Reality

Here I am, finally “on the move” so to speak. I have sold or donated some of my belongings and stored the remainder. I have, with help, scrubbed and shampooed my former apartment to an acceptable gleam. After haphazardly tossing my travel goods and clothes into luggage and departing YVR I have landed in the bitter cold of Ontario for a month. And what an ordeal that was! Yes, an ordeal. Best laid plans…blah blah. Unfortunately true when under a time crunch and things do not go quite as envisioned. The penultimate days of my departure were among the most stressful in years. And for a planner like me it was difficult to just go with it. And who am I kidding? – I rarely can just “go with it” (won’t this trip of a lifetime make me learn that lesson well?!) but this time was certainly difficult.

If I was able to step into Doctor Who’s T.A.R.D.I.S. and go back I would do things a bit different. One would have me being an additional person to help myself move as the third person, I was told, was ill.  That left two of us to move my apartment down two flights of stairs and into a utility van. This threw me off and I was rather upset. Despite the setback my friend Barbara is a Tetris genius and packed that truck tighter than a sardine can. However, the lack of the third person (and me not eating for 8 hours) made the move both physically and emotionally draining. I have scaled those stairs over 30 times and have the bruises to prove it. Secondly, I would purge and discard more items. I honestly thought I had less stuff than I did. I really annoyed myself. I have often prided myself on not having much. Having realized that the opposite was true, I was irked that I remained attached to so much stuff. Some of it was for practical purposes (saving money upon my return) and others for; well I am not certain why but I was not willing to part with it so easily. That also impacted my move into storage. Finally, I would not work right to the end. I would allow a few more days to purge, pack and process. Had I done this, I suspect that the 10 hour move would not have stressed me to the degree that it did – and my ultimate tearful breakdown been averted. Perhaps I would have been able to think and recruit a few last minute friends and have it go smoothly and quickly. When it came to my final luggage pack I just shoved everything into my backpack, second bag and carry-on with a fervent frenzy. I tossed whatever into whichever bag without much thought. Fortunately, it was a funny result – there were socks in every corner of every bag and had undergarments stowed in my carry-on. Thank goodness I was not randomly selected for a search in security or things could have been embarrassing.

Now all this brings me to crux of this post (all said with melodramatic surprise and disbelief for effect): Why the heck did I never read about this part of traveling on any blog or travel site????? I love Bootnsall’s Plan Your RTW Trip in 30 days feature but it does not mention that one should always hire movers (I am all for that). Where in all the travel blogs I read do they discuss allotting extra extra extra time to clean your apartment to get the security deposit back? And nobody said that 4 days out my cat would have to go to the vet for treatment of an unexpected open sore (and rob me of $226 but give me peace of mind). Or that (mattress) recycle places are popular on weekends and take over an hour just to drop them off? Hhhmmm – where were all those posts?! Yeah, nowhere that I saw. Ugh!

Yet for all my mocking, it really is worth mentioning that for many travelers the packing up of a former life for a new chapter is difficult. Amongst the excitement and giddiness of planning travel is the minutia of sorting one’s life which can be a huge stressor. I can honestly say that my move was one of the toughest things I have had to carry out. Being short-handed with a deadline and causing another person to wait was not good. Being unable to arrive early on my last day for the remaining clean up and having to rely on others for help was humbling. The luggage pack, fortunately I was able to laugh about as it was a bit silly and I could smile. Despite the fact that I have moved from apartment to apartment half a dozen times in the last 11 years, this was the most trying.  I am forever grateful to those who helped me. However, some insight would have been appreciated. To have heard of others who went through the same, often questioning if it will all be worth it, may have affected me positively.

So, for those of you who will plan extended travel and be making a move into storage like myself, please heed my advice:  take more time, more help and in some cases, more money to bypass the incredible stress that often comes with moving on a very tight schedule. And eat, make sure you eat. I have never questioned a decision more in my life yet I did exactly that. Now that I have survived, albeit a bit bruised and am at the start of this chapter I can say, without a doubt, I have made a fabulous choice to travel yet  would accept a do-over in the packing and storage department. Since I cannot: “what’s done is done”.

Now is the time for rest, decompressing, using my parent’s sauna, more planning and then a bit of fun with friends!

Photo taken and owned by Eeva Valiharju (2014)