OMG we leave in 2 weeks AAAAAAAAAH!

(OK....ok... remain calm...find your center and breathe) Hello readers! I've noticed a few more of you from far away and cool places, thanks for stopping by. Well, we're just killing time now before we go...kicking back...Not much to do. Oh yah, I don't know if I mentioned it but apparently WE HAVE TWO WEEKS AND WE ARE ON THE ROAD!! (center... exhale...) Well, we do have like maybe one thing or 2 things tops...

let me interrupt here jay. uh. we have a ton of stuff to do. isn't that why you are anticipating the need for a straight jacket? i have yet to find shoes, a packable jacket for warmth &/or rain, A BACKPACK ...all important things i'm thinking. oh yay! another day of shopping! (might as well read this whole post in a sarcastic tone)

What are you saying? That we are some what less than prepared? Somewhat less than Calm? That we don't have a secret desire to run screaming like we've come unhinged? Hummmm, well I suppose sarcastic was the tone I was going for except one thing...OMG WE LEAVE IN TWO WEEKS...AAAAAAAAAAAH!  (Oh yah...ohmmm  ohmmmm ohmmmmm...much better)

continuing on calmly and collectedly,

jason & corina

baby steps + 2 updates

since this whole thing...this pack up your house, this quit your job, this leave your family and friends for a year thing...is quite overwhelming (how many times will i say this before i'm ok with it?) i've decided to make a list of things to do only bits at a time. i think of things that are achievable in the weekend or in an evening and then i make a list. 

this weekend my list consists of cleaning the house (i haven't done that since we listed the house - blush), going to the gym (gotta get in shape to haul around a 30lb backpack), take pictures of the stuff we want to sell & put online, sort tools into sell/donate or keep, research gear and settle on a pack, finalize overall flight plan and get quotes, plan our goodbye party, snuggle kitties.

good thing its a long weekend. 

update: half way through...house half vacuumed due to full vac bag, haven't gotten to the gym, most pictures are taken but rest not because need to vacuum & dust first, tools not touched, in the midst of finalizing flight plan (which by the way...takes a friggin' long time!) fortunately for the cats a lot of the planning happens sitting down so cuddles are up to quota...

update after the wknd: i've been meaning to write a new post but there is so much to do that i have little energy...mentally and physically to write a full-on post. so here is my update. from the list above we accomplished: the house cleaning (altho' we didn't dust or wash the hardwoods so its not my standard of clean but it will do), pictures are taken of the stuff we want to sell but we have not posted them on craigslist or kijiji yet, our flight plan is finished we just have to finalize with payment and confirm that we can get visa's for all destinations while we are on the road, we shopped for packs but haven't found one we like yet (wpg has really crappy selection...more on that another day perhaps?), the tools are sorted and ready to be sold or stored, and finally we did not plan our goodbye party...the best parties are the ones where everyone just shows up and hangs in the kitchen anyway right? so all in all, not a bad wknd...felt pretty productive :)

step three: plan trip itinerary (for real)

jay mentioned in a previous post that he had purchased a map. the map is massive. its of the whole world. we've mounted it to cardboard and it now has a place of prominence in our living room. 

we poked pins into each and every place we could think that we would want to go. ever. in our entire lives. well, the whole map was covered from top to bottom with pins...ok...that's an exaggeration...neither of us wanted to go to antarctica that badly. so how do we whittle down the destinations into a realistic itinerary? we procrastinate!!

since we sold the house we have done little to further our plans. its scary how easy it is to become complacent. i guess i wrote my letter of resignation, i postdated the cancellation of our house insurance, i set up an appointment with the real estate lawyer AND we have our physicals next week. the list of things to get done is in my head and i really, really need to get it onto paper. even jay said to me after a long, stressful day at work 'i didn't realize how much work this was all going to be'... mr. fast and loose, eh?

so here is a fast and loose itinerary that we are currently contemplating, currently looking for rtw tix vs. one way tix for and currently avoiding making decisions about:

fly winnipeg to toronto

fly toronto to new york

spend 4 days in new york city

fly new york to london

spend 4-6 weeks in uk

fly or train to paris

spend 6-8 months in western & eastern europe

including france, spain, morocco, italy, germany, netherlands, czech republic, austria, croatia, hungary, estonia, latvia, lithuania, st. petersburg?, turkey, egypt, greece...

fly athens to dubai (altho' we've had a hard time finding a flight for this leg)

spend 3-4 days in dubai

fly dubai to delhi

spend ? in india

fly delhi to kathmandu & then back to delhi (unless other flights available)

spend ? in nepal

fly delhi to bangkok

spend ? in thailand, laos, vietnam, cambodia

fly bangkok to singapore

spend a few days in singapore...bali?

fly singapore to hong kong

spend 5 days in hong kong

fly hong kong to tokyo

spend 5-10 days in japan...pusan? seoul?

fly to papua new guinea, australia and new zealand? OR just

fly tokyo to los angeles or san francisco

spend a week or 2 in california

fly california to vancouver

spend 2 weeks visiting in b.c.

fly vancouver to home

keep going to south america? money? energy? road trip?

as i was writing this list and referring back to the map i went back and added more countries. this is going to be hard to narrow down...or do we have to? do we just leave and hope that the plan will fall into place as we go?

my head is spinning...

corina

step two: quit job

a weight has lifted off my shoulders. today i quit my job. i've been holding in this secret for a few months already and its such a relief to have it out in the open. aaaaahhh. my last day is june 5th. everyone is so jealous...teehee

my bosses took it well. they are happy for me but sad to see me go. 

now its jay's turn ;p

step one: sell the house

In order to do this there is a bunch of prep work that needs to be done, on many different fronts, but most notably are house repairs. it seems the days slip by and all the to do list does is grow! (tho' to be fair we have paired it down some). 

We are nearing completion of the basement bath renovation & once it is done a major hurdle is overcome. 

This is our old ugly basement bath. I think it speaks for itself.  Is there any wonder why it went away? I think not. jas