It looks like my next customer trip will be to Maryland for up to three days. Unfortunately, it's about 25 miles away in Maryland which means it's a commute customer. There's a nice bargain mall nearby with Marshall's, Burlington Coat Factory, Payless, and a few specialty clothing shops in it. If I have time, I'll look around.
But next month, I'm scheduled for three days near Richmond. This is about a two-hour drive, so I'll travel down on Monday afternoon and return Friday morning. I will be at my home office Monday morning and possibly Friday afternoon.
This means it will be difficult for me to drive en femme.
But not impossible.
What I need is to schedule it so I can add an hour or two to my trip without being missed. Assuming I can, I have some options:
driving down: if I can do some prep work beforehand (shaving arms and legs for instance), I can change on the way. There is the mall right near my office which has family restrooms, but that might be risky. I can head south and watch for malls. When I pass one, I can scope it out and if it has access I can change there and enjoy the rest of my drive. To do this, I also need to leave early enough that I can shave my face before leaving home and still stay smooth whilst putting on my makeup.
driving back:even if I can't change heading down I'll still scope out malls for a place to change. I can drive partway, change back, and head to the office. This is more certain: I'll be leaving my hotel room dressed so I shouldn't have a problem with early shaving or prep time.
Monday night will be for scoping out the area. If I can't prep before going down, it will also be prep night. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday night will be going out time (if it seems reasonably safe to do so). If not, I'll stay in and video chat if anyone cares to. Maybe I'll finally go to dinner dressed!
But sometimes the project is complicated enough that I have to work late, work back in my room, and not have time for anything else. I'm trying to do as much as I can beforehand, and I'll document everything so I can recreate it there, but if the customer has a different vision than I do, there will be rework and my plans may fall through. For this project, I think there's a 20% chance of Too Much Work.
Before I go, I'll definitely schedule some time to get my haircut, and my neck and eyebrows waxed. And I'll have to figure out some time in the house alone so I can pack for Meg. I try to pack underwear, shoes, makeup, jewelry, etc early and outfits last minute so they don't get wrinkled. And I can pack a suitcase just for Meg and not have to worry about lugging it through the airport. I will pack a minimal male shirt/pants/shoes + makeup remover in Meg's bag so if I do get to check in as Meg, I can just carry in her bag and leave my other stuff in the car until later ~ and I have the option to change first if I need to.
I know, I'm still overthinking things. :)
The good part of this trip is it's far enough that I can stay overnight, close enough that I can drive.
Addendum: As Dani pointed out in a comment yesterday, I could probably find a better picture of my new footwear on the Payless site. I did. Here and here.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
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Talk about specialized skill sets... ah, the life of a crossdresser! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for these glimpses into your planning process.
Potomac Mills Mall and Spotsylvania Mall are both right next to the interstate and would be convenient for you. I am sure they both have family changing rooms.
ReplyDeleteI visited Richmond last year and dressed and when for a drink at the bar at the very upsale Jefferson Hotel down town. Had no problem, actually crashed a wedding cocktail hour and had another drink.
ReplyDeleteGood luck,
carolynn_nelson@hotmail.com