Transitioning Lives: Our Journey into the Unknown

I'm not sure how to describe how our brains felt one month, and even one week, before leaving our home.

The moment we decided to start our full-time traveling, I told Noah I wanted to start with our preparation right ahead; we would not wait until the last few weeks. I pushed myself and also him to get things going, to declutter our belongings, to pack things we don't need anymore, and to think ahead. I was serious about this preparation, and I told myself I didn't want to drown in the last-minute stress.

Well, we did some pretty good preparation. We started early. But was it possible to avoid the last-minute stress? No, it wasn't! But I want to believe that it still helped, and it could have been worse.

Two Months To Go

So when we came back from our Portugal trip at the beginning of September, we knew the days were getting closer and it was now getting serious. I can only speak for myself, but I feel like from this day on (to be honest, until now), my brain works differently. I was able to switch into "survival" mode and tripled my efficiency level. There was only Yuma, eating, sleeping (a few hours less than normal), working, and preparing for our trip. Each night after Yuma went to bed, I either packed our things, listed our stuff on Tutti, or wrote emails to authorities. Bedtime was usually after midnight. Not to forget, that Noah and I hosted two events 5 days before our departure. Both had to be organized as well.

Oh boy. As the last week came around, I wasn't sure if I could handle all of it. My emotional feelings were cut off long ago; I was a working machine; my ability to feel was switched off. There was just not enough capacity. The last week was packed with sorting everything left into three categories: 1. stays with family, 2. donating to thrift shop 3. selling. We gave away a lot of our belongings, but through this process, we also realized how many things you accumulated over the years. There were way more boxes I kept and stored at my family's house than I thought I would.

Well organized Chaos

Our apartment was a mess, and so were we. But we still somehow made it through. We managed to successfully host our two events, clean and hand over our apartment, book our first apartment, and know where to sleep. Of course, none of this could have been done without the help of our family! But to be fair, there are still things that we haven't managed to take care of yet. So the evenings are currently used to get those things out of our way, like our taxes, for example.

Even while writing this newsletter, it's a miracle for me how we managed to pull this off. Taking care of Yuma 24/7, working part-time, organizing two events, and still, we somehow found time to dissolve our home in Switzerland. It's impressive what can be done by us humans if we have a bigger why.

Then the big day came. We slept at my mother's house. Said goodbye to my mom in the morning and had breakfast with my sister. we loaded our car, kissed my sister goodbye, and started our route in the GPS (Arbonne-La-Forêt, France). We were on the way to live our dream. It felt exciting but still oddly "normal". After a 6-hour drive, we arrived at our first Airbnb. I think we were both very relieved that it was now done. The waiting, the preparing and the not knowing. We were just both very happy and proud to create a new lifestyle. How this is currently going, more in the next blog.

Sending Love

Santemi

P.S. I feel I'm still in that "survival" mode. Because it's 23.30 and I just can't find an end to my to-do list, and feel like I need to accomplish more after finishing this blog. So my personal goal is to leave that mode behind and start to recharge and treat my emotional being well.