Packing? What Packing? ;)

It might have seemed from the outside that I worked every spare minute I had this past summer ... but the truth is, I was too busy having fun to even notice the 'hours of scheduled time'.  It was awesome (aside from one or two things .. but again, everything happens for a reason).  Camping, concerts, hang time with pals, flights to see my best friend (plus the extended family), hiking a mountain, family time, dancing, BBQ's, strolls etc. I packed it all in :)

Come the end of August, emotions were high (no time for lows now lol). Friends, family...family, friends...work, road trips...road trips, work (you get the idea).  Seems like a blur (and a very long time ago) now.  What an incredible time...such an array of emotions with every event and day that passed.

In amongst all this, there was the preparing and the packing.  Yes ... the packing. Back in March I had the opportunity to sort and purge my things in a moving/relocating effort.  It was at this time I had to decide what I would need for however long I decided to live with my best friend, what I might need should I move to Europe, what seasons and special occasions were coming up etc.  By the end of that exercise, I had only a room full of my belongings ...the rest was gifted, went to goodwill or in the trash and of course the bulk of it went into bins and found their way to storage.

Fast forward to September.  Still crossing things off my bucket list of adventures I had wanted to complete while at home before departure, plus living and doing the daily stuff, combined with the details of this upcoming new and exciting chapter. Oh, and the send-off festivities, those were amazing, all while trying not to forget details or things or events, plus tidying up the loose ends at work and spending the most important time with the family. AHHH :)  Imagine for one second ... a basketball being spun on one finger ... yep.

There are a few faces and events absent in this photo.
Memories just the same and loved / missed equally ... thank you friends!

**Thanking my friends for an incredible summer. Appreciate the room and storage, the hang time, chats and love/support...and the fun!  Can't describe the collection of good people that fill my world and my heart.  A life like no other...a send off like no other.  Beyond grateful and I miss and love all of you.

If ever I could put into words the emotional feelings that swept over me that entire month, I'd describe it as if I were standing unprotected on a desert dune with those billions of sand particles (representing every emotion you can imagine) on a wind-gusting kind of day. Some pieces of sand were profound, significant, some small, at times there were just a few, sometimes they were felt simultaneous ... on and on (it was incredible).  All the while, what remained the same, was that my heart was filled with excitement and I was very content in the choice(s) I had made.

Dolan's Irish Pub - Send off Festivities

*thanks for naming a martini in my honour!  :) "Heidi's Bebida del fiesta"  aka:  "Heidi-Ho" haha

It was about three weeks before departure when I had learned that two of my girlfriends would join me for the first two weeks of this adventure (talk about excited).  So with no time to plan, a bit of planning started to occur.  Flights were coordinated, although all separate, we would arrived in Munich within two hours of each other. I then found us a place to put our heads for the week while celebrating Oktoberfest and after that ... well, we'd figure out Spain after we arrived in Germany lol.

What I did know:  I had a one way ticket to Germany, paperwork ready to arrive in Spain, I had my room packed up and fit what I thought I would need for at least the next 8 months into my new luggage (thank you, perfect gifts); two suitcases and a wheeled backpack. Consideration of the seasons, the weather, the other travel destinations I might like to explore etc. All this went into coordinating exactly what I would fill these bags with (23kg or less).  CRAZY.  I had two of the bestest to join me, a charged camera, a cell phone that was unlocked and a nice hostel for us to stay in Munich. One week till go time.  ... I said good-bye to the City and headed home to the country to visit my family.

To most, the unplanned plans of this adventure would have driven them crazy.  But I still had that feeling that I was headed to where I was supposed to be.  With many hugs, high fives, a few tears ... I boarded the plane. I sat numb for at least an hour, just weeping and smiling (all good).  A short layover led to a bit of hang time with my Girlie Lyanne and then the flight across the Atlantic commenced; this being the only 'real' sleep I had gotten in well over two months lol.  Finally, nearly 24 hours from departure, I touched down first and paced between Munich's two terminals awaiting the arrival of my friends.   Come on!!  :) ... Terminal 1 ... Terminal 2 ... back to Terminal 1!  Why, oh why, did I not write down their flight numbers??

The next post entitled "Oktoberfest 2013" will start the tales of the European Adventure and the memorable two weeks spent with two of my very best friends.

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~Holiday Heidi