It was around this time I expected the excitement to kick in – I’ve always found it only arrives in the last few days before departure.
This time, however, it’s absent. Not because I’m lacking enthusiasm, but purely because the stress of the lead up has been somewhat greater than expected.
This is despite things going mostly according to plan. We packed & moved & cleaned & closed with two weeks to spare, made long lists and methodically ticked items of them. Had ridiculous conversations with telcos and tax offices.
Work, however, prevented me from reaching the relaxed zen-like state I had anticipated.
I’m under little illusion that leaving my business to run itself for 12 months is a big ask and a moderately large risk. So in the spirit of paranoia I’ve spent weeks preparing a comprehensive and largely automated disaster recovery (DR) strategy should the worst (or one of it’s higher probability variants) occur.
Needless to say it was, like most projects, much more work than I estimated.
Worse, it may not even work when it’s crunch time. DR is very tricky to test.
Worse still, in all likelihood (we’re talking 99%+ probability) it will never need to be used.
But paranoia and prudence being what they are, I did it, and I can happily declare from where I currently sit that it’s mostly done and the excitement level is now beginning to rise.
The last few days before leaving home (and I’ve never left for 12 months before) are curious ones, framed by a kind of pre-emptive homesickness, and looking forward to the comforts of home that one recognises upon their return. It’s also filled with finality – last chance to see someone, last time to enjoy a Melbourne style coffee, last time to ride a bike on familiar roads.
Today, 28 degrees by the beach, cycling the bayside route, seems a perfect way to farewell Melbourne. And so it is.
It’s time to start working out what we might fill our time with in the first few destinations. We’re lined up our first couch surfing hosts in Hawaii, but will need to hop off Oahu island (where the capital Honolulu is) and explore some of the less built up areas.
We only have 9 days there after all. And seeing as we haven’t traveled for a while (not since South America in 2007) it’s hard to recall how much time you need to be satisfied in each location.
Anyway, it’ll all work out one way or another ;-)