Packing Mission Part 1

I have no idea what to pack! And this, my friend, is not because I have not spent any time researching, contemplating and thinking about it.  The exact opposite in fact, I have created many lists and asked anyone who would listen, for input.  I have scoured malls and outdoor stores looking for appropriate travel clothing and shoes, with not much success. You know you are desperate when you scout out peoples photo's on line to see what they are wearing during their holidays or honeymoon (K and S - you look fabulous!) The reality is everyone has a different opinion on what is important to pack.  It might be easier to write about what I am not taking with me...

The storage room!

My closet all packed up, OK not all of it!

 

The stuff that didn't make the cut from the closet!

 

A girlfriend mentioned that she envisioned me with colour co-ordinated trunks all stacked up. She couldn’t believe that I was limited to 3 pairs of shoes (which I am still negotiating on) - she of course, knows the ‘work’ me. The one with co-ordinating outfits who everyone comes to if they need anything from glitter, to paper plates, to minutes from the last leadership meeting.  How on earth am I going to be able to pack everything that I will need for a whole year into two pieces of luggage and a carry on?  One of those pieces of luggage being a back pack for crying out loud!  OH and did I mention that we also have to pack eight solar ovens, bagpipes and three Scottish kilts?

These are my bags! My Asolo pack, My North Face - the tank on wheels
 and my Lug Puddle Jumper and Skipper

Another friend said pack light, you end up wearing the same thing over and over again anyway. This just adds more stress to the ‘what to pack dilemma’.  If I have to wear the same thing over and over again, I can tell you - I better love it and it better make me look 10 pounds thinner than I am now.  Not to mention the other criterion that has been suggested such as it can’t be; too bright, made of cotton, too bulky, too skimpy or too heavy – and the list continues.  

I prefer our friend’s H and J's advice who honeymooned around the world.  They said pack light, take as little as possible - you end up giving away and buying a lot of your clothing as you travel – hmmm this packing thing might not be so bad after all!  The less that I pack the more opportunity I have to shop.  A colleague at work tells me I will love shopping in Australia – but we are not going to be there until May 2014, I won’t be able to wait that long! She said Asia was great too, I can just see the expression on Mark’s face now when I say, ‘You go ahead and see the Taj Mahal, I’m just going to poke around in this shop for a minute!’ Yeah, that is not going to work, I need to pack, at least some good essentials to get me through!

I am trying to convince myself that a backpack is not all that bad, it might not be the beautifully co-ordinated trunks mentioned above, but you can dress it up.  Heals and a little black dress can be paired with any accessory, right?

Getting my pack fitted at The Adventure Attic in Dundas!

The girls both have 60L Asolo packs, theirs are
travel packs where the straps can be zippered in for flights

OK, who am I kidding! The reality is we were having our backpacks fitted and it just happened to be after a very schwanky fashion show fundraiser event! The heels and little black dress were not planned, and as much as I love those peek-a-boo toes, they will not be poking out of the top of my pack...I must negotiate myself and my belongings into a compromise between the beautifully co-ordinated trunks and the reality of the backpack!

So this is the closet of possibilities.  I still have a lot of work to do to whittle this down, but at least it is a start.

 The plan is to take as little as possible.  I love lululemon so that will be a staple in my wardrobe.  I'll wear tights and leggings in the cooler climates with my riding boots and with flip flops in the more temperate areas.  We all have great rain coats that we will layer up under for cooler times. We have scarves to cover up shoulders, to dress up outfits and for warmth. A few long shirts, shorts, tank tops, t-shirts, capri jeans and a another pair of pants that still need to be purchased.  Headed to SAIL this week!

Finalizing our packing list is not going to happen quickly or appear in one blog post, but I assure you I will update you as the mission continues!  Stay tuned...

Mark is from Venus!

 

Clearly, Mark is from Venus and I am from Mars.  Our brains have been made differently; we have come from what seems like entirely different universes!  Look for yourselves....are we really from the same planet?



Yes, this is the man that I married, that hat is not coming with us!

For the past year Mark, the girls and I have been commuting to school daily from our lake house.  What this means is lots of time to communicate, check emails, make to-do lists, think and reflect. 

I tend to spend my time thinking about what has to happen next and reflecting on the day, and of course by now you know....making lists.  That is how I survive, without the lists the thoughts vanish as quickly as they arrive. Sometimes, even the lists don’t help, mainly because I don’t always remember to check them. This has caused me a great deal of concern. My friends and family have tried to console me by saying; ‘it is normal’, ‘you have a lot on your mind’, or ‘welcome to 40!’. My short-term memory is horrible, so is my long-term memory – OK, I can’t remember a darn thing if my life depended on it!  Thus... the LISTS!

 

Notice the number of notes on my iPhone!

