One day to go!

Who knows when this Dorothy will return to Oz but she’s so glad she caught up with most of her favourite munchkins over this last weekend..

I’m a sentimetal thing and was worried I would be feeling nostalgic and emotional at this stage of events. But I managed to snatch an hour alone in my favourite thinking place which enabled some well needed evaluation and perspective of my impending adventure.

My favourite place is a certain table in the Town Hall Hotel where you can look out over King Street and watch Newtown passing by. A better people watching spot I’ve yet to encounter and it’s the best place to spend a Sunday afternoon with a cold Carlton Draught and pen and paper. It’s a place to reflect and I’m so glad I managed that hour alone here in what was a very intense weekend.

I reached a content almost zen-like state sitting there yesterday and mentally prepared myself for the coming week. At the end of the night as I sat on a Mountains train heading to my childhood home, I got a text message asking if I’ll miss Sydney. My answer was, not yet. It’s not my home right now. That little table in the Townie has been a spot I’ve frequented on many a Sunday afternoon for the past seven years. It will be there when I get back.

I have ways of staying in contact with all my favourite people. And they too will be here when I get back.

One day to go! I’m ready for you Vancouver!

2 weeks. 14 days. No matter how you look at it, it’s not that long away. Then why does it still feel it?

I leave for Canada in 2 weeks and 2 days. Leaving Australia for 2 years. It doesn’t seem real.

I have to think carefully about how I am feeling. It is similar to waiting for Christmas when I was little, but this year I am a little apprehensive of Santa Claus. All the possible scenarios of what is to come play like a looped video tape in my mind. I think I am afraid of getting bogged down in the who, what, when, where and especially the why of it all. Trying to predict is something I have done in the past and it usually fills me with anxiety. But not so much this time, just a nervous excitement.

It is playing in the background like muzak or white noise. I can distract myself from it but it is always there, just under the surface, to get sucked into when I find myself in reflective moments. Staring out the window of the train or late at night when I should be sleeping, these are the times for the video to get louder and harder to ignore.

The feelings aren’t bad. Just confronting and different. I am looking forward to this imminent adventure and can’t wait to wake each morning to the newness it will bring and become an explorer every day.

I think perhaps I just feel impatient. I want to get going.

I’ve reflected enough!