COUNTDOWN!

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Hi Friends!  We’re just two days away from our grand departure!

It’s hard to believe this is all coming together.

  • We’ve packed, unpacked, re-evaluated, packed again, removed one of everything, reconfigured and packed again.  We’re traveling light.  
  • We’ve purchased international currency
  • We had our home professionally cleaned
  • We’ve purchased the necessary arctic wear so we survive the Yukon.  I hear it’s -26 today
  • We’ve handed our bunny Memphis off to her caretaker, the first of three sad, but temporary, partings.
  • I’ve handed off my responsibilities at work as much as I could.  I like my job and am shocked to find myself sad to leave it behind for a bit.  Not so sad that I wouldn’t go, but still a little reflective and appreciative.
  • We’ve been vaccinated for everything from rabies to yellow fever.

And finally, most importantly, we’ve managed to remain healthy and injury-free long enough to make it to this day.  Given the frequency in which I use power tools, that is a feat unto itself.

In the two years that we’ve been planning this trip I’ve always just assumed something would get in the way.  I’d fall down the stairs (again);  we’d lose our pet care plan or my work would ask me to stay; or we’d have some unforeseen disaster rip this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity from our hands.  My mind just naturally leans in the direction of catastrophic barriers to overcome.  I think it’s what makes me a good project manager.  I’m always looking out for the next obstruction to bob-or-weave around.

Surprisingly enough, the closest I’ve come to staying in the US for four months was when I temporarily misplaced my passport.  If you ever need a jolt of pure, unfiltered adrenalin, just plan an around-the-world odyssey, put your most important document someplace “special” that’s different than where you’d typically place very important documents, and then promptly forget where that “special” place is.

Within seconds of the realizing that my passport wasn’t were I usually put important things, I escalated from calmly composed into complete and utter panic.  My heart free-fell from my chest into my stomach;  my body began to tingle and my rational mind drained completely into a big knot in my throat.  Running on pure instinct, I recklessly tore through my carefully organized backpack, dumping it on the bed, and then began contemplating the fastest way to do the same to those 25 boxes I packed up from the house and put into storage.

All I could think of in that moment was how, after all this planning, one stupid mistake was what would going to prevent me from leaving the country.

In the end I found my passport smartly tucked among the clothes I’ve already laid out for the day of travel.  It was actually quite clever of me to place it with my travel clothes.   The trick is to remember that I was being clever.

So now, with just two days left, my top priority is getting in as much snuggle time as possible with my two remaining fur babies.  Next time you hear from me, I’ll officially be an international traveler!

 

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