And so it begins... sort of

The Sparkly Dress

Here I sit, in the basement of 1344 Deanna Drive, eager to start out on my fabulous adventure. Now as any seasoned traveler knows, you discover more about yourself and home when traveling than any other time.

My first task of the trip however, will be condensing 4 months worth of clothes, undies and most importantly hair care products into a pack roughly the size of Arcola, Illinois. I mean, it holds up to 80 Liters of stuff, but since when have solid pieces of clothing and shoes ever been as aqueous to be measured in Liters?!

So, after much sitting, cajoling, tugging, squashing and name calling, I managed to pack my backpack and think about what more I had forgotten.

Following this moment I had an immediate thought that I, in fact, WOULD need that outrageously sparkly dress in Bulgaria, and what if I only brought one pair of heels, they wouldn't match the sparkly dress and then I would have to buy some more heels, and do they sell shoes for big feet like mine there or will I be laughed out of the former member of the Eastern Bloc?!

Then I realized there was absolutely no way I could unzip my pack, stuff in the sparkly dress AND another pair of heels and subsequently CLOSE my pack without some serious help from a large and muscly person. (And we all know, once in Europe without said muscly person to help me close the bag, Ila will be sitting on a bed somewhere demanding that I hurry up and close my bag. The demands will escalate to shouts and looks of disdain for packing so much. God, I hate the looks of disdain.)

Upon further thought, the sparkly dress can sit this one out. Who knows? Bulgaria might have some even gaudier, sparklier, more ridiculous dress for sale for 2 Euros minus glares. A girl can only hope.

The errands

So, as the date approaches (ahem, Monday, June 25th, 2007 at approximately 4:18pm, but who's keeping track?) I have been busy getting everything taken care of for the big trip across the pond. No, not the Atlantic pond, the PACIFIC pond.

Yes, I am talking about my big move down undah!

As a true Gemini, I change my mind about how comfortable I am with moving to Sydney at least 7 times a day. Why 7 you ask? Well, because 7 allows me to end on an odd number and every day change my mind about moving. It is such a long way. Working for TCO would be fabulous. I won't be able to ship most of my stuff down there. When will I have the chance to live in Australia again? I won't be able to see my family very often. Surfers. These are the doubts that play over and over again in my head like an irritating Fergie song.

But then I squelch those thoughts and just play them off as anxious about getting the trip underway. So anyway, back to that list of errands. Puke. I have never had so many loose details to try and tie up. I need to pack for traveling, I need to pack for moving, I need to categorize boxes according to the severity in which I will need them most. Immediately, soon, never... seriously, Mom, I thought we threw out that old box of clothes last year! And then after all the possessions have been sorted and placed into their piles, I have to get an international driver's license. It won't come before I leave, so my Mom must bring it. I have to close down bank accounts and transfer money. I have to make sure I have copies and extras of everything. I think my most favorite errand included making the World's Greatest First Aid Kit. I like to think that if a cheetah had been mauled by a lion and was lying on the side of the road, I could put it back together. No more sickness, ahem, overnight train in Thailand. I have packed for everything.

And gotten SHOTS! Polio, Yellow fever, Tetanus, Typhoid, Malaria... ick. The only thing that saved that miserable experience were the lovely nurses at the Winnebago County Health Department. You think I am being cheeky. But they were actually really nice! In fact, I plan on sending them a card.

Oh no, that means one more errand. Put it on my list.