For a family that didn’t travel a whole lot when I was growing up, we have certainly made up for it in the past half-dozen years: Ryan spent a semester at St. Andrews in Scotland, Aaron, Andrew, and Rebecca all spent significant amounts of time with YWAM in Panama, and Mom and Dad (and Ryan, too, come to think of it) took at least one trip down there to visit them. Oh, and Rebecca went to China with YWAM while she was doing her DTS, too. Which leaves one person in the family who has yet to leave the country: little ol' me. The grief I get is multiplied when you realize I’m married to a missionary kid who spent time in Indonesia.

But today is the first start in just a little change in that regard; I got travel booked to go to Montreal for a week in May for a industry committee meeting. Now, in some senses, Canada shouldn’t even really count; it’s not that far away, they mostly speak the same language, I mean, come on, it’s Canada. But since a) the ridiculous US Gov’t now requires a passport to travel there (well, technically, just to come home, but, yeah) and b) I’m going to Quebec, where they speak French, well, I’ll reluctantly count it as an out-of-country experience.

I got an automated email from the company’s travel agent reminding me that I would need the passport when traveling internationally, and they linked me to the US Dept of State’s page on traveling to Canada, which I dutifully visited. I did find this bit regarding traffic to be amusing:

Highway 401, from Detroit to Montreal, is one of the busiest highways in North America. It has been the scene of recurrent, deadly traffic accidents due to sudden, severe and unpredictable weather changes, high rates of speed, and heavy truck traffic. There have been numerous incidents involving road racing and dangerous truck driving, which have caused injuries to Americans. Drivers tend to be aggressive, often exceeding speed limits and passing on both sides, and police enforcement is spotty.

Somehow, that doesn’t sound too different from interstates I’ve been on in the US. Still, I’ll probably stay off 401. :-)

The trip isn’t for a month yet, so I’ve got plenty of time to obsess over the little details that tend to drive my nerves crazy. I’m sure it won’t be that bad… I just like to have my bases covered.