One Week to Showtime!

It's hard to believe that there's only one week left before my adventure begins! There's this weird dichotomy: on the one hand I think about it every waking minute, but on the other hand I don't have time to stop and really think about it. I've been going non-stop in my preparations, when I'm not working. And then there are the times when I'm just too exhausted or overwhelmed to do anything so I crash on the couch to watch Netflix.

I'm almost there. On Friday I did a dry run of my packing, to ensure that everything I plan to bring will fit in my luggage. It does, but even as I was doing it, I found myself thinking, "I don't really need this... I don't really need that...." and I ended up removing a few more things.

I also have my storage cube space sorted out. Everything is neatly stacked in my living room in the exact dimensions of the storage cube, so I know it will fit. All that's left to pack for that is the kitchen stuff that I am still using.

But the rest. Oh, the rest! Every day I am moving things out of my house--giving it away to my Buy Nothing groups, donating it to the thrift store, sending it

to garbage and recycling, and selling it... every day there is a steady stream leaving my apartment. Yet. It. Never. Ends. Why doesn't it end??

Whatever is still left on Sunday will simply be going to the dump, as a friend is bringing his work van to help me take a load over there (thank you, Fritz!).

Last Friday was crazy. I woke up to an email from Airbnb stating that my reservation in Rome was cancelled and they were refunding my money. No explanation, no message from the host. Just cancelled. I booked this two months ago, and my stay is just a couple of weeks away! To top it off, they said that it would take 15 days to get the money back on my credit card(!). I was shocked and stressed, and I scrambled to find a new accommodation. I also complained loudly to Airbnb for the hassle. While going back and forth with them, I managed to find a new place that was $200 cheaper than the original one (though a little further from the centre), and in the end they also gave me a coupon for another stay which saved me another couple of hundred. All told, I ended up saving several hundred dollars from this debacle so I was reluctantly happy about it, but it gave me a wicked headache in the process. I hope that never happens again!

Thankfully the day continued better than it started: happy hour with my dear Dani, who I'm going to miss immensely. Since we were both having a rough day, we both had wine *and* the Oreo cheesecake. ;)

Today I headed up with Della and Jen to my favourite part of the forest for one last little hike before I go. It's the time of year when the rainforest is greener and greener every day, and I fall in love with it all over again.

I've mentioned a few people in this post, and there are a bunch more who have made an effort to see me before I go, and who have offered to help me, and who have been a huge support while I plow through the hard part (to get to the fun part!). I'm incredibly grateful to all of you and will miss you!