Contrasting views

This awesome view of Vancouver is from our livingroom. (pictures were taken when we moved in.)

A quick look at the calendar confirms that we have three more weeks to the day, until the movers arrive. I feel way ahead of schedule until I remember that my calendar is filled with appointments and reminders about all of the tasks that have to be crossed off the list before we leave!

None the less, I am taking the day off from all packing related activities, to contemplate for nearly the last time, what a magnificent year we have had here at 1425 West 6th Ave. When we walked in to view this apartment last June, we both knew immediately we would love living here. A couple of weeks of a rental bidding wars, and nail biting later, we signed the one year lease. And now a whole year has gone by and here I am packing again!

From the day we moved in, we have loved it here.  The views from every darn window in this apartment are awe inspiring. This neighborhood is nothing less than awesome. Our pick of running and walking routes in every direction. A seven minute walk to Granville island, and a 15 minute walk downtown. South Granville and West 4th shopping a hop skip and a jump — and so much more.

When the sun shines, we agree that there is not a better spot in the world than 1425 West 6th Ave. A year from now, after we have been around the world and back, it will be interesting to see if our perspective changes!

Taken today. The view out our bedroom window.

Right now, looking out my window at the  beautiful scenery, helps me live with the  very contrasting views inside the apartment!

Three weeks and counting!

The view inside, in every room ...

How many trips can you fit in one suitcase?

So ... In Israel we need to look like normal people (after all we will be seeing people we haven't seen in twenty years), In Nepal we shed our urban duds and transform into trekkers. In India we morph into overlanders. In Southeast Asia we will be hot and sweaty tourists. On top of the appropriate apparel choices for each destination, there are the two sleeping bags, two thermarests, water purification paraphernalia, first aid kit, toiletries, electronics, hiking boots (they are soooo big) technical towels, etc, etc, etc...

And all of this is supposed to fit into a nice compact piece of luggage that we won't be cursing at, each time we have to catch the next train, rickshaw or plane. Marc has done a dry run and it wasn't pretty. I watched — and from what I can tell — he has one white shirt (for Shabbat as we say), and a nice pair of pants and maybe two more tops and bottoms — and the rest is gear, and he is bursting at the seams — like 20 people trying to get into a Volkswagen Beetle!

We had — shall we say, a difference of opinion as to how to approach this. I thought, that I would pick the bag that I felt comfortable schlepping around the world and back, and only take what would fit. Marc on the other hand, took a very practical approach. He suggested laying out all of the items that were essential to the trip, and then seeing how much room it would all take. It ends up we were both right. There is a limit to the amount of stuff we can take. We are both conscious of the fact that Kathmandu is a shopping mecca for trekking equipment, and that in India we can have a whole wardrobe custom made for us overnight —and by Thailand we may be ready to throw everything out and start over. Still there are essentials that we can't, or won't leave home without.

The jury is still out on which bag I will be taking when we start part two of our travel adventure, and what will be in it. In order to get all of those doors, windows and the trunk shut, I just may have to give in and upgrade from the Beetle — to an Austin Mini!

The good news is that packing for Eastern Europe was a breeze for both of us and we are completely ready two days early, which is unheard of (for Marc anyway). And the greatest thing about this trip is that it is really going to be the "holiday" before the "adventure". Timing could not be more perfect — thanks D & D :)

Chaos is not my friend

Me and chaos have never gotten along. I have to admit, that I am my mother's daughter on this front. I am far from obsessive compulsive, but an ongoing mess feels like someone is screaming really loud in my head non stop. I am trying to ignore it. Rationally, I know that if I am packing up the apartment — and Marc is in the background trial packing all of our gear for Israel, trekking in Nepal, overlanding in India and touring in Sountheast Asia — I have to expect a bit of disarray.

But on top of the mess, there is the fact that the apartment is shrinking, or maybe disappearing is a better description. Every box I am packing now, is filled with artwork. My folk art collection, all of the artifacts from our travels, my mom's and my aunties' paintings ... As I close each box, not knowing how long it will be until I open them again, I am saying goodbye to pieces of our life — or at least "until we meet again". With each box taped shut, there is less of me, and of us in the apartment.

That's where the nutella comes in.

Embarrassingly — I will admit to you — I am eating it straight from the jar! Nothing like a spoon of nutella to smooth out all the rough edges. My arteries and the scale are glad the jar is almost empty. But hey, we can't put a jar of nutella in storage — and anything that takes my mind off this nightmare of a mess I am dealing with, long enough to tape the bottom of the next box, is a good thing.