, we would come to vacation in America with no more than one backpack each and that was enough for two weeks. Travel fever is upon us, it is time to go.