Packing

Leaving everything behind and moving to an island in the Pacific is a romantic notion.  Unburdened by the modern world and worldly possessions, one imagines laying on the beach without a care in the world.  However idyllic that may seem, the reality is much more complex. Certainly, somewhere down the road I will be sitting on a beach without a care in the world, but getting there involves much more than just leaving everything behind.

Moving to Palau is not just one move, its really three separate moves.  The first part of the move was sending boxes of items from Richmond to Palau. Last week, I carefully packed thirteen boxes filled with stuff and mailed them to Palau. Mainly, the items were clothes, kitchen items, bedding, household items, entertainment like DVDs, and anything else I might need. Sending heavy boxes around the world ain't cheap, it cost about $550 to send them (which my job will reimburse). Packing them securely was time consuming and I hope they survive the travel. If everything goes right, the boxes should arrive just before I arrive.

The second move was moving my furniture into storage.  I rented a climate controlled storage unit in Richmond to store my bed, shelves, dresser and other small furniture items.  My coworker Basil was gracious enough to help move the furniture into the storage unit. His help was invaluable and we got it all done within a few hours. I added some other random items and filled the storage unit to the brim.

The third move was packing up the remainder of my stuff and fitting it into my car. I had not realized the amount of stuff I had accumulated while living in Richmond. Even after the first two phases of the move and filling many bags of garbage, I still only barely fit into the car.  Despite the tight fit, I got everything in and got onto the road.

Other than a little fog in Maryland and rain in Pennsylvania and Michigan, the drive was uneventful. I stopped and had dinner in Cleveland with my friend Katie and then continued on. I arrived back in Michigan very weary, but in one piece.

I have two weeks to go and more preparation to do, but I completed the Richmond portion of the move. The majority of the preparation is complete and now I begin the final stages of the move. There is still plenty to do, but I have time to get it done.