On the Move

Eric posing patiently with two heavy boxes while his wife grapples with the camera

We are finally on the move! We spent today, with the help of Eric's friend, the lovely Mark Joyce, moving most of our belongings into storage (Mark Joyce's bedroom till he gets his attic sorted). Though it's another week before we go to Berlin, I really felt like today was the first step on our year long adventure.

I don't know what it is about moving one's belongings from one place to another, but it always feels significant to me. There's something about packing away everything you own into boxes, throwing away the junk that has accumulated and trying to distill your life into two suitcases that is both liberating and stressful. I think it is a mixture of letting go of the old and embracing the new, which, as my old buddies in San Francisco used to say, is 'all good' really.

I'm not that sad to be leaving our apartment though. For one thing this place is cooooooold (not enough o's in cold to borrow a phrase from Ben9). Our last two electricity bills were astronomical as we had the heating on a bit more than usual and the worst thing was that it didn't even get that warm!

But there are things that were great about the place too. Firstly, we had the world's best landlord - Cyril. He was just a very nice man with a wicked sense of humour, who always tried to make our place as comfortable for us as possible. Secondly, we really liked our neighbours and loved stopping to chat with them when we met them in the hall. And lastly, our apartment was in a great location. I will definitely miss the walks by the sea.

However, as we get closer to going away (next Tuesday!) I am realising how ready I am for this adventure. Maybe it is the Spring weather getting into my veins but I am really looking forward to a bit of a change. So though the moving bit is stressful, I know the arriving bit will make it all worthwhile. Berlin - here we come!