Life is a funny thing sometimes.

If you read my book, The Highway and Me and My Earl Grey Tea, perhaps you remember a time when I drove to Nashville, met up with my cousin Jason, and we stayed in a mansion with the Sells, a couple I didn’t know. When I asked Jason how he managed to snag such a swanky place for us to stay, he said, “My roommate’s friend has rich parents.”

Unbeknownst to me at the time, that was the closest I came to the place I’d end up living.

Jason’s “roommate’s friend who has rich parents” turned out to be a guy named Stephen Sells who, along with his wife Annie, toddler Daniel, and newborn baby Hannah, became my friends too once I moved here.

One evening I was hanging out at their house when Stephen out of the blue said, “we have all this time off work, and we’re thinking of renting a camper and taking a road trip out west. What do you think? You’ve done a lot of traveling.”

“I mean, it sounds like a good idea to me,” I said. It took me a bit to piece together the context, but essentially, with Annie’s maternity leave, Stephen’s paternity leave, and baby Hannah’s remarkable propensity to remain calm in most circumstances and sleep through the night, they’d started daydreaming travel plans.

“The other thing is…is there any chance you’d want to come with us?” Stephen asked.

“I’ll have to think about it,” I said. I genuinely wasn’t sure how serious he was.

As the topic was never brought up again, I assumed the plans were scrapped. That is until Wednesday morning, when I received the following text from Stephen:

This time, I felt like I immediately knew my answer: if I could afford it, then yes.

I don’t know…it’s Iceland! How can you say no to Iceland?

So I drove over to the Stephen and Annie’s place that afternoon, and the three of us sat in front of a computer screen and planned out logistics. Tickets! Lodging! Food! Can I afford this?

We started looking at camper van rentals. All three of us were really into the idea of tootling around Iceland in a camper van, cooking our own meals and saving money on lodging. But there were limited options on such short notice, and eventually we were stuck between:

Option A⁠ – a simpler van that sat five, but three of the five seats were up front, meaning no adult could be in the back with the kids

Option B ⁠– a slightly more expensive van with more amenities, but that had a manual transmission

Stephen likes driving and would prefer to do it, but is very dubious about his skills driving a manual transmission. I, on the other hand, should know how to drive a manual because I learned when I was sixteen, and every summer I end up having to drive a manual pickup on the farm, but even with all that I still have an embarrassing propensity to stall on that initial release-the-clutch-push-in-the-accelerator transition, and I always struggle to get the vehicle in third gear without accidentally going into fifth gear.

And besides, I don’t like driving, despite my inclination to drive nine hours to Ohio to visit my cousins and such.

But we eventually settled on the manual. “I’ll figure it out by the third day at least,” Stephen insisted.

I had to leave around 5 pm, but by the time I left we’d agreed to go for it. Stephen and Annie bought tickets that night. We were scheduled to fly out on Saturday…in a mere three days!

Thursday, I went on an expedition to buy Trip Pants. I almost never wear pants, as I’ve worn skirts all my life and think they’re much more comfortable, easier to fit, and suit my style more. But as I contemplated living for ten days in a camper van in Iceland, packing everything (including bedding) into a carry-on, the obvious solution was to wear the same basic thing every day, changing out undergarments and such. And the obvious item of clothing I needed was a pair of basic pants that would keep my legs warm and dry in the wet winds of Iceland.

So I went to a thrift store and tried on:

A pair that was comfortable but uglyTwo pairs that were too smallA pair that was perfect except the legs were four inches too short, and I can’t stand the feeling of thatA pair with pant legs so long they dragged on the groundTwo pairs that were tight on the lower leg, a feeling I can’t stand

Finally I found a pair that was decent in all respects except it was too loose around the waistband. So I spent an extra dollar for a pink-and-white striped belt. But seriously…how do normal worldly people ever find pants that fit, are comfortable, and look cute? Baffles me.

Meanwhile, Stephen Sells texted all his friends to see if any of them had a car with a manual transmission he could practice on. He ended up with this thing.

Friday I did a last-minute run to Walmart to buy melatonin, a sleep mask, fleece-lined leggings, and a bunch of random food items. Then I crammed everything into my carryon.

Today, Saturday, has been a scattered day so far, full of a bunch of little one-to-two-hour time segments before our long flight to Iceland.

Step one: meet up and Stephen and Annie’s to pack everything up.

Step two: drive to Nashville

Step three: Spend a few hours with Stephen’s parents at a new mansion in Nashville (they recently moved from the mansion I wrote of in my book).

Step four: Get Stephen’s parents to drive us to the Nashville airport

Step five: Fly to Atlanta

Stephen and Daniel (the toddler) sat on one side of the aisle, with me, Annie, and Hannah, on the other. One poor stranger had to sit in the middle of us, as you can see in the photos below.

Step six: layover in Atlanta

Step seven: fly to JFK

Step eight: layover in JFK

And then finally, the flight to Iceland!

Currently, we are on step six, slightly delayed and hoping we don’t miss our connecting flight. So far we’ve survived:

Somebody accidentally leaving their phone behind when they boarded the airplaneSomebody throwing a temper tantrum

Nevertheless, we are undaunted, we found solutions, and onward we go!