We were a bit tardy in planning this year (because our initial plans fell through) but it looks like we’ll be spending Chinese New Years in South Africa, shooting big game (with cameras only). We’ll be spending time in the Kruger national Park and the Madikwe Game Reserve; I’m not sure I would call this trip a ’safari’ since we’ll be sleeping in the same place for a few nights in a row in each place, but that’s the general idea.
There are only two problems with the trip: first, one of my bosses (from the Netherlands) will be on holiday in South Africa at the same tme, and I think might even be in Kruger NP at the same time! Oops. However, he’s a good guy and being Dutch, I think he will be able to leave work-talk behind if we do happen to run into him and his family. (Dutch cultural thing: they are very often better about not taking work into non-work contexts.)
And second, there’s the point Ted raised: what do we do next? An African safari was always one of those things we wanted to do, and so was the Ice Hotel we went to last year. And the visit to the Pyramids, and the one to Antarctica. We need to put more adventures on our bucket list! Yes, I realize that as problems go, this is not exactly a heartbreaking one. And there is one major thing I want to do – the traveling around the US in an RV bit. But that first step (quitting the job) is a lulu, especially when they keep trying to get you to stay or even to take on new challenges. On the other hand, the one thing that scares me more than quitting and having no income, is putting off the big trip until retirement and then ending up like my grandfather, who retired and then promptly got a heart condition that prevented all the travel he and my grandmother had wanted to do. Or like my uncle, who did get a couple good years in after early retirement but then died of cancer at 61.
After we get back, I’ll only have a bit over a month before starting work in the Netherlands. Planning that transition is tricky. What I’d like to do is to have a week off here before leaving for packing and a week off there after arriving. However, that’s not working out well; for one thing I may not have any vacation time left to take here, since they’ve prorated my available time. Second, I’m supposed to start there on April 1 – but April 2 is Good Friday, and we have April 5 off for Easter Monday. That means all the stores will be closed there, which is not helpful for settling in! This is tricky… I think what I’ll have to do is take a week off here and then only two days there. After all, the place will already be furnished and it’s not like I need to learn my way around. The most difficult part of the move will be that I don’t think I get any airfreight so I’ll be living out of one suitcase for a couple of *months* until the rest of my stuff gets there by ship. Thank God and Amazon for the Kindle!