It’s not easy distilling and packing up one’s life in a matter of weeks. (I hear you thinking “DUH!” Go ahead, it’s OK.) We knew this going in, of course. But as is true for so many things, the reality is, umm, challenging, to put it politely.

In an effort to start somewhere, the better part of last Saturday was spent hunting through our apartment looking for items to sell at a local flea market. Suddenly, the closets seemed much deeper and more packed with stuff. Some things we thought we’d sold earlier were hiding in said closets. Plus our attic held all sorts of unremembered “treasures.” I swear, that shit multiplies overnight when we’re not looking. By the end of the day, we’d gathered enough for two car loads and declared it “good enough for now.”

Sunday found us awake at 4:3o am, groggy but looking forward to SELLING ALL THE THINGS! There were only 4 other vendors when we arrived at 6:30 am, coffee and donuts in hand. We laid out our wares, tied on our money pouches, and caffeinated our bodies while we waited for buyers and grumbled about why it’s still so cold at the end of April. The boys ate more donuts than would usually be permitted and then happily discovered a large mound of mulch to play on.

If you didn’t already know, there are some interesting people who like to go to flea markets. What you may not know is that there are some really interesting people who go to flea markets in Central Mass. Many people like to chat and were very encouraging about our imminent move. Others don’t even like to make eye contact. All of them want to spend the least amount of money possible. We didn’t care. We practically gave some stuff away, because, you know, we can’t take it with us.

It’s surprisingly tiring to be outdoors, on your feet, interacting with the public, negotiating prices, and constantly reminding the kids not to play on that enticing mound of mulch that we later learned was mixed with manure. Seven hours later, we were exhausted, wind-burned, and chilled to the bone. We packed up the car—somehow there were still SO MANY boxes and tubs—and headed home to count our hard-earned monies. The grand total? $94. A bit disappointing for all the time put in, but it covered this week’s groceries, so no complaints. And now we have fewer belongings than before, which is the goal after all.

However, I have a feeling we’ll be posting more items on Craigslist, Close 5, and Facebook Yard Sale pages this weekend. Much less time-consuming, also less risk of reddening sensitive skin and overconsumption of donuts. That’s not to say there won’t be more flea market adventures. We’ve heard they’re busier on Saturdays…

Meanwhile, the realities of our future life in Thailand are being revealed in little details, like this one, a direct quote from one of the current RIS teachers we’ve been emailing with:

Our landlord set us up with a gardener awhile back, but she hasn’t come in forever because there hasn’t been enough rain for anything to grow… You do have to keep the grass short so you can watch for snakes.

Snakes? OK then! Good to know. It’s also good that the boys have seen the Simpsons episode “Whacking Day” as there may be some snakes that get whacked in the next couple of years. And here I was worrying about the stray dogs and cats…

 

 

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As for spider webs, this is the analogy I’ve been drawing to the incredibly complicated logistics that comprise an international relocation. As a spider web is an intricate connection of threads, so are the details we’re trying to navigate in a way that makes sense. We’ve been capturing our many tasks on an awesome app called Trello. It’s like a shared digital bulletin board where we can track and assign jobs to each other.

We’ve made “boards” for overarching categories and have been filling out the related details, such as gathering documents required by the new school, making appointments to get appropriately vaccinated, where and how to sell practically all of our belongings—including the car, what we need to get our visas, scheduling good-bye visits, what to do about our phone contracts… The lists feel ENDLESS. Not to mention overwhelming. For each task we cross off, we add two or three more. Most of them feel like priorities, so now we’re in the process of putting a deadline on each to-do and transferring them to a large calendar to refer to at a glance.

But we found that we couldn’t move forward on many of the tasks until we made decisions about some of the others. Like a spider’s web, we needed a center around which to start laying the connecting details, or threads, that will bind it all into a cohesive plan.

So where to start? We eventually realized that we needed to start at the end. We couldn’t move forward until we figured out which airline would allow us to bring our dog. Booking our flights was the center thread of our web.

 

After hours of research, disheartening phone calls, and ridiculous quotes from “professional pet relocation” companies, we’ve finally found an airline with a decent pet- and wallet-friendly policy. By the end of this week, our flights should be booked on Qatar Airways. Apparently, this is the preferred airline of sultans and falcons—and now Brodeurs. Our beloved Tetley gets to fly as “excess baggage” in her airline-approved crate in the temperature-controlled cargo area. Such a relief! 

 

We’ll be flying out of Boston late on July 14th, a Thursday, with a stop in Doha, Qatar, on Friday afternoon. We won’t land in Bangkok until Saturday morning. Flying halfway around the world will be an adventure in and of itself. Hello jet lag! I suspect we won’t know which way is up. Good thing our boys are both excellent travelers. It’s also good that we’ve given ourselves several days for our body clocks to adjust before the official orientation process begins.

It feels like progress to have made a solid decision. One big hurdle successfully surmounted. Onto the next thread: housing. We’re considering a very nice house to rent, within walking distance of the school and close to other RIS families with young children. The question is: Do we sign a lease now, having seen only photos and a personal video tour with the current tenant? (Bird in the hand, plus we’d already know our address and where we’ll be living.) OR do we wait until we get there and look at several other houses in person  so we can compare but do so while dealing with jet lag and competing with other new teachers? You’ll have to wait until next week to find out.

PS. If you know of anyone looking for a well maintained 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid with low milage, let me know! Available early July.