On the road again...
“It’s been 4 months...“ Am I rusty?
“It’s like riding a bike, you never forget how...” True, the pedaling and balancing and steering, you don’t forget. Other things? 
Looking out for traffic, navigating toward your destination, sticking to you side of the road, passing protocols... those, you forget.
After being grounded for 4 months, providing virtual trainings and clinical support from the comfort of my couch, last week I got to hit the road again to teach my first in-person class. While packing my training bag the night before the trip I tried to ignore the butterflies in my gut and focus on the task at hand: the same, but different. I had done this hundreds of times before, but this time I removed all the “just in case” training materials from my bag, and this time not to meet an airline's weight limit for my bag... I was driving to this one! No, the fewer items I carry, the fewer I will have to disinfect after class. The bag felt weirdly too light as I carried it down the stairs and tossed it into my car. .
Back upstairs, I packed my separate “infection control bag. Mask, Lysol spray, disinfectant wipes, faces shield, change of clothes, gloves, hand sanitizer. Extra plastic bag for “dirty” items that go straight in the washer when I get home. 
That’s a LOT of prep for a 3-hour class. What did I forget? (Spoiler alert: I forgot to gas up my car... if you don’t go anywhere, gas is not an issue!) Switch my toll tag to the “work” one. Set my alarms (how much wiggle room do I need for the drive?) Get to bed, I have an early wake-up for the first time in months (how did I ever leave home at 4 to catch a 6am flight??)
My first alarm went off and I hit snooze (‘s ok, I set plenty... first-day-of-school jitters). Shower, dress, head down to the car. Ugh. 
Empty tank! That’s why I build in extra time. Gas up. Hit the road “for real” this time. Waze day my ETA is 9:15am. Waze is a liar. Dead standstill on the Hutch. New ETA 10:15, text the site. Standstill lets up. New ETA 9:45. Not bad! Twist and turns on the Taconic, miss my turn, no cell signal. Reroute myself, new ETA 10:00. Made it!.
The teaching part was easy. It’s like riding a bike, you never forget how. The navigation, not so much. Left home at 7am, returned at 4:45pm (traffic??) for a 3-hour class. And forgot to plan for needing a bathroom, it’s been too long since I’ve been on the road!