The Last Hoorah

The last few days have been, in what can only be described in the most understated of terms, "a bit busy". Following Lupe's graduation, we began the arduous task of packing and moving the entirety of our life and its subsequent belongings into a storage unit downtown. Lupe, Elvia (Lupe's mom), and myself spent three days sleeping in two-to-three hour shifts to completely transform the 5-year-long stay and collection of stuff and things known as our apartment into a bare shell made of white walls and tattered carpet. God bless the Rug Doctor(tm) tho. A dog can destroy a carpet. A dog with 5 years to pee, shit, chew, vomit, and rub himself into the same carpet can leave a tar-like residue that could be considered toxic in most states. When dared to drink the blackened sludge that the Rug Doctor(tm) had sucked up out of the wasteland that was our floor for a measly 5 million dollars, I quickly declined.

The end-cap of three days of sore backs and testy attitudes was the benevolence of two very kind storage unit managers who let us stay almost a full half hour past closing time a day before Christmas Eve so we could get the very last of our things out from a U-Haul truck and into the unit without a moment - or a square inch - to spare. Also, big shout outs to the two guys we hired to move the big furniture pieces on that first day of moving. Without you, none of that would have happened.

Ahh, travel....

The plane ride to Seattle and then Sitka was.... nice? Honestly, I don't remember much considering I slept almost the entire time. There was once where I woke up in a half daze to some serious turbulence somewhere between Seattle and Ketchikan but realized, in my stupor, that if I was going to die in a fiery ball of fiery flame in the fiery wreckage of a downed plane I would much rather do it fully rested and subsequently resigned myself to drift swiftly back into unconsciousness. Apparently it all worked out. I don't know; I could still be asleep and all this relief I'm feeling at the thought of not having anything to DO for the next 4 months might just be heaven. It sure feels like it.

That was the best part of this Christmas Eve Day: waking to the realization that I had NOTHING to do today. We got lunch at the Bayview (newly re-bought and remodeled since last I was here), went shopping before everything closed at 6 p.m., and now Lupe is wrapping presents in the center of the floor of the trailer we're staying, shadowed by the glassy ambiance of Christmas tree lights while I type away on the computer.

Seems like we're at home after all.

-d@n
Sitka, AK
12/24/09

It's the Fi-Nal Countdooooowwwwnnn danunahnaaaaa dundun dun dahh dahhhh!

My wife graduated from college last night.

That was a good one.

3 and a half years of tears, stress, sleeplessness, and frantic last minute trips to Kinko's are finally behind us; all boiled down to half an hour of long-winded speeches and a quick trip across a stage and all of that part of her life (and, subsequently my life) is quietly put in the closet where it belongs. Now.....

We are finishing packing all of our belongings into storage today. Tomorrow, our respective parents are taking us out to brunch on some waterfront brunch cruise-thingy, we visit Mom's for after-brunch and visit Lupe's family to drop off her mom and sister for the holidays. We also call our travel agent to iron out the remainder of our trip plans tomorrow seeing as how some items are still under contention. Monday, our U-Haul is coming with the movers and we transport the aforementioned belongings into our storage unit and we have our "going away" party. Tuesday, our landlord meets with us to go over the apartment and we cross off the items on our last-minute checklists, cancel the last of our billable services, say good-bye to the world and fly fly fly.

In four days, we will be in Alaska. While this will not be my first time in Alaska, it will mark the beginning of this new stage in our lives.

The last few days have been days of panic, pressure, yelling, crying, freaking out, and finally utmost resignation to the chaos that is now our new life. I cannot begin to tell you what an undertaking this has all been. I feel like a petulant child whining about how my diamond shoes don't match my gold-plated Jag. It doesn't seem like I should have that much to bitch about considering what I'm about to experience.

But god. damn.

This has easily been the hardest and most stressful series of events I have ever experienced in my life. I can't believe that in four. fucking. days.... all of this crazy will finally. FINALLY. finally be over.

That is the only thing keeping me standing at this point: the sheer will to GET there. Out there where I don't know anything. Where nothing feels familiar or safe or contented. Where I'm afraid to speak because I don't know the language. Man, what an amazing revelation that will be. I do so sincerely hope you can all come along. I will post often and plentiful. Be sure to tell your friends all about it.

Soon.

-d@n

On a personal note

In no small part is my desire to travel the world based solely on the desperate hope that the ignorance and arrogance that I am subjected to here in my own country is somehow lessened or, at the very least, different enough to call a stranger while abroad. I think I know this in my heart of hearts to be untrue but... one can hope.

Here, I worry that the only perspective I have is the one I'm surrounded by; that my field of vision is only as narrow as the tunnel vision suggests it is. Can seeing the world change this? Or will it simply reinforce what I already fear? That is the unknown of this journey which excites and terrifies. Because if seeing the world only serves to reinforce what I already fear, that this country I call home is teetering on the verge of swallowing itself in its own self-importance, then how sad a place to come back to. How sad will it be to return to a place that's dying in its own blinded cacophony? How much of the dying beast must I endure the weight of simply because I love it so?

Is it such a shameful thing to have hope? I don't think so... but the man on the street says otherwise. He says it's all coming down and there is no answer and has accepted the fatalism of this dying ideal and has chosen to watch youtube videos all day instead.

I can't trust him. And neither can you.

I know I can't be the only one who feels like they're the only one who feels this way.

3 weeks and counting

I made the mistake of looking at the calendar yesterday and realized that I only have three weeks left to pack all my worldly belongings into storage, shop for new travel clothes, pack a suitcase to live out of for three months, and cancel/hold/pay all my bills/mail/accounts. Basically, life as I know it is coming to a swift and unanticipated end.

At least all of the airfare is paid. The train into London via the chunnel too. Hotels in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, and our Great Barrier Reef tour are locked in. Bangkok as well but I'm still waiting to hear on options for Phuket. The place we looked at was nice and all but the reviews were not so hot. Plus, it looks really tall and I don;t want to climb all those stairs! I think Italy is solid as well. Greece will be a little trickier since we plan to move around a lot. Hell, I will gladly sleep on anyone's couch who will let me when I'm in these places if for no other reason than I'm there.

So far, I've been looking into some of the places we're going through some travel books I bought at Powell's. I have to say: I am surprised at how excited I am getting for Thailand. It was one of the places I was least excited to go to and now, after having read up a little on the Thais and their amazing culture, I am seriously stoked to see what a modern Buddhist society looks like. Plus, Bangkok makes Vegas look like a fricking petting zoo. So there's that.

Until then, I will keep posting random updates about the pre-travel part of this whole thing. Feel free to check in from time to time. I might just do the same.

-D@N