I’ve been tasked with organising my family’s new year’s get-together. Ordinarily, this would be mildly to my displeasure – personally, I’m not that into the whole thing. But this year, I’m feeling kind of into it. Why? Because I’m also in charge of organising the annual meet-up for the archaeology club that I’m a member of. My plan is to bring together the two events, thereby halving the level of planning required and doubling my store of excuses for dipping off when I get tired of one or the other.
I realise that this all sounds a tad cheeky. In my defense, you should know that my whole family are archaeology buffs, either working in the field or involved in some academic capacity. How else do you think I ended up being a member of an archaeology club? Anyway, they’re all going to go nuts for the idea, which should win me extra sneaking off points.
I’m thinking of situating the whole affair in Lorne. Accomodation near the beach, beers on the rooftop… who’s going to complain about that? The one thing I need to keep in mind is how to keep the two events at least somewhat distinct from one another. As in, I’d like some big apartments – maybe a penthouse suite – for the family to do it’s thing in, and a conference room for the official archaeology shenanigans. The conference venues in regional Victoria that we’ve used in the past have incorporated accommodation, and I suppose that’s what I’m looking for this time too. So there might be some cross-over between family and club times, but I think that’ll be okay
For my part, I’ll probably rock up in my van and sleep down near the beach. That way, I won’t have to worry about deciding sharing an apartment with annoying relatives or annoying club members. Having said that, looking at some of the accommodation options in Lorne, I may end up bunking in after all. I mean, what the heck. It’s only about once a year that I have to deal with most of these people.