Moving Expenses; Worth it or Not?

It's been a while since I posted a new blog.  Between watching The Tudors and setting up my wordpress blog, I have been neglecting this blog.


I got so entranced by The Tudors that I just had to watch the last two seasons in a week and a half.  At first I watched half an episode during dinner.  Then it became an entire episode per dinner.  I knew it was a problem when I started to dream it and it officially became a major issue in my life when I started using Old English words in my daily conversations.  My coworkers now use the word "grievous" around me...because it's an awesome word and sounds better and more educated than "grave" or "serious".  They're not making fun at me at all.

She would get anything from me
with that look

So I watched the entire show and I've got to say that it never let me down.  The last two seasons are more exciting than even the second season where Natalie Dormer becomes (SPOILER ALERT) the Queen.   Yes, I am a big fan of her, especially of that signature seductive stare of hers.

But moving on.  I'm hard at work to create a Wordpress blog documenting my progress as I diet and workout in accordance to Tim Ferris's 4-Hour Body.  When I hand in my two week notice I will post a link to my wordpress blog, finally revealing my true identity!

On to my title, moving expenses.

Lately I've been stressed out deciding if I should send my stuff to my uncle's place in California for safe keeping or if I should sell everything, including my much loved flat screen computer monitor.  Buying new things is always a possibility if I settle down somewhere (temporarily or permanently), but what if I don't have enough money by then?  It also takes time to find the right things and buy them.  To solve my mental suffering, I looked into prices.

Doing a quick Google search for "moving packing"  I found more than enough companies to get quotes from.  Every single one of them asked me to give them an e-mail address and full name before getting a quote.  I absolutely hate this!  Just give me the damn quote and then I might contact you!  I don't need 10 moving companies spamming me for the next 2 months.

One company called me 30 seconds after I hit the "enter" button.  They wouldn't give me a quote.  All they wanted to do was chat.  I think the guy was bored.  After a short chat, I asked what my quote was (again) and he siad he couldn't give one to me.  That information was administered by another department....which happened to be closed.  I asked for the department's number and I hung up.

The other companies gave me quotes ranging from $1,200 to $2,300.  Too much if you ask me.  I don't even have that much worth in belongings!  I made up my mind on the spot.  I would have to say goodbye to my belongings.  Except for a few posters, my flat screen computer monitor, clothes, and a few other items of sentimental value, everything else would be sold off or donated.

My last resort is to have a friend of mine who is moving to California take my stuff with him.  That might be a cheaper option.

In conclusion: Use Common Sense

If the move costs more or the same as all your belongings combined, sell your stuff and buy new ones instead.  As a side note, I have been called 13 times today and e-mailed 7 times by different packing and moving companies.  Ugh.

An Assortment of Thoughts

As part of my travel preparation, I have been reading similar blogs to mine for ideas and inspiration.  My favorite blog to date is My European Adventure by raisedbywildgrapes.

Raisedbywildgrapes left the great white north to explore the old country last year and has not gone back.  I stumbled across her blog when I searched for "one-way ticket to Barcelona" on google.  Expecting to find my blog post on my one-way ticket to Barcelona, I was surprised to find that another fledgling 23 year-old had had the same idea as me!  This adventurous Canuck posts some great stories and is a really good read for those planning a long-term stay in Europe.  Her stories on Italian Woofing have inspired me to trade meat and shoes for tofurkey and sandals for a few weeks after my first post-Jump leg of my trip.  Here is the link to her posts on Woofing in La bella Italia! http://raisedbywildapes.wordpress.com/category/wwoofing/

On a separate note...

It has come to my attention that the name I chose for this Google account could not be any lamer.  Erik Explorer.  Am I so unimaginative as to take Dora the Explorer's (No, I don't watch her show.  I have young cousins) last name?  In my defense, I was in a rush and want to keep my blog a secret from coworkers...no need to ruin the surprise of my resignation!

This also brings up the question as to why I have no pics or details on me.  The answer is pretty much the same.  Anonymity...for now.  Pictures to come soon in June!

