We are buying one-way tickets to Africa. {gulp}
For the last couple years, each May has seen me going abroad for travel writing: to England, and to Viet Nam.
But each time it was with the knowledge that I would be back in the states in just a short time, overflowing with excitement and nostalgia and trying to write anything and everything that inspired me during the journeys.
This time we aren’t coming back in a few weeks or even a few months.
We have 11 weeks until we leave for South Africa, and with Kurt only home weekends, it makes for a couple frenzied days of two-person projects. Then, during the week I write, clean, gather, sort, organize and store, gather, sort and organize some more. I feel like a squirrel…who writes.
Kurt’s assignment is for two years, so we are trying to plan carefully for suspending our lives here. There is the house to manage: what to take; what to leave; what to put in storage; what to have serviced before leaving; what projects to finish before leaving; who to house-sit; who to manage the property as a back-up to the house-sitter. There are documents to prepare, x-rays to have (TB), phone contracts to cancel, new phones to purchase, Skype accounts to create, subscriptions to cancel or suspend, mail to hold or change, international driving permits to obtain, and banking to prepare.
And of course, aren’t the “real” choices figuring out how much room in the luggage to fit the “necessities” not available in South Africa, like Hidden Valley Ranch dressing, and Girl Scout Cookies? 😉
It’s a crazy, hectic time, and easy to be overwhelmed by the idea of so many things to do in under three months.
But it’s worth it. Every time I want to let the intensity of it overwhelm me, I just play the Shakira song, shake my booty and get my squirrel on.
It’s time for Africa.
Love, Squirrel