 

Mark on the other hand has an encyclopedia for a brain and spends his commute, not reflecting, but planning the future. He checks and responds to email, checks face book updates from the group of young families on the move, and books accommodations, reservations, flights etc. - 6 months in advance.  He doesn’t have to update the spreadsheet with the latest booking or write down what he has just done, he just remembers it.  He naturally expects me to be able to do the same, but has come to realize – that this is just not going to happen.  Instead we have come up with a system; Mark emails me his latest trip update, I then read it, update the spread sheet, pay the bill or whatever other action is required of me.  Once I have finished what needs to be done, the email is filed.  If it requires further action, it is marked as unread.  The information does not stay bumping around in my brain for me to be able to retrieve at a moment’s notice. Nor does it remain in my inbox. The thing is my email inbox is a thing of beauty with files, folders, colour codes and clarity. Mark on the other hand, has over 400 random emails from the last 6 months.

While setting up our new Mac, I added Mark's email address...
only 9 of these messages are mine.  The other 424 are Mark's!



To get a glimpse of just how different Mark and my brain is...read on.  A dear friend of ours mentioned that her sister-in-law lived in Paris and might be able to offer us some suggestions for our stay there.  I was to notify her of the dates that we would be in Paris.  The conversation I had with my brain went something like this...hmmm when are we in Paris, I know that Dan is coming to visit us in September sometime, they are going to do Vimy Ridge together and he is going to look after the girls while we are in Paris so that Mark and I can go out for a romantic dinner, I think we are headed to Paris after Vimy, so that would put us towards the middle or end of September, oh, I can’t remember – I’ll have to check the spreadsheet.  (Yes my brain operates in very long, run-on sentences) My outside voice replies to my friend that I will email her with the dates as soon as I have a chance to check the spreadsheet (which I have not done yet, better add it to the list).  Upon my return home, I let Mark know about this latest development and that I have to email the Paris dates.  He responds with, ‘We are going to be in Paris from October 9th-14th, don’t you remember, that is when Dan is coming?’ Clearly, I do not remember, I am from Mars!

Today on the way home, I am contemplating whether I want to read over my report card comments for the third time, I wonder how Meg’s doctor’s appointment went today, I call to check in with Grandma and Papa  and add ‘work on setting up the new Mac and kobo’ to my to-do list.  In the passenger seat, Mark starts reading me an email from ‘Jack and Jill’ – you know the couple that has offered us their house in August and again in December, that is staying at our cottage two weeks this summer – blah, blah, blah. How does he keep all of this stuff in his brain!  Anyway, it is all good news because, they will allow us to use their address to register the ownership for the car that we are buying in the UK because the other ‘Jill’, the one that we are staying with in Chelmsford, that stayed in our cottage last summer hasn’t had a chance to get back to us yet.  Oh and by the way...we can store our luggage with ‘Jack’ in Iceland while we tour around, as that will save us trying to fit it all into a rental car along with the camping equipment. You forgot to pick up the fancy band-aids too, what do you need them for anyway? Venus, ladies and gentlemen....he is from Venus!

OK, this is Mark here. I am editing this blog post and have found one inaccuracy. Lisa says that she is from Mars; I think she also forgot the title of the book!  As you all know, Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus. Now, back to Lisa...

I have spent hours creating and updating the spread sheet on Google and just as many hours making sure we have a backup plan to access it, regardless of the situation we find ourselves in. I need to get my priorities straight, if I don’t remember what hill Jack and Jill live on, I’ll just consult the World Trip Encyclopedia – Mark.  In the mean time I’ve made a note to pick up some `Ginkgo Biloba`, I’ve heard it does wonders for cognitive function and memory!

Psst, Mark here again. I did not tell Lisa that we won`t have internet in Asia. Don`t tell her as it will just stress her out and she doesn`t have any more room in her backpack for `St. John`s Wort`.

The Final Count Down

With our departure date growing closer and closer, many are asking how many more days.  I, of course know that they are referring to our trip around the world departure date, but I am thinking - only 1 more day left until the weekend, only 8 more days to cram the rest of the math, language, social studies and science curriculum in, 7 more days until the Hamilton Tattoo, and then there is report cards, ahhh! How many days till they are due? 

 I like to deal with one thing at a time, finish it, and move on. OK, I am a procrastinator, but it sounds much better the way I put it first.  Although I have made great progress in this area, I am nothing like Mark.  He can quote a solar job, write report cards and book a ferry passing from Ireland to France all while relaxing in the hot tub with his ‘other wife’, Ipad.

Typical morning at the cottage, no matter the weather!

 

His ability to plan months and years in advance is the only reason that we are able to embark on this world travel adventure.  If it was left up to me...well let's just say that I haven't finished reading the ‘around the world travel guide’ that Mark ordered over a year ago, but it is on my to-do list! 



