We leave in under a week. I knew the time would go fast but this has been crazy. As the cooler NT dry season sets in and the city comes to life there is a bit of pain in my heart that I’m leaving now. I should have planned it better for October or March when I’m absolutely hating life in the tropics.
It’s been a minute I know and I have good reason. My Macbook Pro had water spilt all over it and was declared irreparable. Win. Thanks to a very last minute insurance claim I was able to purchase a new computer and alas here we are!
As the leave date is getting closer the list of things to do is getting longer. I’m working my way through cancelling life. Power, water, insurance, gym memberships, kids activities and pretty much anything that comes with the 2023 standardised life. A little bit of thrill comes with that and a little bit of what the actual fuck are we doing.
The house settles on 18 May and the selling process has been a little tedious. A combination of a private treaty, a tonne of public holidays and some pedantic processes and we are almost there. I had no idea that a private treaty meant that buyers have an ability to negotiate post offer so working with that has been a test of my patience for sure. Thank goodness for a very level headed husband.
Our move is scheduled for this Friday. Funny thing is we are living with minimal belongings at the moment so what is in those boxes that we need? The girls have some paper and pencils, dinner has been picnics on the floor and meals are cooked with one appliance – an air fryer – and it’s working. Arvo street plays have increased, three climbing, squashed cane toad spotting and they have some chalk to draw on the bitumen. It’s perfect.
Visas for Bali are yet to be sorted. Have I left this too late? Yes. We need to apply for a B211A visa for each of us. This allows us to stay for two months and then extend for two months, twice. So essentially it is a six month visa but I should have applied about a week ago. The plan now will be to enter on a standard tourist visa which is valid for 30 days and then apply for the B211A when we are in Bali. Our first month is booked with our time being spent in Seminyak and Canggu before we hit some of the quieter islands. The whole point of this break is to slow down, have the girls connecting to life without having endless activities to do and just be us. So we definitely want to get out of the hustle and bustle of typical Bali and experience some of the quieter spots.
My clinic will still be running from afar. This wasn’t the outcome I had really wanted but I did plan for it. So I have been working hard to streamline processes, train a manager and hopefully still generate income from afar. It’s fucking hard being a grown up. I feel grateful to have a business that will still somewhat provide for us even when I am not working in it. It seems that Darwin, the place I have called home for 33 years isn’t completely ready for this break up and I’m not sure I am either so that kind of works.
Onto the girls. Lola really just goes with the flow and won’t remember much of this process. I check in with Mila almost daily, she’s not the biggest lover of school so I know this break will do her wonders. To be able to see her be a kid again is what I’m looking forward to. I feel like she’s had to grow up a little too quickly so I’m keen to slow her down a bit and let her little spirit run wild for a while. She is a deadest ice queen though but I can see her emotions coming out in other ways so I am mindful of that.
I am now researching programs that she can use from a distance to keep up her reading (if anyone has any suggestions please comment below!) and I will get her to journal each day so she can look back on this adventure when she’s older. It’s something I have always done when I’ve travelled and I love reading over the crazy moments I had adventuring around the world.
Moving brings so many emotions. Selling our house, cars, majority of our belongings and just taking an absolute punt that things will work out is just wild. Tears have been flowing as I say my goodbye’s to clients and friends or as I have a memory flash through my mind of my childhood. It’s all part of it I guess.
There will be more to come I know. The shedding of skin. The rebirth or whatever you want to call it. In less than one week I will be flying out of Darwin with a one way ticket. I will leave the comfort of everything I have known. The home I brought my babies up in. The solid income. The safe option. Today I practice acceptance.
Photo cred to my good friend Jett Street. Taken at our wedding, in the NT outback.
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