Hi everyone

this is a quick update regarding the preparation of the trip (which will start in 25 days!)

Since the last post, Kath went to Canada, and she has:

• renewed her driving license, so she will hopefully receive it before she comes back from Canada next week
• also renewed her credit card, because the previous one was about to expire
• looked into the renewal of her UK-ancestor visa, but it’s actually not possible to renew it. If we were to settle in the UK afterwards, she could apply for it again at that time.

In the meantime, I have:

• stopped the automatic money transfer for the rent of the appartment (since I just paid the last month’s rent)
• applied for a Visa credit card, because we currently only have matercards (and some countries mostly accept visa, so it’s difficult to get through with only a mastercard)
• done the paperwork at the tribunal so that Patrick can vote for me during the various elections happening in France over the next 12 months
• managed to sell the vouchers I had from a computer store, because I have nothing to buy and it would have expired before our return
• installed an online gallery to upload our pictures while we travel… but it still doesn’t work properly :(
• sent the invitation for our “farewell barbecue” on May 1st (which is, by the way, a national-strike day ;-)
• received a magnificient scubadiving diploma, and sent the receipt to get the CMAS 1-star certificate card:

But there’s still a lot that remains! We’ve got to:

• do the paperwork to transfer my car to my dad, and stop the insurance
• buy binocular (there are nice, light, affordable ones at MEC, so Kath is gonna take care of it :-)
• get the prescription meds we need to travel
• clean and give back my company laptop
• store all addresses (postal and email) and important documents
• pack our stuff and clean out the appartment (we have started already); we also need to finish painting its hallway
• apply for the international driving license (I just have to go to the Prefecture, but the wait is usually a pain in the ass)
• sell some things I have left and which would expire before we come back (movie theater tickets, indoor climbing wall, store vouchers, etc.)
• organize a small cocktail for my last day at work (April 24th)

And here are some important deadlines:

• on April 20th: stop Internet subscription
• on April 23rd: stop home phone subscription
• on April 27th: apply for withdrawing company savings
• on April 30th: stop hydro subscription
• on April 30th: sign out American Express credit card (if I get the visa card)
• on April 30th: stop home insurance
• on May 2nd: stop cell phone subscription
• on June 12th: apply for New Zealand working-holiday visa (just in case we decide to stay there one more year ;-))
• on August 2nd: apply for a travel insurance. Until then, we are covered by our credit cards.