The house of many boxes.

For those of you following this monologue with the intention of following in the footsteps of its author; now would be the appropriate time to start paying some serious attention.

It took two days to pack what’s left of our life into 143 boxes and packages of varying sizes. Come tomorrow, these will be stacked and packed into approximately 800 cubic metres of container space, leaving 200 cubic metres unaccounted for. How they get around this special anomaly is with a sturdy wooden plank-thing that simply holds all our worldly possessions in place for the duration of a nigh-on two-month sea journey. And for this we pay about R45 000.

Speaking of worldly possessions and money, the insurance on that little lot comes in at a neat R23 000 and change, bringing the total we’re shelling out for this move, on a material level, to a little under the previously mentioned R60k. Add to that the plane tickets for the four of us, and you’re knock, knock, knocking on the door of a hundred grand. Of course, you could do without the insurance, but your container cold also end up being one of dozens which, legend has it, fall off the ships on a monthly basis.

Not a good prospect.

So in the week since I last posted to my (admittedly very amateurish) blog, my house is in seven score and three boxes, I’m out a good few bob and one dog, I’m no closer to figuring out what to do with my cats or my cellphone contract, and my boxes are due to be packed into a container tomorrow, with a little luck.

Next week, or whenever I have the time:

The questions I am Most Frequently Asked, and the answers you should have prepared. Some highlights:

- Why are you leaving?
- What are you going to miss the most?
- Will you still support the Springboks?