Intro: Prelude To A Trip

Hallo All- 

I started this blog when I first headed to Austria for TOP (Tyrolean Opera Program). Going across the ocean and staying in Maurach (high up the mountains) for close to a month was perhaps the longest span of time I’ve ever been away from Michigan. 

This time is different. I am leaving Michigan, my home for thirty plus years. I am driving across the country to make my new home in Las Vegas, NV. At least I have Marmot Maggpaw as my travelling companion. He is so cutes. 

Well, I tend to prattle on. So if you are interested, coolio, keep reading. If not, /shrug

Time to begin a new adventure…

As I was making my final preparations to leave Michigan, I knew it was going to be difficult. So many thoughts crossed my mind:

- Why didn’t I stop to take pictures with Sparty, Beal Gardens, my favorite fountain on campus?

- How did I never make it to Uncle John’s Cider Mill all these years?!

- FUDGE! Mackinaw Island fudge!! What I would do for some right now.

- I would have liked to squeeze in one more Traverse City Old Mission Peninsula wine tasting trip.

- My GB friends, my Detroit/AA crew, I didn’t get a chance to see them.

- I wanted to do…

- I should have done…

Packing up my life was perhaps one of the most difficult activities I’ve ever had to accomplish. This beats out: preparing recitals filled with the music of say, Strauss, Ricky Ian Gordon, and Mozart (ugh, Mozart will always be the death of me. "Ach ich kill me now" anyone?); any VBS planning and execution of sets; and perhaps my novel (oh, who am I kidding? That will be a lifelong process).

I am telling you now: if any of my friends are planning on moving within this year, START THE PROCESS NOW. Donate, toss, give away, or sell things now. Trust me. Thank goodness I came across the KonMari Method, the Japanese art of decluttering and organizing by Marie Kondo. If you don’t know what I am talking about, look it up. If I start talking about it now, I will go on and on about the process of “What sparks joy?” forever and next thing we know, it will be snowing in December and yalls will be telling me, “Let it gooooo…let it goooooooooo. Like seriously, let it go, dude.” 

Ahhh…I digress.

But really though, this method helped me realize all the materialistic items clogging up my life and spirit and whether I really needed them or if I could indeed let them go (gosh darn it, Disney, there I go again). If you are moving, definitely try to follow this method; if you just need a reboot/cleanse, I highly suggest you try it. I cannot recommend it enough.

Switching gears (kind of), you learn many new things about yourself when you need to pack up your life.

I learned that I am a hoarder (no surprise there). I still had homework assignments from elementary and high schools, numerous essays/papers from Humanities, lots and lots of letters/cards, sheet music (real and copies), TAF mementos (I did keep most of those things though. It was such a fantastic part of my past. Sorry, Bettina, I did toss our Big/Lil Sib correspondence on how you didn’t eat much that day and not to tell your sister, Anita...oops), and so much more. I threw a lot of those things away. Shifting from having a tangible object one can touch to a memory was at first hard to do, but got easier as it went along.

I learned about sending parcels via Media Mail with USPS. I was able to send the majority of my library (after whittling it down via the KonMari Method), thus relieving about 200 lbs of paper from an already burdened Malibu. I learned that many things I thought I needed were things I actually didn’t need, much less used. Yes, it is a simple idea, but a profound one once employed.

I learned that packing up a car with your things makes your realize you still have too much stuff. You need to purge more from your life. And so you go through the whole winnowing process again. And then after that, you require a Tetris master (Allison, I bow to you) to get everything INTO said car. Thank goodness I have such short legs or else this journey would be considerably more uncomfortable. I learned how important tread is on tires. *Side note: there are some things in life you can go cheap and buy the off-brand: cereals, phone cases, toilet paper. They get the job done. Well, maybe not off-brand toilet paper. Two-ply FTW. *Okies, back to tread, tires are NOT one of these things you should go cheap. Spending close to $800 on new tires was a pain in the pocket, but totally worth it. I can already feel the difference. It is smooth riding from now on (knock on wood).

Oh, I could go on and on.

More importantly, I wouldn’t have even gotten this far without my friends and family to help me and I haven’t even begun the journey. You know who you are. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Got my hat. Life is packed.

Got my cat. Music’s tracked.

Heart is heavy. Feeling some woe.

Come on Chevy. Ready set go.

Pardon the lame attempt at poetry. My mind is tired and I have blabbed enough. Time to rest up so I can be refreshed and ready for a new day. 

Much love, 
Rog