The usual last minute jobs are on the list, things like ” test pool”, “mow lawn”, “advise bank of travel”, of course The Navigator doesn’t need a paper list, it’s in her head, unlike her other paper stuff spread all over the house. To be fair she has cleaned the paper up and sorted our hard copy travel documents into 2 piles, each about 1kg in weight, heavier than the medical kit she carries. One pile for her and one for me ( just in case).

One thing on the list was ” set up security cameras”, I had acquired a security camera kit from Bunnings after much research into 1080 v 2k, subscription v non subscription and other stuff I didnt really understand. Then excitedly I took it all out of the box and laid it out like instruments on a surgeons tray ready to operate, then I stalled at step 1 of the manual. The f…g thing wouldn’t connect to my phone, with an American accented voice saying “Cannot connect to the internet, try again”, so many times I was ready to pelt it out the window, or at The Navigator advising from the side with suggestions at a time when she might have been better to stay silent. Reluctantly I deferred to younger, more tech savvy, infinitely more patient family members ( thanks Mark & Tobe) who sorted through the issues, rearranged some of the bits and pieces, and after 2 days it’s finally working. I’m normally pretty patient but technology and The Navigator advising but not “doing” takes me to the limit.

The Navigator is a good packer, I have to acknowledge that, she can travel with 10-12 kg. However the other day I arrived back from Sydney there was a look of mild panic on her face, she had packed her bag and it was weighing 22kg and she didn’t think she could reduce the weight much more. She weighed it using the travel scales we use. I checked the scales and she had set them on pounds not kilos, crisis averted, 22 lbs = 10kg, so now she’s gone looking for more shoes and extra medical kit to get the weight up. We travel with a medical kit that most paramedics could not fit in an ambulance.

Last night I culled again, sorted money stuff, camera gear, today I’ll repack and hopefully get my bag to about 13-14 kg or less.

Getting ready for travelling is so stressful for a “perfectionist”, I can never find perfection, I try and cover everything and every situation with my packing, and it’s impossible, I still end up with too much, or too little ( in my head). Anyway you look at it, it’s a first world problem, having too much choice is not a problem.

The little container of Tim’s ashes is packed, we’ll leave him at places we haven’t left him before. The last 2 drops were in the Andaman Sea off Thailand and a moving little Buddhist ceremony on the Mekong River four weeks ago.

Tonight we heard that our flight from Doha to Rome has been cancelled, so we’re waiting hear back from Sonya regarding the options, if there are any, of getting from the Middle East to Rome. Fingers crossed that we find a way.

By the way, bag weights at the moment The Navigator 12.8kg Pauolo 12.4kg

Ciao from Pauolo in Dubbo for a day longer