And I'm Off!

(Safely ensconced at my Aunt and Uncle's gorgeous home in California. The following was written on the plane ride out.)

I love airports. I still love them, even with the crackdowns of the TSA (got yelled at for forgetting to take my shoes off and not putting the laptop in a separate bin), the increasingly cramped and uncomfortable seats, the inevitable screaming child, and all the attendant weirdness of hurtling through the air in a metal container in close proximity to a large number of strangers. But even with all that, on the other side there’s somewhere new or a favorite place to return. The sheer possibility of it all trumps the reality.

The last few days have been an exercise in that sort of optimism. I’m fairly certain my things have been multiplying in dark corners ever since I announced that I would be moving. Many thanks to the people who have helped me move in the last few weeks. Special thanks to my dear, dear friend Emily, who came over to help me with the last bits today (and will be finishing some things off for me tomorrow, because the woman is a saint). Without her, I don’t think I would have made it. But, two large rolly bags, a carry-on, a laptop bag, and nagging sense that I have both forgotten something extremely important and completely overpacked, here I am. I haven’t traveled with this much luggage ...well, ever. When I was a kid, I had an adorable pink suitcase that had been my mother’s, and my parents had a rule that if I packed it (or wanted to bring any other bags), I carried it. I once took a large rolly bag to London for a month, and after lugging that up so many, many stairs, the next time I went I happily spent two months living out of carry-on. But I suppose I can forgive my surfeit of bags due to the whole packing-for-a-year thing. Remind me of that when I’m lugging all of those bags from the international to domestic terminal in Auckland next week.

That I’m going to be in a different country in less than a week hasn’t entirely sunk in for me yet. The goodbyes were all hard, some harder than others. Many people I hope to see again. Others, I know that I won’t. Reality is trumping optimism on that one, unfortunately.

But, all that aside, I’M OFF ON ADVENTURE!