Sunday 30 December 2012

Before we go . . .

Are you all packed and ready then?

Why do people keep asking us this?  Honestly, they started before Christmas and we're not going until 3rd January!  Today is Sunday, we leave on Thursday - why on earth would we have packed already?  Maybe I've missed something - perhaps the longer you go away for, the sooner you have to pack.  I do know people who pack about a week before a week's holiday, so perhaps it is reasonable to assume that, as we're going away for three months, we'd have long finished packing by now.

Er, no.  Actually, we haven't started yet, although there have been rumors of a list that we ought to make.  In fact, we are seriously thinking about making the list tomorrow - or we may leave it until Tuesday, once we've sobered up a bit after New Year's Eve.  On Wednesday, we'll be taking son back to uni, so we may have to pack on Tuesday as soon as we've made the list - or maybe Thursday morning, as we don't leave until lunch time.

Does that answer your question??

Before you go imagining two people madly running around throwing things into suitcases at the last minute, we have not been idle in our preparations.  And that's apart from the weeks of planning, which means we have now booked absolutely everything, and have my 8 page brief itinerary and two inch thick file of booking references and map, plus Eddie's spreadsheet to prove it.



We have also been out and bought some useful items, which are sitting in a carrier bag on the floor of our bedroom, waiting to go into one of the suitcases.  Eddie has bought things like mosquito repellent and a gadget to weigh your suitcases.  I've bought things like kindle books, handwash and shower gel, while we've both been buying lightweight, quick drying shorts and t-shirts, which are surprisingly (or maybe not) hard to buy at this time of year.  I did however find the brilliant Regatta Outlet website, where you can buy out of season outdoor wear at very reduced prices.

And another thing we've done is buy and drink lots of wine from the places where we're going.  It's amazing how many places you recognise as you walk up and down the wine aisles in the supermarket.  But I think people are getting a bit fed up of us pointing at wine bottles and saying - 'we're going there!'  (Just wait until we get back . . . )

The other thing we've done a bit of lately, is think about all the disastrous things that could happen while we're away.  Things like the house burning down, one of the children having a serious accident, that sort of thing.  But the children have assured us that they can handle it - they are more worried about us.  Things like getting mugged, driving over a gorge, losing our passports, losing our way, losing our marbles, falling off a horse, phoning them up and saying we've decided to stay in the Cook Islands and not come home, that sort of thing.  Things I'd rather not think about (apart from the Cook Islands).  Maybe I'd better start that list to take my mind off it . . .