Uh oh... A bit of a dilemma...

Just a touch of a hiccup in my newest plan.  Not that it’s a new problem, because it’s not.  It’s been my first concern ever since this idea (moving to Whitehorse part way through my year) popped into my head!  Considering i won’t have my car to move my stuff from one place to the other... (never mind i couldn’t drive in January anyway, if that was the moving time)... just how do i get to Whitehorse from Yellowknife?  I mean really... they’re both WAY up north in Canada... it can’t be that far, can it?  

Well, have you looked at a map?  It’s an 1880 km drive!!  It’s almost as far to drive from one to the other (horizontally across the map), than vertically from Vancouver all the way UP there!  Canada is a big country... 2nd largest country in the world (after Russia).  I already knew this, but it really sinks in when you try to go from one part of it to the other!  And we're talking about only the far west side of it!

Check out the air fares?  Cost is anywhere from $500 to well over $1000!  Does nothing go directly from one city to the other?  It seems as if you have to go to Calgary & all the way down to Vancouver, then back up again!  Surely not.  Anyway, price & route, etc aside, that’s not the main problem.  It’s packing.  How on earth do i fit my stuff... (stuff that i’ll need for an entire year mind you.. this isn’t ‘just’ a short trip!)... into a mere couple of suitcases?  Can i take a large suitcase AND a large backpack for cargo PLUS a carry-on onto the plane at least?  

I mean, there’s the clothing... i really want to take my long skirts, whose bulk take up almost the entire suitcase just on their own!  Lol.  Never mind a variety of tops, sweaters, dresses, sleepwear (both summer AND cushy warm winter... OH that housecoat alone is very light weight-wise, but SO bulky!)  Then there’s my hats.. i want to take a good variety of them... gotta have SOME fun up there!  A couple of my Starbucks mugs (i can’t live without them!), a small sampling of my collections (i can’t live a year without them either!).  My netbook.. my traveling scale (so i can keep control of my weight hopefully). My favourite cookbook or two, and art books.  What about art supplies on top of all this??  OH!  I forgot about the bulky parka & clunky Sorel boots! (thanks ladybug... i did get some on sale @ 3 Vets this last weekend!... i hope the -40 rating is ok!)... OH NO!  And my 'beanie' pillow!  I can't live even one night without my enormously heavy & bulky 'husks' pillow!  *sigh* And the list goes on!!  All into just a couple of suitcases??

Well anyway, i’ve got to fit it all in somehow!  Just in case i DO do this mid-season thing.  I am just NOT good at downsizing... as much as i’d love to do it!  Hehe.  I’ll probably moan about this a few more times as time marches on...  :-)

So much fun!

You know, i am having SO much fun planning this. For years i've fantasized about picking just a few examples of each of my most favourite collections & things (as well as the regular things like clothing, etc), to load into a car and take off & move to a new world. Sometimes the fantasy is just picking tiny representations of my favourite things (little miniature versions), just big enough to fit into a little ziplock bag in my backpack but not take up too much precious room, just in case i become homeless (for some unknown reason... one never knows!). I 'need' my 'things'. The things that represent me... the things that i love. They make me happy just to look at them!

Samples of my toy robots & ray guns... my ‘Toy Story’ alien... a car-dash hula dancer... tiki mugs... my 'Frida' art collection... Maneki Neko (the Asian 'good luck' cat)... mini dolls (Liddle Kiddles, etc)... one of my sock monkeys... devil duck... mermaids... my fav art (other artists and my own)... art reference books... just to name a few. Oh! And mustn't forget all my hats!

And now i'm picking those things for me to take to Yellowknife! A very real possibility, not just a fantasy! It's incredibly invigorating! A fun way to pass the time! They're going to take up valuable cargo space in the car, but as far as i'm concerned, they are more necessary than anything else, because i can always 'shop at the dump' or the Sally Anne for anything else i need! A year is a long time, let alone the possibility of two years, to be without my 'treasures'!

Did i mention this has been fun? :-)