Travelling with your mom - excerpts from the movie

Setting: the taxidriver picks us up at the hotel to take us to the car rental.

Taxi driver: So you are Teresa?

Me: eh, Thessa?

Taxi driver: Right, like I said, Teresa. I'm here to take you to the airport. Shall I bring your bags to the car?

The taxi driver brings our bags to the car.

Taxi driver: wow, that's a lot of bags! Are you bringing all your belongings?

I smile politely. The taxi driver now sees my mom next to me.

Taxi driver: Oh, I see you've brought your older sister!

I smile politely, brace myself for the next 30 minutes in the car.

Setting: mom and me in the car driving through the mountains of Tongariro National Park. Every view is more spectacular than the previous one. My iPod is playing 'Stand by me' from the acceptable-songs-with-mom-in-the-car-playlist. We both sing along. Simon & Garfunkel, Acda & de Munnik, more golden oldies are yet to come. I know she will love the Nina Simone one. Mom is concentrating very hard on the road. I'm the one driving, but she's a bit of a control freak. She tries making a picture with her new digital camera, like I asked her to. She lays it on the dashboard and points it at the sky instead of at the road, pushes the button. Click. I look at the sky. It will be a nice picture.

Me: We are two lucky bastards, aren't we, mom?
Mom: Lucky yes, but bastards no.

I say it at least once every day. Her answer is always the same.

Setting: motel reception

Context: searching frantically for a motel, my mom & me enter the minuscule village of Hawera only to find all the motels without vacancy. The only hope left is the one motel we can't find. We drive around the village for 30 minutes, entering it, exiting it, turning around, and repeating this a number of times. We both get irritated. Some bad words are said, blame is laid. Finally we find the place, mom goes in to ask for a room, then waves from the reception for me to come in: they have a room.

Motel owner lady: Hi! .....Yes, I do have a room, but it's a double bed. You will have to share it with your mother

Me: that's no problem, I've done it before

Motel owner lady laughs hysterically at this, though it wasn't a joke. I smile along.

Motel owner lady: how old are you?

Me (suddenly stopped laughing): .....thirty....something

Motel owner lady: really? Wow!! I wouldn't have said that at all!

Me (thinking): well, you would if you could see all the grey hairs I managed to pull out during this vacation!

Me: Thank you, that's very nice to hear!

Motel owner lady: so you're travelling with your mom?

Me (filling in the motel form): yes, I am

Motel owner lady: oh, that's just so lovely. I would loved to have done something like that with my mother if I had ever had the chance.

I look up at my mom, who has the same look on her face as me. Guilt.