Chisanga’s Journey

Well it’s a bloody relief that I have finished all the major stuff that I needed to do before I go away. This week I have passed my Class 4 (read bigging #%$&ing truck) licence and my Class 6 (read super-cool motorcycle) full licence and now am all set. Just over a week to go now until I fly away and I only have minor stuff to do now.

I guess the next biggest dilemma to face is what to take with me. I know what should be taken when you go travelling. If someone comes to see me and says “I’m going to India what should I take with me?” I can read off verbatim a complete and minimalist packing list that would make the most ardent ‘travel-lighter’ proud. “Don’t take more than two shirts” i’ll say. “You can buy extra clothes everywhere you know” i’d quip. So why is it then, that when I am preparing for my own trip I have absolutely no ability to stick to my own advice.

I seem to have a wonderful ability to come up with thousands of exceptions for the journey that I will be embarking on that rationalise taking extra stuff..”Well i’m working in the U.K. for 3 months before I begin the main part of my travels so I need these 12 extra pairs of trousers”.. or something like that. I did do a test pack the other day and was quite suprised at how little stuff I do have so I suppose it’s not as bad as I thought.

So i know have one last week in order to say goodbye to various friends and family and try to think of all things that i have forgotten to do … I’m sure all these things will come ot be in a blinding flash as soon as I step onto the plane. I’m starting to get excited now…. this week is going to fly by…..

It seems almost unreal to me, sitting in my bedroom in Auckland, that in about a month I will be flying to the U.K. to begin my training to become an overland tour leader, a job I have dreamt about having since 2001. I know I am incredibly lucky that I have been able to pursue this dream of mine, in fact as it draws closer I get a feeling that something MUST go wrong to stop it all from happening so smoothly and easily.

Although I can’t wait for the next month to pass as quickly as possible, I am sure that as the date of my departure draws closer that time will accelerate and Monday 1 October will be upon me before I know it. This time at home, however, does give me an excellent opportunity to say farewell to friends and family who I won’t be seeing for at least 18 months or so.

So the most important thing that I have to do before I return is to complete my Class 4 truck licence, a task which I am somewhat nervous about. I have only had my Class 2 licence for 3 months and have basically no experience in driving trucks so I am a bit worried that I may find it hard to transition to the larger Class 4 vehicle. It doesn’t help that I can only start my truck lessons on 19 September and I hope to fly out on 1 October… if anything goes wrong I may be forced to reschedule my flight which will be a complete pain in the backside.

I have then almost 3 weeks to occupy before I can start on the truck lessons, the only thing else I have planned is to have five fillings which unfortunately the dentist has told me that I must have – what fun.

I suppose that I should put in more planning for what I will need to do before I leave as I am sure there are a million things that I haven’t even thought about that I will need to organise, avoid, pay for, sell or inject myself with before I fly away.

Anyway this has been a rather disjointed opening post, probably suits my mood quite well and I’m not actually doing too much of great interest at the moment. I’m sure that when I start my training then some interesting posts may eventuate. Heres hoping.