We are now 100 days from our departure on the 5th of November 2023, and things are starting to get too real!
It feels like we are on an emotional rollercoaster that veers between wildly excited and mortal terror as often as four times a day as the realisation of everything we are going to do and everything we are leaving behind sinks in.
On one hand, now the summer holidays are underway, the excitement is really building. We have plenty of mini adventures to look forward to through August, including the Yorkshire Dales Food and Drink Festival, a wedding of a dear old friend and a couple of camping excursions, but ahead of us, the “big one” is looming! Georgia and Eva are getting more and more invested in the trip and have been a big part of the planning. Both have suggested places they want to visit (Great Barrier Reef for G and Iguazu for E) and have started thinking about what they want to pack.
On the other, the to-do list that we are tackling is getting longer each day. We have ticked off some big items (flights are booked, we are well insured, route planned for the first few months to catch the best of the weather in Patagonia, vaccinations underway, packing list planned and about 60% complete), but there is still a lot left to tackle!
Most of the challenges we face are not about going but about leaving as we work out how to shut down our lives for 18 months.
Top of the list is preparing to put our home on the market, and getting this old place ship-shape is taking a lot of work! This is quite emotional for us all, as It has been our home for over 15 years and the only home the girls have ever known. Grandma and Grandpa live just next door to us and have always been a few short steps away with biscuits and hugs. It holds so many memories that we have created over the years with family, friends and neighbours that it is going to be hard to say goodbye to this place. As difficult as it is to think about, there are so many jobs that need doing to prepare to go to market with it. So far, we have dug up and re-tarmacked an old drain that had collapsed, replaced decking, painted gates, scrubbed walls, weeded the drive, cleared some piles of detritus and ticked off about 50 other jobs that we have meant to do for years!
The crazy thing about all this work is how much nicer the house looks. Honestly, we can’t help but wonder why we didn’t do this years ago instead of waiting to sell!
Also on the to-do list is packing up the entire house, selling both our cars, and working out what furniture we want to store and what we want to sell. Scaling down the toys the girls keep is also very hard. The rational side knows that most of what they like now won’t interest them in 18 months. However, with everything else that the girls are letting go of in a couple of months, a few pointlessly stored toys seems a worthwhile compromise. Having said that, they are both being very mature and thoughtful about things that they are letting go. This, of course, has created about a million runs to charity shops and the tip!
There is also a running joke amongst our friends at the moment where they just walk around our house pinning post-it notes claiming things that they will ‘look after’ for us whilst we are away. Kirsty’s dad didn’t seem up for the claim on his car!
One thing we are really not looking forwards to is saying goodbye to our assortment of four-legged friends. We have two guinea pigs, three ponies and a slightly senile Jack Russel and a rabbit to rehome. It is something that we are putting off, but we really need to start now, as finding the best homes for them all is so important.
The final big job is organising the girl’s education while we are away. We have a firm idea of the curriculum we will be following, but there are still questions on how to structure their formal elements. There are some excellent online schools that will focus on English and Maths (something we have already experienced during Covid), but we need to settle on a plan.
So there we have it; with 100 days to go, things are really starting to hot up. It does overall feel like we have a handle on things, but I am sure there are still a few surprises waiting for us!
