“We’re number two for takeoff.” It was with those words, approaching the runway on our Honolulu-bound flight, that our 4 months of planning and packing came to an end and the start of our traveling transition to Sydney began.
Dropped at the airport this morning by our wonderful SAG and weekend hostess, Julia, we said our last “See you in Sydney” (our ongoing catch phrase for refusing to say goodbye) before hauling our 11 pieces of luggage into SeaTac. Never one to follow the rules, Gina had us checking 6 bags (an allowable albeit expensive number) and carrying on 5, one more than is allowed. This was somewhat shriekishly noted by the First Class flight attendant as Gina streaked past her cabin, I blocking for her from behind. Given that the next two months of our lives are contained in those bags, we were not to be denied safe passage back to coach. Besides, isn’t that penalty enough on a 6 hour flight?
Strapped into our 737 and lifting off from Seattle, we’ve had a moment now to contemplate the past three weeks, which have been a blur like none other. Maybe we are more detail-obsessed than most, and it’s highly possible we over-complicated a thing a two, but we are who we are and we knew that we would not be satisfied with our move planning and packing unless every item was properly assessed and categorized into one of the following:
- Shipping to Sydney – I can live without this for the next 2 months as that cargo ship crosses ten thousand miles of open ocean and it’s not so heavy as to cost me an early retirement to ship down.
- Carrying to Sydney – this absolutely must go and it must go now and it can somehow fit into one of our 11 bags.
- Worthy of Storage – it’s irreplaceable, one-of-a-kind, and/or holds sentimental value and if I stick it in a box today, I’ll be happy to have it when I open that box a few years from now.
- Time to be Donated – it’s served us well or not at all, it never sold on craigslist, and/or it was strewn about the house on that final day and there’s nowhere left to pack it.
Any item categorized into all but the last bucket was then inventoried, which in our household meant “spreadsheeted”. (My spell-checker doesn’t recognize that word but it’s gospel where we live.) That way we can guarantee ourselves many more hours of poring over our spreadsheets, wondering if line item 136 on worksheet 12 should have been sent to Goodwill or if line item 248 on worksheet 7 should have been packed in that illegal 3rd carry-on. Tomorrow it’s only a 10.5 hour flight to Sydney – I hope we have enough time to review.
With nearly everything packed and categorized, we then turned our attention to easier things, like figuring out how to transfer money to Australia. As it turned out, this is NOT one of the easier things to do before an international move, and if you’re contemplating one, we’d recommend starting this process more than 3 business days before boarding your flight. Who knew that in this technologically-advanced age, it’s nearly impossible to wire money abroad? We knew we were in trouble when the teller at Bank of America, after hearing that we were moving to Australia, said “Can you just go into a Bank of America when you get there?”. Um, dude, it’s AUSTRALIA. They don’t have a Bank of AMERICA there. It’s a good thing I brought back AUS $11.83 when I was in Sydney a few years ago – we figure that will get us started.
Finally, it was time for the last of the logistics – back-to-back days of shippers carting our Sydney-bound boxes away, parents carting the last of our furniture away, friends carting the leftover cleaning supplies away, and us carting our remaining belongings and selves away to homes and hosts that would have us. There were Tammy and Shelly of Bellevue, who hosted a lovely evening for us with friends Helen, Susan, Danica and my man Stan. There were hot links and cupcakes and a pillowtop mattress – the first real bed in months and just in the nick of time, given the burning smell that was emanating from the aerobed motor that last night at home.
And there were Julia and Fred of Shoreline, who also hosted a fabulously fun dinner party for us with friends Matt and Katrina, Molly and Dean, Tammy and Shelly, and Bob “Jugs” Pellet, where good food, good growlers, and THE cake were served and enjoyed by all.
And now, 4 months and 6 hours later, here we are in Waikiki, enjoying mai tais, sand between our toes, a warm rain shower moving through (can’t let go of Seattle quite that easily), and free WiFi in the hotel lobby. We expect to be offline for a few days until we figure out our connectivity options down under, so stay tuned for the next installment. Until then, Cheers Mates!
