Take it or leave it

We get asked a lot about what we plan to bring with us when we move. We've thought about this long and hard and for a number of reasons we decided to bring only what we feel we can not or do not want to replace. 

We never cared much about material things anyway and it saves Gil a lot of heavy lifting once we get there. Hiring a private shipping container door-to-door costs about 6,000 euros and we simply do not have 40m3 of stuff to fill it up with. Which leaves us with consolidation (container sharing). It takes just as long (6 weeks) to sail across the great big blue, but costs about 1/3 and prevents the secret hoarder in Yumi to just have Gil pack everything and store it somewhere once we get over there. 

Will we miss some stuff? Maybe. Can we buy it anew? Most likely. To get our old stuff over there would cost us between 6,000 and 7,000 euro, to buy everything we want brand spanking new (with extra shiny) will cost us $15,000. 

As with many things, at some point we had to make a choice and we realised that most of our stuff is 7-8 years old and bought with the house. Some of it would probably not survive the trip anyway and then we'd have to wait and see if it would fit our new house and requirements. Then there's the logistics of needing most of it until one week before departure and needing most of it again one week after we get there. Do the math and you will find that we need to bridge a 4-5 week period. That's like camping. We do not do camping.

So, what will we take? About 30 boxes worth of the below materials

Admin, Art, Diving books, Divekits, Bicycles, Photoalbums, Tools, Wooden vase, Kitchentools, Kita's urn,Gil's Clothing,Yumi's Clothing, Clock, Suitcases, Cookbooks, Laptop, Knives, Ovendishes, Small umbrella, Travel guides, Shoes, Cuttingboard, Extensioncords, Studybooks, Tablets, Handbags, Souvenirs, Alarmclocks, Healthcare products, Placemats and last but not least Gil’s Playstation. 

Gil considers it a challenge to his legendary packing skills to fit all this in just 24 boxes, let's see how that works out...

What gets left behind, sold to the highest bidder, donated to a cause or bonfired?

TV cabinet, Pots and pans, Water cooker, Dining table + chairs, Blue chairs + pillows, Book cabinets, Desk chair, Commode living room, Kitchen side table, Clothing racks, Garden recliner chair, Shoe cabinet, gardening tools, Garden chairs + table, garden hose, Small cabinets, Fitness devices, Desk lamp, Commode bedroom, 2-seater sofa, Dryer, Washer, TV, Clothing cabinet, Printer, Microwave, Printer, Magnetron, Mixer, Buckets, Vases, Curtains, Side tables, Kitchen scale, Kung Fu knives, Kung Fu staff, Books, Umbrella's, Lamps, Plants, Cleaning stuff, Tableware, Cat dishes, Clothes hampers, X-box360, Glassware, Christmas tree, Christmas decoration, Clothes hangers, Suit case, Circular saw, Black bicycle, Toaster, Iron, Bed, Toilet and bath mats, 3-seater sofa, Bed linen, Doormats, Cables, Litter boxes, Travel pens cats, Tosti maker, Dustbins, Ironing board, Cutlery, Pillows and blankets, Towels, Stereo, Scale, Matrasses, Large mirror, Small mirror, Nightstands, Table from study and Yumi’s Car. 

Some of this will be sold to the house buyers and some things have been spoken for by friends and family already, the rest is up for grabs for those in need.

A house to live in

Rent or Buy
People keep asking us: "...but where will you live?!". Let me reassure you, there's houses in Canberra, most are pretty nice and people seem to live comfortably in them all the time. Our daring plan is to follow their lead and rent a house or duplex.
The housing market in Australia is very different from the Dutch market. House ownership is the norm (70%), there's no "hypotheekrenteaftrek", mortgage rates are at 7%, the auction system is fairly common, many people own and rent out second or third homes as additional income and the average listing time for a house is 28 days. Oh, and the country is 185 times bigger, leaving them just a bit more space to build. All this makes for a fast moving market, that requires for us to physically be there to actually claim a house.

More on the differences between Oz and NL: http://bit.ly/HksSNG

Work Instruction on How to find a house
We found that the best website is: www.allhomes.com.au (because they have... all homes, which realestate.com.au does not). Then the fun of filtering starts:

• Select buy or rent (choose rent, buying is to lengthy a process and too expensive right now)
• Choose search view (suburb view is just too confusing)
• Choose the area (all ACT)
• Laugh at the district names and realize you cannot seriously consider living in Jerrabomberra, Quenbeyan, Yarralumla, Tuggeranong or Wanniassa (clearly, drinking on the job was not an issue for the naming committee of Canberra Municipality)
• Select rent per week $375-$500 (yes, that is per week)
• Select property type House+Duplex (or All, if you have nothing better to do)
• Under bedrooms select 3,4,5 and 5+ (we want 3, but sometimes 4 is cheaper)
• Under features select "pets allowed" (this will get you from 380 to just about 40 listings)
• Find out that the differences are pretty amazing between houses amd appearances are deceiving
• Sit back confused and consider flipping a coin on it

$380/week will get you this on Yarrawonga Street in Ngunnawal (Seriously, not making this up)

3 beds, slightly outdated, two big gardens and enough space for Yumi to consider starting an alligatorfarm

$450 will get you this on Clement Place in Macgregor with the same # of beds but much more modern and so much space you could run for 30 minutes without leaving the backyard. 