Traction

I'm very inspired today.  The feeling I'm experiencing is similar to a bear waking up from a winter slumber.  Waking up at 11 am, my first stop was the kitchen where I prepared a hearty breakfast of scrambled eggs on toast, chocolate milk, yogurt with apple and nuts.  Leaning back to a bed of pillows, I watched all four episodes of the new History show, Vikings.

Egg pan, compliments of my mom before I left to college.
Moms never intentionally mean to embarrass us, but are nonetheless very good at doing so.
I kept this miniature pan hidden until now, which I use to make perfectly round scrambled eggs for bagels. 

My wonderful, 3 hour breakfast-in-bed-watching-tv splurge was followed not by preoccupations of how I would make a living after leaving my job, or brooding over how stressful and burdensome life can be (I'm thinking taxes and laundry).  Instead I felt full of life, happily moving my furniture around and redecorating my room, shirtless.  Perhaps that is too much information, but its been a while since I've done that.  My roommate and I aren't that close and the house has been cold all winter.  But I somehow didn't feel cold and I felt that despite the pressure to get things in order before my move, everything would be ok.

Sitting outside on my porch in a hoodie and pj pants, watching the sun go down, I feel a flame of inspiration and hopefulness in me.  I want to do a sun salutation, plateauing in a handstand and ending in perfect formation on my porch.  A relic of my college days when I got hooked on yoga and took every possible class I could.  I'll admit it, I first took yoga to meet girls but by session 4 I was always in the first row instead of the back row.  Needles to say, to this day my male friends don't like to talk about my yoga obsession but my mom is very proud.

Unfortunately I am still going through physical therapy for my right shoulder sports injury.  I opt instead to go back inside to escape the 40 degree weather and plug my laptop to my Bose speakers to listen to some Calvin Harris.

Oh but where was I?  Oh yes, Traction.

Traction

With spring here and April almost upon us, the countdown stands at 11 weeks and 4 days to my departure to Barcelona.  9 weeks, 6 days to my last day at work and 6 weeks, 4 days until I break the news to my supervisor and, harder yet, to my coworkers.  The end of this 9-5 journey is definitely palpable.  I could try and fight it but inevitably I will have to confront those days.  I can meet them prepared or unprepared, and I'd rather do the former.

Deciding to take The Jump really got me going in this new direction.  Buying my one-way ticket to Barcelona marked the transition from thinking to doing and writing this blog reminds me of the promise I made to myself; to explore and enjoy life.

Traction in the world of entrepreneurship means validation by your target market of your product.  In other words, the point when consumers of your product accept and use/purchase the product/service and thus get the ball rolling for your idea.  In my case, my idea is my trip and validation are external events that get me going on my trip going.  For example, having a plane ticket pushes me to look at transportation and other costs in Eastern Europe.  Researching costs helps shape my travel route.  Another example would be the self-imposed resignation deadline and its effect on how I save money and mentally prepare to leave my job.  That, in essence, is traction.  Traction is also comparable to momentum like this seal rolling down a hill.

Traction and Happines

I think that my improved mood this week has a lot to do with traction.  Life is pretty much the same at the surface, yet underneath the mundane I am preparing myself in many ways to leave.  As the light at the end of the tunnel gets brighter, the brighter my days get.

Girlfriend

Today was a rough one.

My girlfriend came over after work to "talk".  No, it wasn't The Talk. She tried convincing me not to leave, not to travel, to stay.

It's been an uphill battle, an emotional roller coaster to explain why I must change lifestyles and live unpredictably and adventurously...at least until I've had my fill.  But is it until I've had my fill, or is it a permanent lifestyle?  If so, how do I eventually consolidate both my wants: one, really explore the world to the best of my ability and two, have a family down the road.

An option is to explore now, develop a relationship later and start a family much later.  The issue I see with this option is what happens if my adventurous lifestyle becomes incompatible with a long-term relationship or marriage?  My girlfriend has already clearly said that I can travel my way, stay with her but not both.  Incompatible.

