Tick, tick, tick, tick, there’s only two weeks to go.
Tick, tick, tick, tick, it’s time to get this show on the road. There’s bags to pack and things to sort. What will we take? What will we leave? Which parts of our life go with us and which stay behind in Arizona? Shirts, shoes, slacks, and socks, yes that’s the easy part. A coat for the snow, a hat for the rain, boots for the trail, and moccasins for indoors, all fill their corners of the suitcase. There’s khakis for Mondays, a suit for Wednesday, Dockers for Friday, and jeans for the weekend but where do I put my friends?
Shirley has a sewing kit, a small umbrella, and a Swiss army knife. She has a new paisley scarf that can turn two outfits into four and tall leather boots that are made for walking. No potholes will get her down. She has clothes to dress for work and clothes to dress for play. Even small earrings and a necklace will find their way into her bag. She has a new scarf for cold winter days that will keep her doubly warm. First because it’s made out of wool and second because it was made by a friend. But where will she put all her other friends?
The Peace Corps says pack light! Keep it down to 100 pounds they say! But who wants to lug a hundred pounds? Not me. In 2000 we traveled around the world for eight months with 30 pounds each in our duffels and five more in our daypacks and felt wonderfully free. I’d love to travel that way again but reality has set in. In 2000 we saw no winter and had no need to pack work clothes. Everything we wore was a soft leafy green or khaki brown as we sought to blend in while we skulked on jungle trails. In Bulgaria we’ll see all seasons and be in cities, towns, and villages as well as on mountain trails. So we’ll take our allotment of two bags each, but 100 pounds? No way!
Some clothes we’ll take. Some clothes we’ll buy as needed. We’re not worried about being clothed. It’s the rest of our life that we’re trying to fit into our suitcases and duffels. I’m a naturalist. I’ll pack binoculars before I pack underwear. And then there are books: field guides to birds, bunnies, bullfrogs, and butterflies. They all get priority. Shirley has her books too. They have to go along and so does music. Our life includes music. For me it’s classical, for Shirley it’s more varied, but for both of us there needs to be music. An MP3 player takes up the smallest amount of room and we shall have music wherever we go. But there is still something missing.
What’s missing are the two ‘F’s, friends and family. We want to have all of you along with us. So here’s what we’ll do. For those of you who can fly to Bulgaria, either by levitation or by credit card, we can offer you our “guest room” when you come for a visit. We’ve packed two sleeping bags and two sleeping pads and we’re certain to have a floor somewhere in our apartment for you. For those of you who are flight-challenged we can still visit with you and show you around Bulgaria because the first thing going in our carryon bag is a laptop computer. It’s our telephone and our mail box.
Somewhere in some fashion we will have access to the internet, maybe in our apartment, maybe in an internet café down the street, or maybe down the road in the next village. It may not be frequent access but we will have access.
You have our email address. If you write us, we will write you. In addition we will try to share Bulgaria and share our Peace Corps experience with you on this blog. Tune us in and see what’s happening. Our blog postings may be sparse at first. The Peace Corps promises to keep us very busy during the first three months of training but after (if) we survive basic training we will try to share with you if you will share with us. That way we can take the most important things (you all) with us on this new adventure.
Welcome to our blog and welcome to Bulgaria.
Richard & Shirley
p.s. For our new friends who haven’t read the tales of earlier adventures I have archived, on this blog, copies of Thirty Pounds and a Passport, the story of the 2000 adventure which celebrated our retirement, and On the Roof of Africa, a story of my climb up Mt. Kilimanjaro, Shirley’s present to me for my 60th birthday.
What a large volume of adventures
may be grasped within this little span of life
by him who interests his heart in everything.
Lawrence Sterne, A Sentimental Journey
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