Nearing Departure

A lot of things go in to getting ready to go to a foreign country for an extended period of time, especially when you have a fairly limited time period to prepare yourself. The last few weeks have included a fairly signifigant amount of running around making sure to tie up loose ends on this side of the world, and taking care of things that are harder to get done over there. A short list includes;

Rent out the duplex

Move out of the duplex

Give tenants bank deposit slips for rent

Sell the cars (haven't quite done this yet)

Find homes for the dogs

Give notice at work (and try like hell to stay focussed before leaving)

Move all billing to paperless

Change of Address

Get new glasses and a new prescription

Get all dental work up to date

Make sure Laptops are properly stocked with software

Get electrical adapters for all chargers

Get additional memory/batteries for cameras

Decide what is getting packed and what goes into storage

Actually pack stuff and put stuff in storage

Sell, throw out, or donate the rest of the stuff

Cancel Utilities/cell phones etc.

Set up contact information and software for people for communication

Notify Banks/Credit Cards of travel plans

Sell other assets and link online financial accounts

Buy cell phones that can be used on arrival

Arrange plane tickets

Try to figure out where one might be staying on arrival

Try to figure out how one might make money after arrival

Try to figure out how one might get a visa after the tourist visa expires

See everyone before you leave

Go out to dinner with half of these people before you leave

In some ways it doesn't look like much, but it has really kept us busy over the last two months. Now with only a few days left everything has for the most part fallen into place. The things that are up to us have been dealt with as best as we can, the rest you just have to roll with as it happens.

A lot of people ask if we are nervous about being close to going. The short answer is absolutely not. All I can say is that with so much out of the way, it will be a real relief to finally be over there.