Today is no different! Checking out accommodation in Australia. According to my list we are not going to be there until April 2014, but why shouldn't we book now!?

For interest sake I asked the girls the same question, ‘how many more days until we leave for our trip?’  Ally responded, while flipping through a recipe book planning lunch (potatoe rosti AND it is 2:00) “I dunno”.  Meg, who on the other hand has long ago finished lunch, said “around 47 days, why?” and proceeded to check the calendar and was exactly right.  The apples don’t fall too far from the trees!

My extended family had difficulty dealing with my inability to plan too far in advance.  I can still remember the horror on my mother-in-law’s face after delivering their first grandchild.  She had asked a simple question, one that I can’t even remember now, but something little like - when would the belly button cord fall off.  I had been a model mom-to-be, taking care of myself, getting lots of rest and eating properly.  I had done what all eager new moms do and diligently read my ‘What to Expect When You Are Expecting” book... daily.  I was on target, taking one day at a time...UNTIL... Ally arrived 2 weeks early!  My response to the question was simple....I didn’t know... I hadn’t read ‘What to Expect the First Year” yet. According to my records I still had two weeks left and probably three, as all first babies are late - based on the child birth professionals that would stop me in the elevator and every street corner.  So... how was I possibly able to answer when her belly button cord would fall off?

My family has gotten used to this quality in me and rarely asks about Christmas plans until after Meg’s birthday now. Despite my procrastination, I am incredibly organized, I make lists left, right and centre and I know where everything is (in a tote labelled of course!) I just can’t start planning too far in advance. A girlfriend at work told me I could get an app to count down the days, when she couldn't believe I didn't know how many days were left.  I tried about six different ones, but none of them were quite up to my satisfaction.  So - to everyone’s dismay, no, I don’t know how many more days are left until we leave. BUT.... I do know there are a whole lot of events to get through, packing to get organized, and more things to check off on lists before that day comes.  I still have no idea exactly where we are going in Italy, what we are seeing or when we will be arriving, but I’ll get there!  In the meantime, if you want to know how many days are left before we leave....you are better to ask Mark...or Meg!

Who, What, Where and Why Not

     Years ago we started to dream about seeing the world.  Our plans started out as a summer vacation in Europe, to a year-long teacher exchange, to finally selling our house, taking a leave of absence from work, and travelling around the world with our two daughters. Our intentions are to venture through Iceland, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii and Fiji, with lots of flexibility along the way.  We are teachers with two daughters aged 11 and 13. Thank you for joining us on our adventures.  Although I am not a writer in the least, I will try my best to entertain you and keep you abreast of our globetrotting experiences.

     Travelling on a budget with a family of four will certainly have its challenges, no doubt.   Luckily for us, my frugal hubby will hunt down any bargain there is to be had.  He is the only man I know that can leave the house on a Saturday morning with a shopping list, and manage to secure all of the items on that list from garage sales. I have never owned a new car, nor will I ever, but it is this philosophy that is enabling us to leave our jobs (the money) behind and live life like we have never before experienced. Our departure date is July 17^th 2013; we are bound for Iceland!  Iceland was not originally in our plans; however, booking our flights to Europe with Iceland air provided a free layover in Iceland.  So... Iceland here we come!

     Our travelling family consists of Dad, Mom and two daughters.  We had much debate over whether to use our real names or handles on this blog.  The girls had fun choosing their names; Brittney, Michaela, Elizabeth, and Catherine were some of the suggestions.  My only criterion was that the names had to be short since I was going to be typing them many times over.  In the end we came up with Mark, Lisa, Ally and Meg...pretty much some of the shortest names out there! 

     Mark is a geography teacher and although he seems to know almost everything there is to know about the world on paper (and everything else for that matter), he has seen very little of it. Mark has been responsible for planning our itinerary and booking the accommodations and flights. A job that has consumed a great deal of his time and promoted his extramarital affair with Ipad.  I really don’t understand what he sees in her; she wears the same faux suede garb everyday and shouts reminders at him more than I would. Inviting another woman into our bed is something I never thought I would agree to, but... it’s working!   

     Lisa, that’s me, is also a teacher – grade 2! My jobs have included organizing the finances, travel documentation, insurance, communication, education and packing.  The latter... I am still struggling with.  The debate of how many shoes are essential continues and there are many bets circulating about whether I will actually make it onto the flight within my luggage allowance.   

     Ally is our eldest daughter and will be graduating from grade 8 during our year abroad.  She is a highland dancer and plans to dance in the World Championships in Scotland, this August.  Meg is our youngest daughter, the most observant, keen minded of us all.  She will keep track of our belongings and notice anything amiss!  We have been told that our daughters are at the perfect age to whisk around the world, away from teenage temptations, and we couldn’t agree more.