The preperation process

Knowing someone in a foreign country before you decide to move there is one of the best things possible.  They can feed you information about the country, what to bring, what not to bring, and what to expect when you get there.  Thankfully, I know two people that live there that I trust to give me good advice for my preparations.

The process started on my own though.  I was the first out of three guys to express interest in moving to India, but the last one to actually move.  It's all part of my evil plan!  Make them do the hard work and research, so I can just loaf around and relax.  It's working nicely so far.  Actually, I am really glad that they went first.  The stuff that they have told me to do is stuff that I wouldn't have thought of until I was over there.  Not a good time or place to try to get stuff done.

The preparation process has been fun at times and stressful at other times.  The immunization process is interesting.  The doctor did his best to scare me into thinking that I was going to get horribly sick and die painfully, or at the least just get sick with some incurable disease.  Worried me for a bit, until I realized that hundreds of people go over there to live and are basically fine.  Yeah, I'll probably get sick.  Actually, I'm planning on it, but I have vaccinations for the big stuff now.

Transportation is another thing.  I won't be driving over there, and the options of taxi, bus, or trains don't appeal to me greatly. So I'll be biking over there.  Good thing that my friend in India is an absolute bike nut.  Helps me out again!  If I'll be relying on two wheels for transportation, then get some good wheels.  So I did.  Plus, I have spares for everything.  Probably build another bike with the spares that I have bought.

Now for the shopping of clothes.  I don't like shopping.  Never know if I'm paying too much; is this a good brand; trying on different sizes; and stuff like that.  Drives me crazy.  I like to go in and then quickly out.  Not in this case.  However, REI has some of the best stuff and I don't mind spending the money to get long lasting and quality gear.  They now know me by name!

A few years ago, while we were building our house, we lived in a fifth wheel trailer.  It was small, cramped, and we didn't or couldn't have many things out cluttering up the space.  It was nice.  It made me realize that we have way too much stuff and living should be simple and easy.  If you take away the pursuit of things and possessions, you end up with more time to do the things you want or need to do.  What a concept.  Unfortunately, after we moved into our house we fell right back into the American lifestyle of stuff and more stuff.  Time for a change.