Ready, Set Go!

We were off to the races bright and early the morning of July 9. The countdown clock was at 0 hours and 0 days.  It was a strange feeling locking the door for the last time and leaving several notes and reminders for Bonnie and Cyril the house sitting couple. 

Every house has a perticular smell one that you get used to over time.  I was thinking that in 6 months' time I would really notice the familiar smell of our home.

There was no long epic movie worthy goodbye as Django hit the high road and hid the moment Uncle John showed up at 4:15am to drive us to the airport.  I had been giving him maximum love since returning from Greece and Turkey and he was becoming increasingly demanding especially when the suitcases appeared on the upper decks.

We are off on our adventure but why do all adventures start so early 😃.

Packers Remorse

How does one pack for a six month adventure?  Very carefully as every item must have many purposes.  Less is always more.  Good thing that I had a three week trial trip to Greece and Turkey to test out equipment and see what was a necessity vs what was a "nice to have". 

My real challenge was packing for 3 seasons plus Christmas.  Shoes are the bane of luggage as they tend to take up the most room and are heavy.  I Love shoes so it is just cruel to limit my happiness with minimal and utilitarian footware.  I packed and re-packed, rolled and used the zip lock method.   Everything fit into the three pieces of luggage - small piece of luggage for John and medium pieces for Elizabeth and myself but as I soon found out just because things fit into the luggage and are under the max weight doesn't automatically mean that you are good to go.  I knew after our first two flights to Abbotsford that I had packed way too much.  Just rolling my luggage around was a strain due to the weight.  I was already suffering from packers remorse.  It didn't help the situation that Jim man handled John's small carry on rollie on our first flight and broke the handle right off the luggage - we hadn't even left Ottawa and we were already pulling up lame in the luggage department. 

A cull was required.  I took time while Elizabeth was napping and Jim and John were out visiting and re-scrutinized each and every item and managed to fill up a large box.  Tomorrow it will be shipped back to Ottawa and then and only then will I really feel ready for Asia.

Turkey in the rear view mirror

I have been home now for a week and the dust has started to settle on my memories of my Turkey and Greece Trip.  Standing veiled on the luxurious red carpet of the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia were a personal highlight.  Just to take in the sacred space and marvel at the beauty was beyond words for me.  The people me met in Turkey were incredibly genuine with their generosity and humour.

Greece - country in flux.

Best of Greece, the worst of Greece.  Incredible how this country has changed since I last was here with Jim for four weeks back in the late fall of 96.  Crippling austerity measures have taken their toll - 25% unemployment, 50% for people 18 -25 years.  Graffiti, abandoned shops everywhere in Athens.  The mood unsettled with a run on the banks as the IMF repayment deadline days away.

We packed as much into our 10 day tour as possible.  Braved the heat and sun in Mycenea and rain in Delphi.  It was go go go non-stop sleeping in a different bed every night and doing hand laundry on the way.  By the end of the tour we were expert packers and had our check in and check out routine down to a fine art.

We finished our tour of Greece on a high note with 4 nights in Santorini.  Prestine as ever we stayed on the cliff side and had the incredible good fortune to be upgraded to a honeymoon suite hotel.  I was elected to sleep in the round honeymoon bed all decked out with bead curtains.