Sharon and Jacques’ Excellent Blog

Trust technology guy to keep us on the bleeding edge when it comes to our planning! Armed with a laptop and PM software, we sat down to arrange our to do list before our official departure date of June 20th. We have assigned tasks and times in order to ensure we remember everything and meet our deadline. At the moment we are on plan.

The biggest issue has been cleaning up the house to make sure it is in rentable condition. While we were at it, we figured we would just pare down our lives. It is amazing what you collect over the years. The detrius of your life…papers going back 18 years (bank statements, house purchases, receipts…).

Now that life is electronic for us, it seems silly to have filed any of this stuff. So the big pitch is underway. The offices are finally cleaned out. Our clothes have been stored. Friends have liberated some of our artwork to enjoy while we are away. We are getting very close.

It will be an interesting exercise to live out of a back pack. Though when compared to 20 years ago, things seem easier. A jump drive holds our important papers, our PDAs hold hundreds of books to read, our tech clothing dries fast and packs small. The biggest thing to carry (aside from the camera equipment and I don’t have to sherpa that), are the travel books. Seems to me that the smartest thing would be to make these available online for download once you bought the paper copy. I smell a business idea in that!

Back to the plan. Since both of us are highly organized, this seems like the best way to manage the tasks. Though most of you are probably laughing hysterically with the visual! It strikes me as odd that we are doing everything we can to organize the trip prior to departure, but as little as possible once we leave! As always, Jacques will ensure that we are on plan, but unfortunately, the on budget is always the unknown.

Here is to hoping we can see you before we leave, and if not, we will catch you in the fall!