Each day brings something new...

And its never cheap!

So the car has had its roadworthy ~ the new engine and installation came in at $1100, almost $2000 less than the reconditioned price AND removal/installation. Now we need to get the roadworthy done to find what other incidentals are needed to have the car registered again ~ oh please please angels, fairies, gods, let only small incidentals be required. If we can have the car ready to register for under $2000 we can afford the 3/4 pop top caravan. 

If not, we are looking at a few of those canvas cover fold out caravan/trailer type combos ~ you know ~ the ones where the beds poke out both sides and the camper stove, fridge and table are in the centre. No cupboard space, but floor level storage. So long as we can get our queen mattress in and up to QLD, the rest can be limited to what we get in the back of the station wagon. 

Well ~ so you know we are about to embark on a life changing sea change.

We have had some great support, awesome cheers from friends urging us forward - to live our dream. Many call us so courageous but its not just about getting the courage to do it ~ trust me. I reckon every morning these past few days I have woken with the most amazing urge to be violently ill in panic and fear (and the fluttering of excitement!). I've woken at sparrow's fart and hidden under the covers, avoiding getting up to start going through the motions of packing up (or is that scaling down) Ok ~ maybe the courage is in continuing forward and not just saying 'this is too hard and scary, lets not...' *gulps*

But I do agree with one comment dear MillieBug said: ~ its so been a case of 'don't die wondering' which prompted us to review what we wanted to do, what was keeping us from doing and what needed to be done to achieve it. There are so many things we all 'wanna do', activities we are 'gonna do' or items we hope to get 'if we win the Lotto'. We are leaving our friends here, placing our home in the hands of agents, fixing our car on the cheap, buying a canvas caravan for as little as possible, bunking with friends all the way along the coast with an oily rag in our pocket to fuel the car, going to a place we know not a soul AND to a house we have never seen owned by people we've never met. Plus we'll have about $1000 to see in the first few weeks. Oi bloody vie!!!

And yet ~ we are actually doing it. The big dump bin arrives Monday, two weeks to clear crap and the garage. Two weeks to get items of (sort of) value sold, things to keep in storage sorted, the bare necessities chosen. Then its talking to agents about tenants, insurances, schools, services for MudGuts and a trillion zillion other things we will need to do before putting the last of our house in the garage, locking it all up and leaving!! Hence the panic and feelings of fear. It is so very real ~ who would have thought reclaiming the spare room would result in moving to QLD??

How often do we get 'the itch' - be it the travel bug, changing jobs, a new career, a tree/sea change, yet we talk about, and scratch for so many years that when we 'get to the doctor' its so bad and such a mess we need to stay and be treated! Metaphorically speaking. That leap can be so hard, so confronting, so easy to ignore and put on hold until the opportunity has gone.

The whole 'there is nothing truly keeping us here' was the realisation which made the decision to move come about. There are schools in every state, there are jobs all over the country, there are more opportunities to be found afar than only looking on your back door step...

I challenge every one to take the plunge and make a change ~ throw out things you've been 'gonna get rid of', build the bit you've 'wanna had done for ages', or travel somewhere you've always dreamed of going. Changes don't have to be life threatening, but don't wait until its too late... again!