A thousand days of planning and somehow I am left scrambling the day before. We were making good progress but then our youngest got sick the other day and that threw a wrench into things. We are just happy she had wrapped up the last of her play dates and birthday parties this past weekend. So for the last couple of days, she’s been staying at home watching me attempt to fit a ridiculous amount of gear into a finite space. That and watching TV. I think she knows TV will be hard to come by and is getting all the viewing she can right now.
Anyways, we’ve crossed off a bunch of loose ends this last week.
Storage – We rented a small locker to store the items our renters probably don’t need or want to see. It is pretty much full now. One final run to today and then I will padlock it and see it again in a year. I am embarrassed to say it, but I would not be upset if 75% of the stuff were to disappear.
Get rid of some Stuff – The final boxes of free stuff were put outside on the curb. Thanks to the many good neighbours who gave some of our children’s toys a second life. Someone even took the 2000 Mini Cooper Wheel Lock Keys!
House Repairs – An unexpected sink repair popped up this week which I had to tackle but I think we are done on this front. So fingers crossed, the house is in better shape than when we bought it. We tested the new AC at full blast this week and it works great.
Deal with the Car – We looked at a bunch of different options and decided not to sell. A good friend said he can use the car for a year so we took the car seats out and dropped off the keys this weekend with him. Like the house, the car looked the best it had since I drove it off the lot 4 years ago.
Kids’ social lives – The final playdates and birthdays are in the books, and the kids have been collecting their friends’ addresses for postcards. Swimming lessons and gymnastics wrapped up this past week with ribbons, medals and badges aplenty.
Empty the Fridge – We haven’t really bought groceries in a couple weeks. Sugar has been replaced with palm sugar – I’ve been eating frozen pies crusts and everything has sprinkles on it – joking aside it is slim picking and I haven’t had an egg in weeks. We also finished a bottle of Disaronno that we had from 8 years ago.
Prep the Jeep – The jeep is clean, serviced and ready for us to load up later today. I even washed the car seats.
Clean the House – Why is it our houses always look the best when we are leaving them? – the porch is painted, the cabinets are scrubbed and all the appliances have gone through a self-cleaning cycle with their filters all replaced!
We take off tomorrow and we’ll see how it goes. The first few days are with family to ease us into things. Paigey and I just hope the kids are as good travellers as they were before the pandemic. It has been a long time and we’ve got our fingers crossed.
Ciao for now
Mike
Forgot to mention the cat!. She is settled in nicely at Paigey’s mom for the next year!
Family Travel Countdown 
Best of luck and safe travels!
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Mike, I’ve been lurking on this blog for months now and awaiting the end of your countdown. Doing this with two kids is truly insane and yet I am still jealous. Wishing you all the best and living vicariously through you all!
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Thanks so much Emily. My kids do make it crazy yet awesome at the same time.
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Mike & Paige – enjoy!!! An adventure of a life time! Excited to read how you progress! And especially those early morning school lessons! 😉
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Thanks Paula. The kids have already decided they want teacher Paige instead of teacher Mike. I expect my classes will be poorly attended.
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As someone whose parents took me on all kinds of adventures, I can say your kiddos will remember these precious days forever. They have super cool parents. Have a blast!
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As someone who grew up travelling with my parents, I can say this will be a fantastic memory for your kiddos! They lucked out having you two as parents. Have a blast!
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Thanks Michelle….the kids are excited already! I hope they still like us at the end!
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You replied to this comment.
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Thanks buddy. It took a long time but glad it all is coming together.
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Sooo excited for you and your family! Have an amazing time everywhere you land!!!
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Thanks….Appreciate the encouragement
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Have fun!!!
This sounds so cool. I travelled with my 10 month old son to Turkey and vowed never to go anywhere ever again.
Sending good vibes.
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Yikes. I hear you, I can’t imagine the flight would have been fun.
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Wow- good luck Mike!! So much preparation has gone into this and I’m sure you will have a great time!!
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