Head 'em up, and Move 'em out! :)

 

We're on the way!  I had a number of people ask me before we left, "how do you pack to move out of the country?".

Well, I have no idea :) lol.  I'm sure everyone who moves out of the country does it differently, but we did it by downsizing...a LOT...and by renting a 10 x 10 storage unit to keep our "must haves" until we get back.  Each of us got 2 very big suitcases to pack what we wanted for the year.  Airlines no longer allow 2 free bags each, but it's $60 for the second bag and that is WAY cheaper than mailing items and a lot quicker and easier than shipping it another way.  So, that is one cost that we were fine with paying! :) 

We have moved quite a bit since we've been married and most of our furniture had been through a lot :) lol.  so, we sold a lot of stuff that we didn't think was worth storing.  That money was all put aside and it will furnish our new house in Ayacucho!  The storage space is packed full though!  We also had a few generous souls offer some basement space for a few large bins :)

So, what would you put in two suitcases for one year?  It's amazing what suddenly becomes "not important" :)  Clothes fill up a large portion as we are going to a climate that is 55 in the morning and 75 in the afternoon all year round.  We are grateful that we didn't need to pack winter clothes, but we will need lots of layers!  The rest of the space is filled with some food we know we won't be able to get there, some special items and memories we wanted to take with us, and some other "necessities".

On another note, we had a long "to do" list before we could head out - online school for the kids, documents for our dog, what do we do about healthcare, etc.  Most of those have now been taken care of, although we do have a few loose ends to tie up once we arrive.  At the moment, we are enjoying some time with extended family before we leave <3

There is still a lot that could go wrong though before our flight in a few days.  We covet your prayers in getting us safely to Lima and then on to Ayacucho.  Specifically, we need four negative covid tests on Sunday, we need to have all necessary documents for the pup at the airport on Monday, we need no delays in Miami (or we may have to get another COVID test) and we need an uneventful two nights in Lima as we get a few things bought and situated before driving the 8 hours to Ayacucho.  The restrictions in Peru change the day we arrive, so we also pray that we have everything necessary for that!  Paul has had ear trouble the last couple of days, so we went to urgent care last night to get some meds.  Flying with any kind of ear problems is a nightmare - we don't want that!!  I finish my round of prednisone for my ear issues in a few days (I won't go into that saga here, but I did post about it on FB), so please also pray that stays resolved and doesn't resurface!  We don't want to deal with that in Peru!

We fly from Charlotte to Miami on Monday where we will stay overnight and get a half day on the beach before going back to the airport and flying to Lima.  We are going to stay with one of Noe's sisters in Lima and she's going to take us to the supermarket where we can pick up a few items that we won't be able to get in Ayacucho :)  If all goes well, we will arrive in Ayacucho on the evening of the 24th!

Thanks for all the prayers!  I honestly feel like that if we can just get to Ayacucho, then the hardest part of the year is over! lol 

Dios les bendiga <3