It’s like we’ve died and gone to backpacker heaven.

In the morning, Yellow House continued to live up to its promise from the night before. After a week in the heat, Antigua had been cool enough for us to get a good night’s sleep. The spotless showers had plenty of hot water (a luxury) and breakfast was a big spread of not just fruit and toast but eggs and beans and... spaghetti? (for the vegans, I guess). It was easy to understand why so many of the guests had been there for weeks and sometimes months. Some were studying Spanish, some were working in pubs but most were just hanging out. Like the two Italians who checked in just behind us last night after doing a visa run to Mexico since they’d already been in Antigua for 30 days.

The only negative things about the Yellow House? Their wifi didn’t work and the two free computers were limited to 10 minutes of use when there was a line, which was all the time. Nonetheless, we decided to stay and switched to a now free private room. It wasn’t much different than the three-bed dorm except it had a tv with 100 channels and was further away from the noisy street.

Eventually, it was time to escape the backpacker heaven. Not to explore the city but to get rid of some of the library we’d, well actually Adrian had been carrying around for the last month – and the reason his was so heavy. We consulted the Lonely Planet for the list of used book stores and headed to the first. Unfortunately, Lonely Planet got it wrong and this place only sold new books. So we headed to the other end of the city to the second one listed. They wouldn’t exchange our books but they would buy our old ones for a pittance – barely enough to buy two new ones. Adrian was unhappy until I reminded him that we’d actually picked up one of the books for free so we didn’t lose any money. But it was a good lesson that we should keep an eye out for book exchanges rather than used book stores.

The book store was attached to a cheap but tasty café so we stopped for lunch. Then it was off to retrace our steps back through the city only this time we’d actually take it in. Because Antigua deserved our full attention. It was one of the prettiest if not the prettiest towns on our trip so far. Every street was cobblestones and all the buildings, old colonial ones. It was like something off a movie set.

And that comparison was especially true in the plaza mayor. On one side was the city hall and on the other the beautiful old cathedral which we decided to explore only to discover that it was just a façade (photo above ) – just like a movie set. The original cathedral had been destroyed by an earthquake in 1773, leaving the interior exposed to the elements but still cool to explore.

Across was the museum in the old university but it was closed for renovations so we headed back to the square. The vibe was backpacker-friendly without being too touristy, thanks to a healthy local population who lived and worked in the city. It kept the number of tacky souvenir stores to a minimum but it also made the street vendors a bit more aggressive in their pitches. However they were still easy enough to get rid of. And it was even easier to shake them by slipping into one of the museums around the square. We passed on the old book museum and popped into the Palacio del Capitanos instead. It was a disappointment for the price and just a collection of old maps, weapons and other old things related to the history of the local government.

That was enough sightseeing for day one so we decided to do what all good backpackers do – call home. And being in a backpacker friendly town, it was easy. For the first time on the road, we saw numerous places advertising cheap overseas phone calls. So Adrian phoned his parents and I phoned mine. After 6 weeks on the road we figured they were due for a check in and we were due to hear the sound of some friendly voices.

Afterwards we decided to add a taste of home to our day by heading to the grocery store to get some stuff for dinner. Although believe me, I tried to find something else to cook. But without a decent spice section or collection of President Choice Memories of Wherever Sauces or an even an oven back at the hostel, it was hard to figure out what else to make. However, when in backpacker heaven one should do and eat what backpackers do.

Repeat after me: Bah nedity, Diple bah nedity.

Two weeks of unemployment and I’m burnt out. (Yes, I can hear your tiny violins playing from here.) Thanks to a week of non-stop goodbye dinners, lunches, drinks and brunches, we’re exhausted. Good thing we have the next year to recover.

But first a special shout out. Thank you Sarah, for not only putting a roof over our head for the last week but offering to get up a 5am to drive us to the airport. Someone buy this girl a drink for us. She is awesome.

Yes, it’s true we moved even further east for the last week. We had no choice; Sarah insisted and when Sarah insists you can’t say no. On the day we check out of our hotel, we were woken by the sound of jackhammers, so we were thankful that she insisted. In the words of Adrian, “we love you Sarah!”

So east we went but east we didn’t stay there all the time – after all as I said before, it’s hard to break a lifetime of living on the west side. Well, that and we still had lots of shopping and general housekeeping to do west of Yonge Street. We went to Bank A, Bank B, storage locker, Bank C, back to Bank A, MEC, storage locker, computer store, and finally, back to our storage locker one last time to drop off our winter coats.

And in between all the errands we managed to squeeze in a couple, actually five more going away events Now, before I continue, a warning. You may want to undo the top button before reading the rest of us this.

First was dinner and drinks with Loryl. And more attempts to convince her to join us somewhere before Russia (Phase 2). If you’re anywhere near her give her a little nudge for us.

There was Victoria and Jamie’s for mac ‘n’ cheese and board games. Thanks for dinner and letting us each win a game. And your gift will be much appreciated on many a airplane/bus/train/camel/boat/donkey ride.

