Tick, tick, tick...

… in more ways than one. The days are ticking by, just 52 or so days until we leave and the pace of ticks off the to do list has increased too.

The biggest tick is we have a tenant! Signed and done, we hand over on the 15th December. The rental is not for the full year but that is okay we believe it is the right tenant and we can re-evaluate our options on the road. That big move forward leaves me finalising the full inventory of the house and what is staying and what needs to be put into storage and what needs to be ‘gifted’ to a new home. Luckily for us the rental is furnished so that takes a huge hassle away in terms of packing and storing, just our personal items need to go, oh and the wine! We are doing our best to drink what we can and we will take some to our holiday home for the few weeks we are there just before we leave! Our collection of more precious wines will be stored in the cellar of friends, thanks Franscois and Yolanda!

I was amazed at how much stuff there was in our house when I opened each cupboard and listed what was in it, considering we’ve been giving away a lot of stuff and not buying any more ‘stuff’ this year. I didn’t consider St.John and I as hoarders but maybe we’ve inherited a little bit from our respective families, his late mother and my late father were hoarders of legendary status!

The next tick was vaccines at the Travel Clinic at the Clock Tower, Dr Brauer and Associates. We decided not to create a big fuss about the vaccines and told Charlotte just before we left what the plan was, she was not happy with us, our ‘like to know the plans’ girl had a bit of a grump on the way there. A good dose of sensible travel health advice from the Travel nurse and a few slightly sore arms later it all smoothed over by a pop in at Hamblys for a small consultation prize for Charlotte and some sushi and our favourite sushi place, Willoughbys.

Another exciting tick was the arrival of our KnowRoaming MiFi Hotspot. It’s a wifi hotspot with a global data sim card that we can use practically anywhere in the world on a pay as you go basis. We went backwards and forwards about getting this but as much as we are going to be chilling and having a great family adventure St.John still has some work responsibilities as we travel so connectivity is crucial. There is of course the matter of lesson outlines and assessments for Charlotte which will be retrieved from the shared Google Classroom we will have with the school and some online apps that she will use like Mathletics and Accelerated Reader.

StJohn has used the KnowRoaming Global SIM on his travels and it has really worked well both connection wise and cost wise. I used the Global SIM when we were in London in July and the pay-as-go nature of buying data etc. without having to buy a UK SIM was a bonus, no panicking about huge bills when you get home! Read more about KnowRoaming and their cool products here.

There have been a few other minor ticks and a few other more philosophical conversations that StJohn and I have had over a bottle of wine or two that have helped settle my eczema that I get behind my right knee when there is a lot on the go!

There are still lots of ‘to dos’ on the BWT2018 folder on Wunderlist for St.John and I. (I’ve written about it before here and still think it’s a great app). I am sure there are some more ‘to dos’ that need to be added as the days count down – reality that struck me yesterday is that much of it has got to be done by the 15th December before we leave Cape Town to go to Arniston so the safety of 50-odd days is a false one…. It’s less than a month!

Despite the long list of adminy things and a scratchy knee that means I am definitely not a relaxed as I think. I do get flutters in my stomach just thinking about all the amazing places we will see and experience and just how privileged we are to be taking on this family adventure.

Okay, time to stand up and take a few deep breathes to appease Mr Apple sitting on my wrist and get back to that list.