Another option is to travel less adventurously.  Live in a way that my girlfriend is ok with.  The issue in this one is how to live adventurously if I have to always be close to a phone or have internet access?  An even greater obstacle is traveling without being away from my girlfriends' side for more than 3 days.  Yes, she is emotionally high maintenance (her words, not mine.  I agree with her) and ideally for her we would be with each other 22 out of the 24 hours of the day.  She's not crazy and gives me plenty of space (I like my space) but even so, she can't imagine us being away from one another for more than a week.

But I love her.  Love her enough to tell her the true state of my mental health.  I'm unhappy living this life and I'm nomadic at heart.  How can I make her happy if I'm depressed?  How can she enjoy me if I'm down?

Trust me, I've shared these points with her.  She understands...yet she doesn't.  She wants to be with me and  finds new questions to prod at my theory or finds angles that can turn my arguments upside down.

I'm not escaping this life, or her.  I'm finding my direction.  I don't want to lose her, but sadly I think I will.  Doesn't matter how much two people love one another, I don't think two people should stay together if they have different goals and opposing perspectives on life that will lead them to different lifestyles.

Anyways, we're talking tomorrow again.  I'm preparing for a long conversation lasting until 11 or 12. Exhausting but necessary, especially if you love the other person.

To stay or to go?

Obviously for me it is go, but what things will I pack in my suitcase and which ones will I leave behind?  Will I ever come back for things I should have never left behind?

I wonder what others would do in my situation?

On Not Regretting Life Decisions

My life has been turned upside down ever since December 2012.  The holiday season was at its peak and I was at my low.  Unhappy, sad, depressed but worse of all in denial, my terrible state was obvious to no one, not even me.  Around friends I was smiles and always talkative - when I had the time -.  I was no different around family.  My life a success after college, nothing could possibly be wrong in my life.  That's what we all thought.

Working life is great...unless you don't like it

From the first day of my job search up until, well, recently, was all about following the acceptable and "natural" progression of life.  College, internships, a job with benefits after college that pays well (that's were I'm at) I was following the rule book step-by-step.  Attending college had been a no brainer; a good education and a fun experience, it put me in an advantageous position over many people.  A job was part necessity part fitting in.  I wanted financial independence and stability (need) but I also wanted to fit in with my peers who were either looking for a job or applying to grad school (fitting in).  The problem was there was no want or absolute desire in the equation.  While the job sounded exciting and I believed in the mission of the organization I had no burning desire to work 9-5 at a cubicle.  This realization did not come to me until December.

Life with no regrets.  Not yet.

College I don't regret.  Getting a 9-5 job isn't a regret either.  I believe that those life experiences that impact you the most are the ones to learn from the most.  Had I never worked a 9-5 I probably would have never decided to take this new life path, or even written this blog.  It taught me what I don't like to do in life.  I learned something new about myself through trial and error.  Mistakes (or as I like to call them, life experiences) shape us, teaching us more about ourselves than the happiest experiences.  The key is to learn from those experiences and take the necessary steps to change accordingly.  Without change, life stays the same and when our path remains unaltered we are prone to regretting our choices.

The next step

My next step is to take steps towards a life more of my liking.  Here's what I've learned these past two years:

1) Waking up at 6:30 am M-F is not for me.  I may have adapted to it but I hate it.  I could do 8 am.

2) I hate sitting in a cubicle with no sunlight.  Whatever I do next, there will be windows where I work.

3) My butt cheeks don't like to hold my weight up for 8 hours a day.  They like to stretch.  Less sitting and more standing please.

4) Independence in my work is a whole lot better than working for someone else.  I want to work on my projects in my fashion.  Advice and constructive feedback I can take, even working with others for joint goals is fine.  I can even work for someone I just want a freer hand in how I do things.

These are not very specific at all.  Most people would agree with me on these points.  The majority of people don't have the luxury or taken the steps to accomplish their working goals.  I will try to.

Taking these points into mind, I will use it as a guideline in life.  Reverting to this list will hopefully keep me from working a cubicle job again.