Packing...

This time tomorrow I will be hitting the highway from Ballarat to the airport, with the family. Flight is at 5.30 tomorrow afternoon. Of course, I have a lot to do today, packing, and organising what I need to take, and what I can leave behind.

I am not as anxious about packing everything up and going this time. I know now that whatever I forget, I can buy wherever I need it. I guess I have learnt that being over-prepared is a pain...well, in the back! I am worried enough about my luggage allowance. I guess I am also less concerned about saying goodbye to everyone, too. I will be just am email or a text away...and surely there will be lots of visitors for me when I am settled somewhere!

I have managed to get in contact with an agency who is going to set me up as a live-in carer for a few months upon arrival to the UK, which has made the finances seem a bit more managable. Not the most glamourous of work, but will allow me to see a bit of the country, and work out where I would like to be the most. Plus it will be more flexible than a real job...which means the important things like the Ashes will be possible!

So tomorrow, it will be Goodbye Oscar and Monty...Goodbye Alfredton...Goodbye Loreto (I will miss the dreaded 10 year reunion this year, with a good excuse!)...Goodbye exciting city of Ballarat...Goodbye much loved Melbourne...and hello adventure!

In the meantime, I have a last Sunday family roast today, and then a night in front of the tennis. C'mon Aussie! (Disclaimer: I don't actually like Lleyton himself...but he is an Aussie...you can't not cheer him on tonight!)

Goodbye Porpoise Spit...

Today I had a final farewell lunch at Oscar's, with my nearest and dearest friends and family. People traveled from Melbourne, and Sydney to come along, which was very cool!


Some of the gang at my farewell...
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Many drinks helped with the goodbyes to many of the gathering...and there are a few people banned from the potential airport scene. Was great to catch up with people before I go off, and run away. (More photos, thanks to Jess. Such a cute one of Yuri and Alkira!) I am sure I have assured everyone that they should visit me when I am away! I should be having a regular stream of visitors...now just to get some work, and sort out what I am doing in the UK!

2 sleeps to go, before the big plane ride!

PINARC Farewell

The girls and Barry from PINARC took me out to lunch today at The Boatshed, for my last few days of work. (This is just the second time we have had a farewell for you, isn't it, someone asked!) I have loved slipping back into my old job, catching up with people and meeting new members of the team. PINARC and the Making a Difference team is still one of the best places I have worked.
Deb and Heather assure me that I could come back and work there anytime...I just hope that I make it in the big wide world for a least a couple of months before I need to cash in on that offer! Hee hee!

The MaD and PINARC gang, at my work farewell lunch.
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Bye, bye Rav.

I sold the Rav today, all done. That baby's no longer mine. Bit sad really - like ending a long term relationship. Where else am I going to find a companion as reliable!!??

Handed it over to a car yard in the end, after no result from my ads. After doing the rounds of carsalesmen - do they really need to be like that? - I took the only real firm offer. Had to, really. Time was ticking.

I have had so much fun with this car. Loved it! And it's so pretty!! It has put in 4 good years with me, after buying it almost as soon as I had a "real job", hee hee! Oh, with a 6 month respite stay with Andrea and Dean when I was in Cambodia (thank goodness for them!!).

Note to self: next car should be a brand newie, and should be traded in for a newer one every couple of years....

Plans, Stress and Getting Ready

Travel Bug

I am thinking that my upcoming travels will work on curing my travel bug...that I will get it out of my system, and then be happy with growing up, settling down in one place, and all that stuff that everyone else seems to doing already. But the more I talk about that to well travelled people, the less that seems likely!
A recent PM (Private Message through http://www.bookcrossing.com/friend/Hawkette) I received from jackiea in response to this idea, shared a quote from John Steinbeck (Travels With Charley, 1962), has amused me the most...

When I was very young and the urge to be someplace else was on me, I was assured by mature people that maturity would cure this itch. When years described me as mature, the remedy prescribed was middle age. In middle age I was assured that greater age would calm my fever and now that I am fifty-eight perhaps senility will do the job. Nothing has worked. Four hoarse blasts of a ship's whistle still raise the hair on my neck and set my feet to tapping. The sound of a jet, an engine warming up, even the clopping of shod hooves on pavement brings on the ancient shudder, the dry mouth and vacant eye, the hot palms and the churn of stomach high up under the rib cage. In other words, I don't improve; in further words, once a bum, always a bum.

Looks like I will never be cured!

The Plan

So, off on the 31st. I am going to spend a week in Phnom Penh, to catch up with people there (looking forward to seeing Evie, Luke, Sharee and Cal, Borin, and Nina!), after a night in Bangkok. After that, 2 more nights in Bangas, and then off for a week in Tokyo.
And then, fly to London.
And then, who knows?!? Have got my Working Holiday visa, and will look at finding work when I get there. Hopefully something amazing, fulfilling, and well paying...they exist, right?
But then I also have many play ideas, like the cricket and the tennis, and a trip to Turkey for ANZAC Day, and Oktoberfest, and...and...and... So many things to do and see in that part of the world! Hmmm, so work would have to be super flexible!!! Oh dear!
The orginal plan was to land in Manchester, and set up life there. But at this point, I will search for the most suitable job, and see what happens. I kinda like the idea of arriving with little plan, and letting fate take it's course. Of course, that could mean I will be home in a month with all my money spent...lol.

Preparation
So many things to do. Need to sell the beloved Rav. Need to look at accommodation and travel plans for Bangkok and Tokyo. At work at PINARC I am trying to wrap up and complete handover. And, of course, I need to organise a farewell and catch up with everyone before I leave. Oh! and I'll need to pack at some stage....

Catching Up
Had lunch at Europa today, and caught up with Narelle and Katie. Haven't seen either for ages. Katie is about to become a mum, due in March, which is very exciting!! And Narelle is awaiting news on the outcome of an AYA application... Could have a visit to Hanoi in the next 12 months coming up!

Hello jouljet!

tempus fugit- time flies in Latin!!
Certainly the theme for me and the last couple of months!!

Big thanks to Jess for setting up jouljet for me, in preparation for my upcoming travels. I have been admiring her blog since meeting her, and love that you can catch up with what she's up to through her site.

Why "jouljet"? Jouljet is the rough phonetic word for "like" in Khmer. Although it's really more stronger than like, it's to like with all your heart. I hope that by calling my blog this, I will always be doing things that fit this description from now on!!

I have my flights for my big "I'm running away to find out what I want to do with my life" trip booked for the 31st of January...which means time is ticking!! So much to do! And so very, very disorganised!!

I am hoping to keep this page up to date with my whereabouts on my travels. I like the idea of having this here for my family and friends to pop into, and as a way of keeping a record of everything for myself, too!