It's done and we are on the road.
Jenn and I eventually managed to get all of our lives packed into a 30 x 10 storage cube, turned her car back into the Mercedes dealer (ended her SLK 350 lease), put the motorcycle up on a 2-ton jack, and packed our lives into four bulging suitcases and headed out of Tampa last Friday. Like any good adventure, it just happened to be snowing in NYC so we spent 7 hours at the airport waiting to take off. Finally got to NYC Friday evening and have spent the last three days running around the city having a blast while being blasted in the face with temperatures between 17 last night and 4 this morning - and that is w/o the windchill.
The last several weeks have been nerve wracking and exhilirating at the same time. The nerves have been bludgeoned from the staggering amount of organization and details that have to be taken care of - then multiply these by 2x if you decide to travel with your best friend. But it really all comes down to decisions and priorities. You step back and unearth every "thing" you own and simply choose what to take in your luggage for a year in another country, what to give/sell/throw away, and/or what to put into storage until you get back to the USA. I won't go into all the logistics like communications, leases, insurance, immunizations, contracts, visas, passports, bills, etc...but once all that is done and you finally zip up your carry-on and load everything into the back of a pickup for your ride to the airport, an exiliration may flood over you as it did me when I realized this was indeed a big moment. In a matter of months I had assessed everything and everyone I love in one way or another, and reorganized my entire life. I felt accomplished, sentimental, and deliriously lighter, untangled, and yes - untethered.
It was rougher for Jennifer, but I will let her describe her own feelings about the process when she posts here.
Today we are headed to JFK to fly out over the pond to London this evening, leave at 6 and get to London at 6 tomorrow morning.
Merry Christmas!
In our spare time...
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Also enjoyed:
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
Why are we reading what we are reading? 75 Books Everyone Should Read by Esquire
Hello!
- Sean n Jenn
- DanYang, Jiangsu Province, China
- Jenn and I met on Match.com and our first date was such a disaster that we still laugh about it! We had fun, our first kiss, we danced, I made her cry, we drove home alone wondering why even date in the first place. But I liked her. A lot. I apologized the next day and asked for another chance. She was sweet, and forgiving. And still is. And we couldn't deny the electricity, like two souls merged together by chance, and fate? Almost two years later we began to dream about a different life - a life of adventure, where everyday presents new challenges and experiences and we both do something that matters, adds value. Being adventurous thrill-seekers, we downsized everything, started saving, took some weekend seminars, and turned off the TV. We decided to stop talking the talk and started walking the walk. We chose the first year of our adventure to be in China. We moved here, found jobs and a great school(s), and are now teaching English as a second language in the #1 and #2 high schools in our new city, DanYang, and the adventures are just beginning. This is our first blog...
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