I’ve been quiet for a while now, but this is all because of the preparations. There’s so much stuff I still need to do, but I think I’m getting on top of it all now.
Mailbox
My intention is to come back to Ireland once I finish my stint in Antarctica. I’ve set up the personal mailbox service, which gives me a real Dublin address, which I can then ask people or institutions to send their correspondence to. These guys can also open and scan post on request and email it to me, which will be dead handy for when I’m down South, or simply forward my mail to another address I give them.
Self-Storage
Finally, I got sorted with storage. I’ve moved my first and at the same time the bulkiest load today, in other words: my dive gear. I will have some more stuff to put in there, although not that much, to be honest. I need to figure out what to do with my books. I think I will drop some of them to a local library. I definitely have a good number of books that I want to keep, so these will have to go into a box and then to the storage. I also have some clothes, etc that will end up there.
All in all, it’s a good opportunity to clean up your life a bit. I’ve gone through a similar experience before, first when moving to Ireland and then when I moved from a big enough house to a significantly smaller one and I must tell you, it’s a refreshing feeling! 🙂
Corridor in the Self-Storage building. My locker is somewhere at the very end.
My locker – still empty.
All my dive gear – it’s all in and there’s still some more room. Yay!
Leaving the apartment
All that work with Self-Storage unit also brings me closer to emptying the apartment I live in from my belongings. I’ll still be here for another almost full month, but I’d rather not leave all of this till the last moment.
I’ve enjoyed living where I live now. I’ve had a brilliant view out of the window (I could see the sea and the ships and loads of green and stuff) and the whole area is very nice. Also, I’ve been recently trying to get fitter and so started cycling on my old mountain bike and this place is really great for a little cycling in the evening or on the weekend. But all things come to an end, and so I’ll have to give the apartment up shortly.
Fitness
As I mentioned above, I’m also trying to get fitter. I’ve been out on my mountain bike like 4-5 times a week every week for the last 3 weeks. It’s still difficult. I know MTBs are not the best for cycling on the road, but the main goal is to get fitter and not necessarily go faster, so it will do. Also, on Friday I went all the way up on top of a hill near to where I live (it was a tough climb, with 200 meters altitude difference and pretty much a continuous climb from my place to the very top), but I managed and I’m glad! It also gave me an opportunity to use the bike like it’s meant to be used, i.e., on a mountain trail. I’m not very good at it, but I did enjoy it. I must do that again… 🙂
Some of the shots from when I was out cycling, for your viewing pleasure:
Speaking of my bike, I need to get a bike rack for it. I’d like to get one that goes behind the car, but I don’t have a tow bar and also I do have a spoiler on my car, and both these things seem to complicate it a little bit. Anyone knows of a bike rack that can go over a spoiler on a saloon type car? If you do, please leave a comment in the form below or get in touch with me! Thanks!