I am a bit behind on posts due to the chaos of the past few days, I haven't had time to update our progress. This blog will recap Saturday Day 16, a.k.a. "Day 1 of Loading". If you prefer to watch a 2-minute video instead, here is the link: Day 1 of Packing Our U-Pack Trailer, Bound for Belize! Our plan was to jam out the bulk of loading Day 1, then fine-tune the "Tetris" job Day 2. At the e ...

First things first: Ethan and Lilly's Condo closed yesterday! I picked up the key from the lockbox around lunch, spun by Nellis Auction to collect some winnings, and then came back home to pick up Nathan (in case you are just joining us, we sold my car back in February). We had a 2 PM appointment to sign docs for the sale of OUR home, which took maybe 10 minutes. Selling is always so much fas ...

Prime Days derailed me a bit, so I have a few days to report on this blog... Monday (DAY 20) morning I had a mammogram, which was my last scheduled medical appointment. I'm on the fence/unsure if I'll be able to squeeze in a skin cancer screening and/or another dentist visit before we leave. No issues on either, just general maintenance.  Monday afternoon, I went down to Ethan and Lilly's r ...

This weekend we really kicked packing into gear! I must sound like a broken record, but we keep re-re-packing bins as we think of better ways to accomplish our goals to ship items safely, and as compactly as possible, to reduce our expenses. Nathan spent all day Saturday in the garage; my big ask was to clean all of the garden tools. We can't bring any dirt into Belize (this goes for all coun ...

Yesterday (DAY 24) I finally started digging into clothes. Nathan has been packed for two weeks, but he also left about 10 days' worth of clothes in the villa when we were down last summer. I left a few outfits and swimsuits, but not nearly as much. It's a task I have been dreading. He has been urging me to "soft pack" what I'll wear between now and when our goods arrive in Belize in Septemb ...

Yesterday (DAY 26) I met my dad for lunch at Detroit Coney Grill - we are originally from Detroit, and this restaurant is essentially half-way between our homes. If you are in the area, their Sun Devil Burger was entirely worth the heartburn! On my way home, I picked up some groceries as Zach was due for dinner. I have a few entrees I want to knock out once more while I have a wide variety ...

In four weeks from right now, we'll be in our villa! Eeek! Exciting, yet overwhelming. Today I worked on shipping labels for our goods. They need our name, destination, phone number, and box number. I made about 120, not that we will have anywhere near that many boxes! I want to put one inside, and two outside, to make it easier to sort them. Plus there's no need for me to take a few pages o ...

Today we knocked out a few more items on our list: -Stop 1 was a Dollar Tree store - Nathan has been trying to figure out how to package our old beach cruisers to protect them for shipping, that doesn't cost more than the actual bikes did 15 years ago. He saw a video (probably on TikTok) of a guy using pool noodles to basically build a protective bubble around them. 8 noodles x $1.25 each, i ...

The past 24 hours we have chipped away at a decent clip...making good progress! Yesterday we had a few more smaller furniture pick ups, and Nathan spent the morning in our garage consolidating items, making inventory lists, and cleaning out his stand-up tool chest. Speaking with Jhimel at Belize Freight (who has been INCREDIBLY patient and responsive!), he said to empty the tool chest, as he ...

It's our last "Independence Day" here in the U.S.! Nathan is braving 115f and muggy, awful, blazing-sun weather to golf with his dad and family friends, while I'm at home, lounging in the A/C, working on moving checklist items. An important one is now checked off: WE RECEIVED OUR IMPORT PERMITS FROM BAHA! This allows us to bring our 3 cats into Belize legally, provided we pay the applicable ...