We're still very much undecided at this point. Yumi wants the cats to be able to go outside, where there's about 300 insects smaller than your pinkienail that could kill them in a heartbeat, not to mention snakes, dingos. crocodiles and Bigfoot. Gil wants an apartment with a balcony because he hates gardening and anything resembling plants that keep growing and shedding leaves. Besides, the cats can still go outside and be safe. I mean, ever see an alligator climb up a second floor balcony? Exactly! 

We'll probably end up somewhere in the middle as we always do and post the pictures of our alligatorfarm once we find the right house. Either way, as long as we're together, we'll make it a home, Bigfoot or no Bigfoot.

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts

Gil is writing this (because it is 3.14 in the morning and Yuum is a normal person who sleeps), but be sure that we've discussed this many a time and "I" means "We".

No use in hiding from the fact that it will hurt like a b*tch when the above people are no longer as close as they are now. We wanted to at least spend some time and words on what these people mean to us.

I never had the patience nor the smarts to be anything close to a philosopher, but fortunately the internet has lots of quotes from people that say funny and smart things all the time.

“Friendship is everything. Friendship is more than talent. It is more than the government. 

It is almost the equal of family.”  ― Mario Puzo, The Godfather

I find it impossible to translate emotions into words, while typing this choking up every now and then, but here's our best try on what these people mean to us, from left to right as well as the picture allows:

Roos: because she is the supermom-rolemodel, who found and walks her own path and lovingly organises four lives in the process
Little man #2: because he always wants to bigger, has a unique perspective on life and is a pint-sized super trooper
Kenji: because he's my big brother with a big sharp brain and a big kind heart, great taste in food , clothing and movies and a weird affection for Arnold S. and othe rthings that are 'just wrong'
Little man #1: because he is such a dreamer and invites us to his imaginary world where all is possible
Gil's mom: because she is my mom in most things and a friend in all others
Gil's dad: because he was my hero when I was young and a friend when I grew older. Best. Dad. Ever.
Samantha: because she's my small big sister who is nothing like me and alike in all things that matter
Yuum's mom: because she has her own way of doing things (including her own language) and a heart as big as a house that has a place for many things (but mostly cats)
Yuum's dad: because he's there when you need him or feel like eating pie. Wherever, whenever for whatever, always in the background, close to our hearts
Julia: because she is such a little firecracker, makes us laugh, brings out the best in her parents and gives meaning to the phrase "best of both worlds"
Alex: because I love him like a younger, better looking and smarter brother
Suzanna: because she has wicked listening skills, a redhead can-do attitude and a sense of humor to put it all in perspective
Marit: because she has the patience, heart and idealism to work with kids and achieves what she wants through hard work and an ambition that is only surpassed by her potential and determination
Just: because he is what I am not and a balance to my Gilbertness
Hester: because she is and will be so much more than she thinks herself capable of, with the best social skills ever and a lovely mom
Aschwin: because he is always positive, allows people their own pace and space,  is a radio dj (Gil's secret dream), fellow gamer, movie lover and the best thing that could have happened to Hester
Sophie: because she is too small to know it, but she gets kudos for connecting two lovely people for life, by just being there.

Okay, two hours gone and I am choking up again. I'll leave you with a nice quote from a book that I never enjoyed before, because a bear in a red t-shirt is just silly, but somehow this struck a cord:

“Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind. "Pooh?" he whispered.
"Yes, Piglet?"
"Nothing," said Piglet, taking Pooh's hand. "I just wanted to be sure of you.” 
― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

We love you and we'll miss you

Yumi and Gilbert

http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/81466.A_A_Milne

The bear necessities, those little bear necessities...

Things we think we'll miss:

People

• Family (most of them anyway)
• Friends (yeah, that probably means you)
• Kung fu and the kung fu brothers and sisters (osu!)
• A few colleagues

Locations and Experiences

• Rotterdam (the harbours, Zuid, the City, the skyline, the mentality)
• The AH XL Supermarket and its customers (hey, free entertainment!)
• Everything being just 15 minutes away
• Did I mention Rotterdam?
• The streets and fields of Poortugaal for our many, many walks
• My parents' garden

Food

• Lays Paprika chips
• Calve Yofresh
• Zuurkool with rookworst
• Liquorice (kicked the habit, but....)
• Cheese (don't give me that 'yeah we got Gouda" crap! Gouda is a city, not a cheese!)
• Bread that needs no toasting
• Maggi and Knorr meal mixes for the salt, colorants and preservatives
• Eierkoeken

Things we'll have to try and live without:

• 020 (everything aside from family, they is allright!)
• Helmond (just everything basically)
• Our loudass neighbours
• Screaming kids and trampolines in general
• Rain-Wind-Snow-Hail all-in-1 day- package

To be continued....

In the beginning

Blue Sky, Blue Sea, that's how it all started for us. With no immediate goals other than aiming for a meaningful and happy life, we decided that at some point we would try and live in another part of the world.
Maybe for a few years, but maybe forever, who knows....

That was 2009, This is 2013 and the end in nigh, well the end of life in Holland and life as we know it.
This blog will keep you posted on our plans, successes and less fortunate events. This way, we hope to keep the ones we hold dear close across the distance and share our experiences.