Pincushions

We have been making some progress in getting ready to move abroad. One job we can now tick off the list is our consultation at the travel clinic. This took about an hour and we now know that there are about 17 injections between us! That's only 8 inoculations but some have 3 doses, I think we may feel like pincushions at the end of it. The nurse spent a lot of time explaining that none of the vaccines would prevent these nasty disease so we need to keep an eye out for the symptoms.

We will have to make a start with the injections soon as some need to be given 3 months before we go and it looks like we could be on the move within 4 months. We have been quietly pottering along, talking about our move and suddenly there is a lot to do, this thing is gaining momentum.

All Our Stuff

It sounds easy. Organise to ship what we might need for 3 years to Malawi and persuade family and friends to store the rest of our belongings. But there is a lot of stuff that is neither useful or beautiful; things that reflect our life, places we have visited, lived, people we have known and lived alongside. Maybe we have just accumulated more than other people. I am envious of friends who have unclutered homes, which must be easier to tidy. They would find moving abroad easier too.

Really, we don't need very much and I am longing to live with less and to be able to say that I can live without all my stuff, to turn my back on consumerism. Apparently a 40 ft container should be big enough to send the necessities to Blantyre. Our life condensed into 683 cubic feet.