Okay. I haven't been posting much and I think I owe my fellow Steemians an explanation. You see, for the past two months I have been making preparations on a grand scale.

I'm going to Australia

The seed was planted in September when a childhood friend visited. He lives in Australia. And there is something about old friends, sometimes they see you need something. I needed to be shaken out of my rut(?) with an adventure.

"Don't come for just 3 weeks," he said,
"Come for 3 months or more."

We talked of touring Australia and as the weeks have gone by and arrangements have fallen into place, it became a tour of the area. I mean, if you're in Australia, surely you're going to see Thailand? It's also quicker to get a Visa that allows for multiple 90 day stays in the country than jump through the hoops for one longer stay.

Plans take time to jell

At this point we're talking about 7 months but it also depends on my travel insurance which depends on extending my provincial health insurance. Details.

Meanwhile... I'm renting my house

If everything works out, it will be paying for part of my trip. Renting my house means moving my personal belongings into storage. Now once you have been in your home a couple of decades, even if you're not a hoarder, you have stuff. You have to pay to store that stuff. Let that sink in.

I have had enough space that I never had to worry about room for my things, and now I'm getting around to looking through that pile of boxes in the office closet. I still had college notes!

Above: Yikes! What have I done? Actually, most boxes are empty now, and after pitching some ancient computers, those floppies will be easy. You won't believe it but I had one 8" floppy disk!

There are other things. Renting your house means making sure that a few insignificant things get fixed which I never fixed because, well, they were insignificant. There were also some windows to be replaced, carpets to clean, clutter, recycling... (I could write a comedy on getting rid of a bed frame.) Then the belt broke on my dryer -- it's now fixed.

The downsizing will continue for a few more days before it's packing time, and I have arranged to store my electronics at a friend's house.

I haven't mentioned Hawaii...

While we haven't figured out the exact return date, we have been planning the start of the trip and that begins with 3 weeks in Hawaii, at Waikiki Beach and the Big Island, before flying to Perth, and I will be posting regularly on Steemit!

I leave in early January.

And what about my music?

I'm really going to miss my pianos... An update on my 2019 singing and piano progress can wait for another post. Maybe with help from my Steemian friends, I will find an open mic in Perth or Tasmania.

Images

Kangaroo image by skeeze from Pixabay.
Ayers Rock or Uluru image by Walkerssk from Pixabay.
Photo of my office in what looks like the aftermath of a hurricane taken with my Canon SX620 HS.
Hawaiian beach image by Bettina Nørgaard from Pixabay.