The Start of Something New

All of a sudden it's real. I've worked my last hours, gotten my last paycheck, and have actual flights booked. My rental place is empty (to be refilled shortly by a friend). My condo has got long term renters in it. My bags are (mostly) packed... maybe real wasn't the right word as its feeling surreal!

As much as excitement should have been the feeling going into December, all I could feel was anxiety. Would I get a bike figured out? Will I get all the things at work done to the point I'm comfortable passing things off to the people taking on my workload? (thanks Olivia and Shawn!) Will I get my apartment cleared out? Dammit why didn't I think about vaccinations sooner? Will I find a shipping company to get to New Zealand? Will the Carnet arrive in time? Holy crap how do all this and deal with all the life commitments that surround Christmas?

STRESS.
STRESS.
STRESS.

Deep breath. Calm. 

Step one, you can't ride around the world without a steed. For months I'd been hoping that one of the 2018 Triumph Tiger XCx's would be able to get to me in time for the trip, but one fine December night that was officially kiboshed. With that gone it left me with three options: a used bike with low KM a long way away, a rebuilt bike with unknown km, or a new bike from the local dealer. After a quick talk on the phone with my dad the master of weighing the pros and cons without giving his actual opinion,  the next day I hopped in the truck, tossed the trailer on the back, and did the 1800km trek to pick up Robin. Deep breath #2. Ok.

Next up, packing up a life and getting it in storage. I'd love to say this was easy and done in a hurry... but I've been a bit of a pack rat and have wayyy too much stuff. After liquidating some of the furniture, and donating countless bags of kitchen things, tshirts, shoes, clothes..... so many bags... I started loading up the storage locker. Thank god I'm a decent tetris player, because that locker is full to the brim... unfortunately 4x6x8 was not enough and a... we'll use the word few for now... things are back with my dad. BUT, it's done.

Vaccinations - Booked and done. That one was unbelievably uncomplicated. I'll have to get a 3 course rabies vaccine in New Zealand or Australia, but other than that I'm shot up and ready to roll!

All the rest was just a whirlwind... pack... unpack.. zip to whistler for a ski... pack some more... load bike, clean bike, ship bike... move some more... clean some more... christmas... I honestly have no idea where the 3 weeks went. All of a sudden it was new years eve and I was in Whistler wondering where 2017 had gone!

And so here I am. January 2nd and I've finally got everything really booked.

I fly with 2 friends to Panama January 11th for about a month sailing from Colon to Belize with my dad, his girlfriend, and their dog... Then February 16th off to New Zealand to meet my lovely tiger! Hopefully we both get to Auckland in one piece!