Are You All Packed Yet?

“So… are you all packed yet?”

Ask me that again. I dare you.

Skipper jumping in here. Oh my gosh, I have lost count of how many times someone has asked me this in the past two weeks. I laugh every time. Not really a relaxed laugh. The kind of laugh that means I don’t have time to explain what my life looks like right now.

Here’s what the past few weeks have actually looked like.

I’ve been singing in rehearsals and performing in a choir concert. The First Mate has soccer three times a week, swimming lessons, Cub Scouts, and we hosted his birthday party with all the fixings because we’ll be on the road on his big day. Our helmsman (Dutchman) has been volunteering for a big Rotary fundraiser. Somewhere in between all of that, wrapped up business year ends, filed income tax, we sorted out house sitting and dog care, paid property tax, and kept two full-time jobs running.

And yes. We are also preparing to leave in six days for 16,000 kilometres.

So no… we are not all packed. And yes, there are lists. So so many lists. The main packing document has eight tabs. Count ’em, eight. And we are still finding things that didn’t make it onto any of them. (Hmmmm… do we need the wagon? Oh yes, we need the wagon) Thank goodness the Trip Packing List is a living document in the truest sense, meaning it is alive, it is growing, and it has opinions.

Who would have thought that looking forwards to a cross-country road trip with an eight-year-old would feel like a vacation before it even starts.

The gear prep has been its own project. The new infotainment screen and camera got installed, which means Harvey now has better technology than most of us did in 2019. The bike rack went on. We researched, sourced and configured a portable router for safe internet on the road. And then there was the insurance research, which turned into its own rabbit hole. BCAA RV policy. Out of province health. Trip interruption. Each one a separate conversation, a separate set of documents, a separate tab in the spreadsheet, and a separate moment of quietly not looking at the total.

Worth every penny. Probably.

Oh, and then there was the water pump.

Dutchman (aka Chief Engineer) saw the problem, got out the tool box, and took it completely apart. Diagnosed the problem. Fixed the problem. Discovered there was a second, entirely different problem. Something to do with a valve. Or a phalange. Or something. I was not present for the technical portion of this conversation and cannot confirm the exact terminology, but I can confirm it is now fixed, water flows as it should, and we have now put things back together before we even think about packing.

This is life with a 25-year-old RV. You fix one thing, you find another. You love it anyway. (remember when I mentioned we’ve got extra insurance?)

And rain… oh lordy! Did I mention rain is in the forecast?

Ask me again if we’re packed. In a few days, the answer might actually be yes.