The Art of Moving

Moving from one place to another is hectic, stressful, and exhausting....and that's when you are simply moving across town, much less half way around the world. Our move to Africa is also unique in that we will be maintaining our home in Elko during our three year adventure. Daniel, Dave's son, will live in the house and take care of the place. It will be nice for us to still  have a home to come back to in Elko.

For those of you contemplating an international move, here are some insights into the process based on our very limited experience.

Immunization Shots! Prior to our "look see" last March, Dave and I received a total of 11 immunization shots. Dave has since had two more, and I have had one (with one more left to go). All of the following immunizations must be up to date: Hepatitis A, Typhoid, Yellow Fever, Meingococcus, Polio, Hepatitis B, Rabies, MMR, and Tetanus-diphtheria. In addition, Ghana is home to pesky mosquitoes, which can be deadly as they carry the infectious disease, Malaria. We have a prescription for Malarone, which is a preventative medicine for the disease. We have heard from other ex-pats that some take the drug, while others choose not to, and simply reduce the likelihood of being exposed to mosquito bites. We have decided to take the drug and then see how comfortable we are with not continuing the use after a few months.

Physical. Holy cow! We've never been so thoroughly examined in our entire life. The doctor and nurses checked every inch of us from head to toe. Blood draws, chest xrays, urine samples, hearing tests, eye tests, and then finally stress tests. I am thrilled to share with everyone that Dave and I are in excellent physical health. Yippee!

We are now getting ready for the actual movement of our goods. Newmont contracts with a company who will handle our move. We have been assigned a "relocation counselor," who is guiding us through the process. Basically, we are allowed to send over pretty much whatever we want, as long as it fits into a 20' sea container. One of the few exceptions is alcohol. RIP OFF! I had already purchased a huge bottle of Vodka and another of Jack Daniels. Sigh....

Because of Elko's rural nature, a moving van will take our belongings to Sacramento, where they will then be transferred into the sea container and then taken from there to the ship....I suppose in San Francisco? Never thought to ask! If you have Google Map....do a Google Search on Ghana and then check out San Francisco. That's a hell of a long voyage. We have been told to expect our shipment to arrive in Accra somewhere between 8-10 weeks after it is loaded up in Elko. Once in Ghana, our things will have to clear customs. We're thinking this is going to be a 3 month operation!

In the meantime, what do you keep with you? This has been a source of sleepless nights for me. Think about it....we are living in Elko where the high today was 40 degrees. I need to keep clothes for this type of weather for the next six weeks. Then, in early April we'll be relocating to Ghana, which sits just north of the equator, where the humidity and heat will require a completely different set of clothing. We've had to really think about the things we use on a daily basis and ensure that we have those items available to us for the next three months. Ghana is still a third-world country, and although commerce has definitely improved, there are still limits to the things you can purchase. Unfortunately, it's been almost an entire year since I've been there, and I was so overwhelmed during that week, that it was difficult to think so far ahead. It would have been nice to go back to the country one more time prior to our final move and visit with a different perspective.

Dave and I went through our home together this past weekend. We selected the items we wanted shipped to Africa and made note of the things we would need to purchase once there. I have cleaned out my closet and actually sent bags full of clothes to our local thrift store. It's amazing how much easier it is to let go when you know you are going to be gone for three years. I just kept looking at my clothes thinking "have I worn this all winter?" If not, I put it in the "let go" pile. Dave has to do the same thing with his side of the closet, but I suspect that won't take near as much time. His side is much smaller!!

We have a "pre-move survey" scheduled for Thursday morning, whereby the moving company sends some people out to go through our house. They report back to our relocation counselor, and based ont he information lets us know if we can add to what we are moving, or we need to remove some items. Once that is completed, a date will be scheduled for the actual move. We believe that will occur the first week of March.

After a few weeks of high anxiety over the move, I feel somewhat organized and frankly, ready for the van to pull up and move us out. If you walk into our house today, you really wouldn't even know we were moving (unless you went into the back room). Everything looks in place. We have placed stickers on items that we will be moving, which might appear odd. But, otherwise...business as usual in the Kern household.

More updates to follow on the big move.