Then Sonali and David’s for curry and drinks on the town for the boys and drinks in the house for the girls. Thanks to Sonali for the full tummy and leftovers. Thanks to Justine and Jack for the gift. And thanks to the lads for returning Adrian in one piece.

Oh and of course my family wanted an opportunity to stuff us as well – multiple times – and even more opportunities to express their apprehension over our trip. Please stop worrying; if you need to pay ransom, bail or hospital bills, Andrea has access to our banking. I’M JUST KIDDING, MOM. Honest, we’ll be fine and if we’re not we won’t tell you.

And finally there was a stop to see Liz and Graeme and little Leon. Not only did we get fed yet again but we received a very inspiration speech courtesy of Leon. His memorable words were: “gat bough irries... Da bah nedity… Diple bah nedity”. And let me tell you, wiser words have never been spoken. For those of you not fluent in the language of 2 year olds , Leon was quoting his current hero, Balu, of the Jungle Book who said “Forget about your worries. The bear necessities, the simple bear necessities.” And we’ve now adopted it as our mantra.

Especially as we began packing our bags. Soon they were as stuffed as we were after all those dinners and we weren’t even half done. Leon’s words were coming back to haunt us and not because it was the only thing he said to us all evening. So we slowly removed things from our pack, stripping everything down to just the bear, I mean, bare necessities. Finally, at 9pm the night before we left, the zippers on our bags closed. With that out of the way, we are finally able to forget about our worries and it’s all thanks to the diple bah nedity.

Moving on up to the east side to a deluxe apartment in the sky

That's right folks for the first time in our lives, we are moving east of Yonge Street. For you non-locals, let me explain. Ask any Torontonian; this is a big deal. If you grow up on one side of Yonge Street chances are, baring any extenuating circumstances, you stay on that side of Yonge Street. No idea why but it's the truth. But after 35 years, west of Yonge I'm making the move east. Sure it's only for 17 days but it's still a pretty big deal.

In order to get here, we had to purge our apartment of 1024 cds, 843 books, 165 dvds, 42 playstation games, and all our furniture. We did it. But through a combination of craigslist, donations to goodwill and the furniturebank.org we did it. And all our remaining worldy possessions now reside in a 5x10 storage unit. We made almost $3000 from our sales. And there were a few tears shed as we packed up.

But that means that tomorrow when we check into our temporary far east deluxe apartment in the sky, we'll truly be starting over with just the packs on our back.

So where are we now?

location: Toronto
departure: March 17, 2009
savings: $49,540
return fund: £7,455

To sell or not to sell that is the question?

With apologies to Shakespeare, the writer, not our cat.

To sell or not to sell, that is the question;
Whether 'tis better in the end to keep
The books and cds of our collection,
Or to take cash for our years of accumulation,
And by selling, end them. To read, to watch ;
No more; and by a sell to say we end
The possession and the thousand little joys
That collecting is heir to — 'tis a consumption
Devoutly to be wish'd. To read, to watch;
To listen, perchance to dream. Ay, there's the rub,
For in the end of owning what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off on our trip,
Must give us pause.



This should also give you a warning about the tone of this post. Yes, it's time to get all nostalgic and sentimental. Since Christmas Eve, when Adrian and I brought home 14 rubbermaid bins, I've started the slow labourious process of packing. So far I've filled 8 bins of books, Adrian has filled 2 bins of comics and we've barely scratch the surface. That's besides the 7 bankers boxes of books and comics we've marked to sell.

I'm starting to wonder whether selling might be better. Those are hard words for this pack rat to type. By thinking of getting rid of the majority, I'm kinda questioning myself and that's not easy.

I've tried to be objective . The cost of storing versus the value of the objects. The cost of shipping versus the price for selling. Shipping estimates range from 3000-8000 dollars. Storing stuff costs about $100 per month. But those are inconclusive. Because there's another value that I place on what I own.

My name is Liz and I am a pack rat. Like most addictions there's a strong genetic factor (nature. nurture - take your pick). My parents suffer the same affliction. I don't know where they got it from or why they do it. I admit that I take pleasure in owning, organizing and accumulating. There's nothing like categorizing by subject matter, alphabetizing by author or artist, or dare I say chronological order. Yes - these things make me very happy. Maybe now you'll understand that to even contemplate getting rid of stuff, is contemplating a whole new way of thinking.

Yet, coming to the realization that I may be getting rid of a lot of it, is very appealing. To be free of all this stuff. To start afresh. It's all really freeing.

As I stare at the wall of cds, dvds, playstation games and bins of reading material that line our bowling alley/hallways, I wish I had some info to help with the decision. For example, where can I sell all this stuff that will give me the best money? And how much can I expect per piece? If you have any answers or suggestions, please leave them in a comment.

Or if you're looking for some new reading, listening or watching material or household stuff make me an offer. I'm sure eventually I won't be able to refuse.

Oh and finally. So where are we now?

location: Toronto

departure: March 17, 2009

travel fund: $49,200

return fund: £1810

Our savings goal has been essentially reached. So you'll notice a new addition to the tally. The return fund is just as important as our travel money. Because as much as we are loathe to admit it. We will have to come back to civilization one day