My to-do list

It's so much easier when you just move houses in one area! No having to worry about:

Mail forwarding. USPS doesn't like to forward mail outside the U.S., and I don't want to ask friends to receive mail for me. I finally decided I'm going to put my mail on vacation hold until I'm settled, then when I head down to Buffalo to pick up boxes being sent to me, get a PO Box. That way I have a tangible U.S. address to have packages/boxes sent to, as well, since some of my possessions will follow by mail.

Phone companies. Verizon doesn't exist in Canada. 415 is an international number for a Canadian phone to call. Which means I need to get a local number, except that I don't want to lose a number I've had for 11 years; answer, either get a Canadian phone and turn the Verizon one into a pay-as-you-go, using it only when I need it, or make the 415 number a Vonage number and just forward it to my Canadian phone. Still figuring that one out.

Car exporting. I have to get daytime running lights to be registered in Canada, and I have to figure out what import duties I'll pay (let me tell you I don't like paying import duties on a car I've owned for years! It's not like it's a new car I zipped over the border to buy to cheat Revenue Canada, it's something I've been driving since 2006!). I also need to get a recall clearance letter from Honda, but that can only be dated fewer than 30 days before I cross the border. I expect to hit the border around the 12th of January; since Christmas and New Year's fall in the 30 days before that, I'm going to have to order it as soon as possible and HOPE Honda doesn't slow down in the final weeks of the year...

Social Security. I just became a U.S. citizen and still have a social security card that says "valid for work with INS authorization only." I have to get that fixed before I go; getting new cards for new citizens need to be done in person, so can't be done by mail from Canada.

Health insurance. My CalCobra won't cover me once I leave California as a resident. I need to get Blue Shield to cover me until my Ontario health plan kicks in, but it'll have to start even earlier, as of the day I drive out of California.

Clearance letters. I need letters from everyone - the DMV, my insurance company, etc, to smooth the process of getting drivers' insurance and the such in Ontario.

And that's not even counting the normal moving procedures of remembering to cancel all the utilities, doing the packing, cleaning, landlord walk-thru, etc...

It didn't seem this difficult when I moved here 11 years ago.

11 years later...

Just over 11 years ago, I decided to move to the San Francisco Bay Area from Edmonton, Alberta.

In a little less than two months, I move back to Canada (this time to Toronto).

There are many too many reasons for it to go into, but that's not really the reason for this blog. 

The move here produced a scrapbook that brings back many memories when I look at it - we took photos as we left and entered every state, we doubled back twice before we managed to get a shot of the "Half-way between North Pole and Equator!" sign along the highway, we giggled, we laughed, we made bad jokes, we took at least six roles of film each, and we saw sights we'd never seen before.

That was a 1,700-mile trip.

This time, because we are driving in January, we are taking a southern route to avoid the Winter weather. Whether we detour via Montreal on our way back (which will add two days to the trip, minimum) or head north gradually and cross at Port Huron/Sarnia, we don't know yet (that's a decision that will have to be made at least three days before we cross, since I have to fax the export paperwork for my car to the border 72 hours minimum before I cross). 

Currently, the route is tentatively abut 3,500 miles. 

Fortunately, we won't be working with old-style film this time, since the number of photos we'll be taking is likely to be much higher. :) And we are planning to make a few stops along the way - Grand Canyon at the very least, possibly Four Corners and Hoover Dam. 

Anyway. This blog will elaborate the process of the move leading up to it, the steps I'm taking, and I will try to update it every day along the way with photos, anecdotes, wacky stories and clichés. 

Right now I'm just divesting of possessions. I'm Freecycling like mad and giving away furniture to neighbours. It's hard to tell because most of what I'm getting rid of is inside cabinets, but I've got rid of a LOT of stuff and there's more to go. The furniture doesn't count - it's all still  here until mid- to late-December, but most of it has been claimed by friends & neighbours. 

The place will absolutely echo by the time I'm done...