Rise Up!  Today’s the pre-travel day!

Rise out of bed – only way to make sure I actually get out of the autumnal warmth is to place the mobile phone alarm 3 metres from the bed.  Once I slide out on autopilot and realise I have a brand new day ahead, my hand reaches in the pre-dawn darkness for the magnesium spray – yep, the hippy once so alive is now hip creakiness and athritic twinges.

Rise to the grateful thought that I am able to wend my way to the bathroom now and not numerous times during the night.

Rise to greet the sun.  Qi Gong daily routine brings my attention to being in the present, and enjoying the slow, gentle rhythm of the grandparent of Tai Chi.  It’s still dark, but somehow the darkness feels like a friendly cloak.  Yes, after the 15 minute limit responding to emails and the daily text to mother, the Qi routine starts to tingle through the body and I have now risen.

Being 60 Plus was never a goal.  It just crept up in its external, wrinkly form while my 20 something internal mechanisms were unguarded.  So now I am about to set out on another global adventure with a body almost risen to the occasion, a suitcase, backpack and a cross-body security thingy and a 20 something verve for new experiences.

Why pre-travel preparation is good for me:

.  I declutter my wardrobe annually – old undies, misshapen t shirts, well-worn gear and weight shifters kept ‘in case’ all make the cut for the trip, only to be discarded strategically along the way, so that I return to a smaller, manageable closet and a bloody good excuse for a shopping spree for the next season when I get home.

.  Because I have to complete a few work tasks which have been waiting waving flags at me for a bit

.  Long suffering mate and I double-check documents, details etc, so that we can also share any blame for stuffups along the way  – hey, I only suggested this trip, nagged for months, kept working to pay for it and drove him crazy with emails, fb shares etc about our destinations.  Sharing the glitches only seems fair😣

.  Keeps me motivated and curious about other lands and cultures.

.  We eat what’s looking righteously neglected in the fridge and freezer

.  I can ignore the mail for a month while the post office holds the prospective delights

.  The garden gets lots of attention to see it through – though this time LSM (Long Suffering Mate) has mastered the timer on the greenhouse watering system attached to our newly installed tank.

So…..we head to Brisbane late this afternoon, house the car, stay with family overnight and hope the taxi booking for 3.45 am finds the address and delivers us and pre-loved gear to railway station – dragging our suitcases on to the airport train to avoid traffic seems sensible now, but………

Ciao til we arrive at Sydney and the International travel begins tomorrow.🛫🍾🎉