Though we've been planning for a long time, and yearning to travel for even longer, when it comes down to it, the physical and mental challenges of preparing to depart are significant.
Material possessions become valueless and meaningless, and we shed them each day. Never do we feel so detached from possessions as when we realize that they won't be a part of our lives for about a year. And, probably since I've been working in sustainability and "waste minimization" for the past year, I really can't stand to throw anything away that has any value at all. Luckily, I have found homes for most things, and we have not actually taken that much to the transfer station.
I find myself ripping things apart into recyclable components, and seeking out artists who may want the random magazines and collage materials that I've collected. Being an artist, I have accumulated other people's junk, things that would already have been thrown away. Um, you can't sell those things... I have to justify their placement in the trash by telling myself that it would have been there three years ago had I not saved it then. Even so, it pains me to see resources put in a collective bin that is set into a landfill. Each item has a story, and so many resources that went into its production (from accessing the resource, getting all the components together, the energy that went into its creation whether by human or machine, the travel to its final destination), and we have fewer and fewer resources available to us any longer.
There are so many projects to complete, I don't know how it is going to happen, but I'll pretend I'm a superhero for another couple weeks. Finishing the thesis (presenting next Tuesday the 27th), doing some map design for this really cool audio tour book, doing an interpretive panel for the edible forest garden I put in. It is really this interesting transition period of completing everything everything at once, and proceeding forth with what is truly a new chapter.
And then when I can get past all that, I realize that I'll be on another continent for 8 months, and that just blows me away. I'm still kind of realizing what that means, particularly culturally, but I suppose I'll have more time to realize that after I finish my thesis.
