“Leaving on a jet plane, don’t know when I’ll be back again….”. Thank you, Peter, Paul and Mary, at least the version I knew, but written by John Denver. I was inundated with folk music. This is before I embraced Rock & Roll even to this day, on AM and FM radio, as a teenager, some 50 years ago now. Yes, it is a goodbye song. For me, yes, saying goodbye to America as home, but I am still connected, and most importantly, Io sono molto felice!!! It is true and it is so near to the departure date, and more importantly, the arrival date, I can taste it. Leaving on a jet plane and for a different reason, one with joy and happiness. As I write this, my impending departure from New Hampshire this morning, the next step of my journey, with a couple of detours enroute, New Jersey first, and then the UK, it is here. The last steppingstones to being in Italy with my wife and becoming an Italian permanent resident and who knows what else in years to come, but one step at a time. What was a thought of becoming an ex-pat, years and years ago, even before meeting Rosa, is coming to fruition. It was something on my mind to go back to the old country, years and years ago, but to one of the countries of my ancestry, be it Poland or perhaps Hungary, but Italy was never on the radar. When these thoughts were on my mind, I was in a totally different place, and one that was not so good, perhaps looking for a place to escape.
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I have gotten to the point where the focus is making sure my clients are ready for their trips, which gives continuity, as I really, except for some paperwork, errands to run, am to the point where all I do next week is take everything packed put into the vehicle and the U-Haul trailer, which happens next Wednesday. On Tuesday, moving what is in my hovel, into the vehicle itself and distributing it accordingly for the right balance and making the drive south to the port for storage in the short term. It will happen and I will get there. I don’t want to load down the vehicle yet, as I still have places to be and things to be done, but essentially, this is the routine, and has been the routine over the past week, and will be this week, as well. I know this is not really an interesting topic and I was trying to find something to share besides routine, but maybe, sharing routine is good, as we all have them.
While I have done packing and unpacking before, it was for a holiday, a business trip, a move across town or across the country and when I mentioned, I moved from country to country, really, it was half a century ago and that was a yearlong stint in France with the “family”, a subject for another time. But the duration was significant, but there was a return attached to that back stateside. This packing and when I arrive on the 4th of July in Rome and unpack, the intent is not to return to the states unless there is a viable reason. You know I have made some of the rounds to places like Dallas and Birmingham on my arrivederci and saying ciao ciao to people I know. I have called old friends, people even closer than “family” and had long re-connecting conversations and plan to do more until I fly later next week to Europe. The nice thing is that once there, the calling will not really change. If I have Wi-Fi calling and I will, the phone number stays the same, only time difference is in play and the cost, so much less, sorry Verizon. Yes, after 25 years, I disconnected from Verizon.
I know people who have felt homesick being away from “home” for a long time. Even Rosa, after 6 weeks here from the time she arrived, through our wedding and tying up legal loose ends a few months ago, felt homesick or when I came to New Hampshire to housesit and when my brother and came back early, they complained about their life in Germany. I know there were reasons, but I could tell that my nieces and nephew were homesick from the messages sent. It does take getting used to and understandable. For me, however, I am going home and since I have spent much of my life on the road, and much of it, in Europe, it is simply returning home and settling in. Will I miss things here in the states, possibly, but that is to be seen? I don’t think, like some others who have previously become ex-pats, I will have the culture shock that does come upon others. I have had 3 summers and other stretches of time living in Rome. I have gotten used to or tried to get used to the ways of the old world, sometimes successfully and sometimes with a bit of frustration. As you know, what does not kill you, makes you stronger and I feel stronger. For the record, bureaucratic red tape, and outsourcing, here in the states, and other ways to make life more challenging is good training for returning to a slower way of life.
The reality was very different, and the best of my friends and colleagues knew differently, as hard to hide, as I am one to show my emotions on my shoulder. It was no different than it is now and musings in these posts show that over the years I have been writing them; where I want to be, will be and know that this impending move is the right thing. I say what is on my mind, and sometimes without filters, which sometimes are interpreted the wrong way. It has been hard these past few months, since I had to part ways from Rosa, but this has been necessary, so we could sort through the details on both sides of the pond and tie up the loose ends. Our coming together again only a few short weeks away gives me true happiness and she has since I met her. When this most amazing lady came into my life 4 years and a bit short of 4 months ago, my life had changed forever and for the better, with a balance I had never experienced in my life and something throughout my life, I never really had. Yes, that may sound strange and yes, I have lived many places, in Minnesota, New York and now New Hampshire and even a year in France, a half century ago, but no where I lived has ever been home, and settling down, until now, with a truly beautiful loving lady who captured my heart the first time I met her and showed me it is okay to love and be loved and brought a passion to life that I had lost long ago before meeting her.
Why you ask, am I in Dallas, of all places, especially, with the crazy weather this region of the country has been happening, well, really, everywhere. I am here for the newly named Travel Advisor Conference held in a different destination each year, and as I will be leaving, as everyone knows by now, I had to have one last hurrah, at an event stateside, although a few days ago, just before the Memorial Day weekend, went to an Iceland Roadshow in Boston. While I only live 40 miles away from where that event took place, it took almost 2 hours to get there with traffic etc. The flight yesterday was delayed about 1 ½ hours due to the weather here, but I arrived safely and looking forward to my time here, between the rains. Apparently, power was lost here yesterday, but my hotel, about a 5-minute walk away said they did not lose power. Actually, it did, at least for a short time, as the clock in the room was flashing a wrong time, but everything is good.
Time is fleeting and 30 days from today, I depart the USA without a scheduled return. In between there is still much to do, but more of my decisions have been made. Also, there is never a straight line in my life, either business or personal, but after this past weekend visiting the family in Alabama, with a conference in Boston tomorrow and a longer conference in Dallas starting a week from now, there is never a dull moment in my life. Every day between now and the 21st of June, is extremely important to be prepared for my future in Europe with Rosa, one where I finally get to be with my wife and not have to worry about 90 days from arrival, having to leave again. The bureaucratic wheels are turning and while slow, are turning and that is a good thing. A major decision, and while expensive up front, was made last week. I am taking what’s left of my worldly possessions, including my vehicle and mostly sentimental items including artwork and other collectibles with me. I found a company that will ship not only my SUV, but all those items, able to fit into a 4 x 8 U-Haul trailer across the pond. The hitch is that since I just paid off my vehicle, US Customs and Border Control will not allow me to take it out of the country for 6 months from the paid in full date, which was the 15th of May. Why, you may ask, as I did. It turns out that there are vehicles that are paid off and then “stolen” and brought overseas for several reasons. In any case, what this means is that all the items, including the vehicle, as they will be shipped together, must sit in storage until that 6-month clock has gone by. It also means that I will be driving my vehicle and my items to the location where sometime later this year, everything will be shipped and delivered to my “home” door to door. It works out much better this way. No more thinking about the artwork and other collectibles including my stamp collection and what to do with them. What to keep and what to get rid of. I have done an awesome job downsizing and there is still a bit more, but in the end, I will be able to enjoy some of my things, finally, once the dust settles, which is the other reason why, getting my “stuff” later this year is fine. As you know, Rosa and I are renovating, or should I say, Rosa, her momma, her sisters are renovating a condo that has been in the family for decades, with its 1970’s décor and equipment to be replaced. This is a process as everything is in Italy and should be ready, fingers crossed in 4 to 5 months. In the meantime, we have an apartment in the same building as momma for the summer, so the fact that my worldly possessions will catch up with me later this year is fine. If I were to receive them sooner, they would simply sit.
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Wandering PuffinWeathering the Storm with the Wandering Puffin Archives
June 2024
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