Twelve days to go until departure. I'm over the panicked stage of being totally overwhelmed by the unkown and daunting task of itemising and disseminating all of my belongings. I have no idea how this task would've been tackled in the days before the Internet but I'm very grateful that I'll never need to know. All I can say is thank God for Freecycle. And eBay. Lifesavers!
I've rehomed the bulk of my furniture and clothes and am left with both multiple stashes of small sundry items and the two most expensive things I own - my car and my sofas. The multiple stashes will, over the next week, be sorted according to some kind of category system, bagged and offered up on Freecycle under intriguingly vague posts like 'OFFERED: assorted ladies handbags, shoes and boots' of which I've no doubt will attract a number of interested parties. The responses so far have been overwhelming and I've been inundated with emails from people wanting not only the things I've offered online but every conceivable household item. Including the kitchen bin. Incredible!
The car and sofas are proving to be a bigger problem but there is only one way to tackle it as far as I can tell and that's with perseverence. So back onto eBay they go and fingers crossed.
As for the remaining travel preparations, the urgent things like Pakistani and Iranian visas have been obtained while everything else is at the bottom of the priority list. I've got most of the basics - travel vaccinations, malaria pills, backpack, Therma-rest, sleeping bag but still need to get a tent (very important). Naturally, the facilitator of universal provisions (the Internet) will once again be consulted and a suitable tent shall be delivered to my doorstep in due course. No worries!
Finally the administration of closing all my household accounts will be done and it always amazes me how complicated this ends up being. An unpleasant but necessary task that I'll just turn my attention to and zap in half a day next week. Swiftly and painlessly, I hope!
The good news is that I have enough points for an Australian Migrant Visa so I'm assembling all the evidence required for that and am almost ready to send off for my skills assessment by the Australian Computer Society to verify that I qualify before I can submit my Visa application. A headachey amount of paperwork but very nearly all done. I'll be very pleased to get that off in the post.
Tuesday, 25 March 2008
Thursday, 6 March 2008
One Month To Go
Wow! This is it. The long, long, looooong-awaited travelling is finally going to happen. The culmination of a plan hatched a year and a half ago back in October 2006. Realisation: 6 April 2008. The ball is well and truly rolling and there's no turning back. Hoorah!
Today is the end of my last full-time week at work. Over the next 4 weeks, I'll be working 2 or 3 days a week and the rest of the time I'll be working steadily towards selling / rehoming all my possessions, notifying service providers of my intention to leave the UK, making travel preparations, getting vaccinated, applying for visas, arranging shipping - of what?! To where?! Doesnt' sound like much but it's a helluva daunting prospect right now so I'm taking it one step at a time.
So, where am I going? From London. To Sydney. Overland. 7 Months. 32 Weeks. 21 Countries. 22 People...and breeeathe. Feelings right now are a mixture of excitement, anxiety, trepidation and sadness about leaving wonderful friends and a country that has become dear to me in the 14 years that I've lived here...I've just realised - almost to the day! I arrived on 4 April 1994 and I'm leaving on 6 April 2008!
The company I'm going with are called Exploratory Overland Expeditions (EOE) and they were the first, back in 2006, to run a London to Sydney overland trip. I've met Karen and Will, a lovely couple, who run the company and briefly met 14 of my travelling companions. I've also seen The Truck. A huge orange 6x6 converted overlander - I'll see if I can find a pic to post here. Accommodation for the trip will be mostly (about 60%) camping and some hostels or local hotels where camping is not possible. Driving days will be anywhere from 1 to 3 days solid and stationary days will be anywhere from brief overnight stays to 2 weeks. Real grassroots stuff. I'm taking a 60L backpack, a tent, sleeping bag, Thermarest, a couple of books and my yoga mat. That's it. Will let you know how the packing up goes!
Today is the end of my last full-time week at work. Over the next 4 weeks, I'll be working 2 or 3 days a week and the rest of the time I'll be working steadily towards selling / rehoming all my possessions, notifying service providers of my intention to leave the UK, making travel preparations, getting vaccinated, applying for visas, arranging shipping - of what?! To where?! Doesnt' sound like much but it's a helluva daunting prospect right now so I'm taking it one step at a time.
So, where am I going? From London. To Sydney. Overland. 7 Months. 32 Weeks. 21 Countries. 22 People...and breeeathe. Feelings right now are a mixture of excitement, anxiety, trepidation and sadness about leaving wonderful friends and a country that has become dear to me in the 14 years that I've lived here...I've just realised - almost to the day! I arrived on 4 April 1994 and I'm leaving on 6 April 2008!
The company I'm going with are called Exploratory Overland Expeditions (EOE) and they were the first, back in 2006, to run a London to Sydney overland trip. I've met Karen and Will, a lovely couple, who run the company and briefly met 14 of my travelling companions. I've also seen The Truck. A huge orange 6x6 converted overlander - I'll see if I can find a pic to post here. Accommodation for the trip will be mostly (about 60%) camping and some hostels or local hotels where camping is not possible. Driving days will be anywhere from 1 to 3 days solid and stationary days will be anywhere from brief overnight stays to 2 weeks. Real grassroots stuff. I'm taking a 60L backpack, a tent, sleeping bag, Thermarest, a couple of books and my yoga mat. That's it. Will let you know how the packing up goes!
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