If you follow my twitterings (and, really, why would you?) you’ll have noticed that I’m in the midst of planning a trip to Columbus, Ohio for World Fantasy in October.  You’ll also have noticed that I don’t seem to be enjoying it, and you might just wonder why?

Well, it’s complicated. A portion of it has to do with being a ‘person of size’ to use the South West vernacular. I’m tall and overweight. This means leg room and seat width, especially on long flights, are critical. I’ve spent more than one hideously uncomfortable 14hr trans-Pacific with the edge of a metal entertainment unit digging into my shin and, frankly, I’m never going to do that again.  So I spend too much time obsessing about that.

I also have friends who I see to rarely, and a trip to World Fantasy provides a chance to stop and visit. There’s the Locus crew (Liza, Kirsten, Amelia, Carolyn, Fran, etc), Bob & Karen, EllenK, and others in Oakland/SF, and there’s Gary in Chicago. Visiting either city is very attractive to me, and choosing one over the other is always hard.

And then there’s the airlines, with costs, routes, and other things. I could bore you witless on aspects of luggage, seating preference, etc etc.  They all add up to a lot of decisions, and all of them contribute directly to either making you more comfortable, your trip easier, or make your trip impact on others less.  You get all of that into ny head, and it goes round and round and round. After a while, staying home can seem like the best (easiest) option.

Oh, and I come from a family of worriers. :)