We have been non-employed for several months but we are now also homeless.

We sold our home of twelve years, on Wednesday. It was a hectic and exhausting few days, but there was no more time for procrastination. There were just three choices for our “stuff” – into suitcases, into storage boxes or into the bin.

We donated furniture, large electrical goods, garden equipment and shed. We had valuable help on Tuesday, our move out day. Aussie Mate became “man with a van” and he and his assistant dismantled things, did all the heavy lifting, drove numerous trips to the storage unit, donation points and the local tip.

I cleaned as rooms became totally empty, consolidated our “take with us” belongings as much as possible. I dealt with admin, collection of our unaccompanied luggage, put tags on the various keys for the new owners, left a note about a couple of quirks of the house, took final meter readings. At eight thirty in the evening, every room was empty and clean.

We dropped off a box of last minute supplies to C~M for her and flat mates to use up – teabags, coffee, sugar, toilet rolls, tissues.

We went to our hotel, tried to sleep and mentally double checked that we had covered everything.

On completion day, we went back to the house one last time to pick up the few things we had left overnight in the garage. One pile for storage, tool box and a bag of odds and ends that we decided to keep. One pile of cleaning equipment for the tip. Mid morning, our solicitor confirmed that she had received purchase funds and estate agent released the keys.

We are homeless, “of no fixed abode”.

We juggled finances, investments, transfer to Australia. C~M spent the afternoon and evening with us and we shared a meal.

Our final goodbyes were tough but not as difficult as I expected. We have all done this before. I left for a gap year back in the past. We’ve waved S~E off on a one way trip to Australia. We’ve waved C~M off on a six month adventure to Argentina. We’ve waved in-laws off after their visits to us. Now it’s our turn to leave for a while.

A big thank you to all family and friends for their support and good wishes. It’s time to put our plans into action 🙂