Preparing to Go

Today is Pam's last day of work at job 1 before we head off. A subdued but nice send off and at least I feel I have cleared all but one outstanding item and have trained up my replacement, who I feel confident will manage the job. Job 2 finishes tomorrow and they are then giving me a nice send off on Saturday.
D-Day or I should call it F-Day (Flight Day) is 16 days away and neither Alan nor I feel ready.
We still do not have a tenant for our house, which is a serious issue and will impact on how long we can stay in Europe before the money runs out.
We have only just started packing, yet we move to a friend's house to house sit there in 2 days time and the removalists are booked for 8 days time to come put ALL our belongings into storage. Our cat moves to his new home and owners in 2 days time and I am already missing him and hoping he settles in okay. We have a LOT to do in the coming week in between all the social lunches to say farewell to friends and family!
That is the downside! The upside is a feeling of excitement that it is all happening. As I am now unemployed I feel I have to go. Places in Hong Kong and France are booked. Our French language classes are booked and paid for. Our friends annd family in England are all set for our flying visit there before we commence our French life. There is very little keeping us here.
I keep thinking how easy it was when I was twenty to just pack a bag and head off into the unknown for a year, knowing my parents (and money) and home were all still back here in Australia if I got into trouble. Thirty years on and you have to pack up a whole house, organise mail redirections, email unsubscriptions, and service cancellations and all the logistics you don't think about when you are twenty and someone is back home to take care of it for you!
Still it is a good learning experience and Alan and I are still talking to each other and both still looking forward to the adventure.

I am posting this blog before we go because I think the preparation is an important part of the trip, so hope readers don't find these thoughts and observations too boring. I will probably post a few more before we go and then the travel ones start!
Pam