We have tickets!!

It’s been a long time coming, but we have purchased our first tickets. So we have our departure date – 16th April. It’s a mixture of excitement, anticipation and sheer terror! There has been years of dreaming and then we set a target date of April 08; but as happens in life temptation stood in the way. For me it came in the form of a job I would have loved to have, working where I want to work. We wavered and faltered. We said we would wait and go if I didn’t get the job, but postpone the trip a few years if I did. But now after 6 months of indecision we have decided that the opportunity to travel for an indefinite period of time may never come again. We may already be in jobs we can’t bear to part from, we may have other commitments that make it impossible to leave everything to go travelling. So the countdown starts from today.

Of course, we now regret the indecision. Time is upon us. Not to plan the trip, no that’s been developing for years and no doubt the actual trip will bear only a passing similarity to our carefully prepared plans. But preparing to leave Sydney, that isn’t something we’ve prepared as well. What do we do with our furniture? Do we sell it, or do we store it? How do we sell it? The debate is between having extra expenses whilst we are away or having huge set up costs and hassle once we return. Then there are those few things we own that can’t be sold and must be stored…. anyone got enough wall space to hang a puzzle the size of a double bed for a couple of years?

We are keeping our flat and renting it out, so we now have to deal with being landlords as well. How do we choose a real estate agent? How much rent do we ask for, and will it cover the expenses in keeping the flat – we hope so!