Month: June 2023

Last time we posted to our blog, we were just settling onto the airplane with our 3 kitties for the long flight to Paris. Two weeks have passed. The experience has been so intense, we are only just now at the point of being able to talk about it.

The flight to Paris was tolerable. We were in the back of the airplane, in 3 middle seats. Nothing comfortable about that, and even worse for the kitties. They actually were pretty good – a few woeful meows, and once or twice a near escape from the kitty carrier. Our daughter was amazing, making several trips to the plane restroom to clean up the inevitable smelly kitty accidents.

Upon arrival in Paris, the immigration line was long. But once through that, the process through customs was like an afterthought. I really think we could have just walked out of the airport. As it was, we dutifully presented our papers to the customs agent. She took a cursory look and verified we had three kitties, signed the papers, and we were done.

We met our driver from the Happy Saluki Pet Transport service at the curb. What an amazing company! Our driver was knowledgeable, compassionate and oh so friendly. From the time we got in the van, we felt comfortable, relaxed and in a friendly environment. Even the kitties were able to get free of their carriers and relaxed on the van seats. Happy Saluki says their job is to help people relax and move their pets to a new home. They delivered more than we could have expected for us.

From Paris, Happy Saluki drove us to Calais, France, for a trip through the Euro Tunnel. That in itself was interesting. Our driver expertly moved us through the French customs checkpoint, and on to the “Pet Reception” area. UK has a special building just for accepting animals being brought into the country. Our Happy Saluki driver guided us into the building, and to a nice person who very quickly and efficiently processed our paperwork. A quick scan of our kitties’ microchips, and a signature on the papers, and customs in the UK was done. After so much time and effort in getting the paperwork put together, the actual customs experience in France and UK was an unexpectedly easy process.

Our van then drove on to a huge train car with many other large vehicles. The car was sealed, and almost imperceptibly, we were traveling at 80 mph under the English Channel.

On the UK side, our drive into London was easy and uneventful. The kitties slept happily on the van seats (and after not sleeping all the previous night, I also had some nice nap time). Our Happy Saluki driver was adept at London traffic and delivered us to our apartment building door. I can’t say enough about the kindness, compassion and competence she demonstrated.

So, we arrived two weeks ago and started getting settled. Trying to acclimate our kitties – and ourselves – to a new apartment 20 floors above the city. And honestly, compared to the traumatic last couple of weeks in the US, it has been surprisingly easy to begin our new life here.

More about how we are adapting to London in our next post.

At the airport, 3 kitties successfully through security with only a small amount of distress. Another box ticked.

Next step get on the plane and get 3 kitties stuffed under the seats. Fly 8 or 9 hours. Go through Paris customs (hopefully without problems) and meet our driver for the trip from Paris to London.

So many challenges behind us. A few left ahead. We are on our way.

Tonight we are sitting in the almost vacant guest room of our house. Actually, it isn’t our house. We closed on the sale of our house 3 days ago. The new owners graciously let us stay for a few days to finish moving out and making the necessary arrangements for our new life.

The online sale of our possessions went well. A company called Caring Transitions handled all that, and also handled the moving of all the house contents out to the buyers. Last Thursday was a hectic day. We left to stay out of the way. The crew came in and dispersed most of our possessions. We came back to find a few things yet to be delivered, and miscellaneous other stuff still to go through and determine what to give away, and what to trash.

While we were out of the house Thursday, we took our 3 kitties to the vet to get the final paperwork submitted for transport of the pets. The amount and complexity of the paperwork involved is staggering. We have a great vet, and if all the stars (and forms) align, we’ll have the permits needed to leave on a plane with our kitties next week.

After the hectic dispersion of much of our possessions on Thursday, the moving company came to pack up what we thought was a relatively small amount of items to be stored here in the US, or an even smaller amount to be shipped to London.

What an ordeal.

The movers were a bit late and arrived about noon. We thought we had clearly marked things — storage, or shipment, or neither. Turns out it may not have been as clear as we thought. The movers worked hard, diligently packing and boxing things. Some things got packed that we didn’t intend. Time will tell whether we get the right things in London, and the others stay in storage in the US. All in all, the packing took nearly 10 hours.

While the movers were busy packing, we were busy going through boxes in the basement that weren’t going to be stored or shipped. These are the dreaded items that you pack away and want to keep for posterity forever. Except now, we couldn’t keep them forever. So we spent hours going through them.

Boxes of pictures. Pictures that all have special memories. Pictures that we have no room for and have to tearfully let go. Kids treasures…drawings from grade school, bowls made in art class, little things that meant so much and still do…but things we can no longer keep. Things from my office at work…awards, paperwork, mostly personal items that meant something to me professionally. A few survived, most have to be trashed or donated.

Our kids took a few things today they wanted. Mostly little things, with our piano being a large exception and now safely installed in our daughter’s house. Still some things to go to them tomorrow.

Then…the crew comes back in to take items to Goodwill for donation, or trash.

Our cars are the next big things to go. One car gets sold to Carvana tomorrow, the second on Tuesday. Again, just cars…with memories firmly attached. We bought our Subaru Outback in 2003, searching across the country for a rare 6-speed manual transmission. We stored it the 4-1/2 years we were in Japan. Always loved that car. And the Legacy was the car I bought when we came back from Japan during the peak of the pandemic. I didn’t put many miles on it, but it was a great car. And our last cars, at least for a few years.

All in all, the past week has been probably the most stressful we’ve ever had. We keep telling ourselves that this is the right thing to do, and things will be better. I still believe that. But there are still some anxious and difficult days ahead, highlighted by the logistics of getting ourselves, loaded down with more luggage than I’d like to haul around, and our three kitties, across half the world and into our flat in London.

I never want to wish for time to go by faster – it is already going much too fast. But I can’t help looking forward to a time I hope isn’t too far away when we’ve closed the door on this part of our lives, and have started the next phase.

We’re looking forward to our new life. But it is very hard right now to see past all the anxiety of closing out the life that we’ve built over more than 40 years.