The Swanepoel Blog: getting ready to travel....

&%#! Crazy week... too much on the plate ... last working day before the holiday is spent at Feather's Lodge ata planning & review session and my boss forgot that he approved my leave and is visibly annoyed that I am going to be out of office (and worse: not on internatioanl roaming) and why do I feel 3grams guilty?

My brain obviously needs an overhaul... Nordic Overhaul.

I stay at the office trying to organize and delegate as much as possible. I'm sending out tens of e-mails.

It all feels a bit frantic & futile.

Dead tired: home.
I can't pack.
I watch: "The sea inside"
This movie was released in 2004, which was ironically my all-time-hands-down worst year ever. That year felt like death, not a numbness, but a constant wave of disappointment and horrible awareness upon horrible, disjointed awareness...
The Sea Inside tells the real-life story of Spaniard Ramon Sampedro, played by EatPrayLove gent: Javier Bardem, who fought a 30 year campaign in favor of euthanasia and his own right to die. It is incredible.
Is asks the viewer: What is life? What do you see as life?

Is it movement? autonomy?
Is it only "life" when it is shared?

I am suddenly grateful and ready for the holiday.
Ready to let my world be enlarged.
Ready to embrace new frontiers and ready to see how people live in the Nordic-islands.

I pack hastily and I pack very little (secret: hope that I may pick up whatever else I need from H & M)

Drama online ( telephone line and Internet line ) with regards to my lost ( stolen?) credit card and we dash off to Tygervalley to collect a new credit card.

I am incredibly stressed that the credit card division will not issue a letter to my (G-mail) account; stating that the Qatar- flights were bought in April on credit card ending 8024 and that it (and all its accompanying debt) belongs to me as well as the new credit card ending on 8040. We will not be able to board our flight at 18h if I do not have this letter.

Infuriating. I requested it on 9th of May and the call centre operator informed me that this takes 24 hours. It is now 11 am and I am logging off to go to town and I do not yet have this letter.

Fuming. I get to Maggie I do not want to burden her with my toxic karma. Blanche sends me an sms that she has accessed my G-mail and printed said letter. We can pick it up on our way to collect Maggie and finalise packing. done.

We take pictures of the kitten, Bella, and we try to synchronise our luggage.

In the hurry to "feel the holiday spirit" we all have our own opinion on the luggage combination and where the camera should go and I am feeling very disorientated.

I am also picking up that I am indeed spilling toxic karma all over the Gardens-apartment and in a flurry to mop it up with compliments and soothing remarks I let Chris empty out a hand-luggage bag and rework some smaller cases & bags into the big suitcase which is meant to be checked in and in this confusion (too many cooks!) the Absa- credit card letter lands up in the big suitcase without my knowledge.

N2 to airport. Im trying to keep it cheery and I say "I'll miss you baby" a thousand times.
drop & go.
wave & weep.

We check in at the Qatar- desk and I cannot find the G-mail- absa Blanche - letter print out.

Panic

We phone Chris as we try to figure out if it could still be in the Cape-Town apartment...
I plead for internet-access (there is no internet- commercial access at the airport?!) and Maggie speaks to Chris to make a U- turn...
the Qatar- duty manager points me to a desk where her friend works (she arranges that I access the internet at the Menziez-travel agent (the other end of the departure floor)
The lady prints the Absa- credit card letter and I run over to the check-in counter where the friendly staff (clerk and manager and fuming-Maggie all waiting for me) accepts the letter, we call Chris again to diffuse and we laugh hysterically about the tempo and incident-count up to this point, which we hope will not be the theme of this holiday.

My brain tells me that all is well and we are off to the security check so that we may enter and wait at the duty- free section. I do not yet feel the holiday spirit.
I feel confused and wonder how I transitioned from
a) organised
b) capable
c) perfectionist

to this frantic and alarmingly-disaster prone person.
I resolve to find this answer in Northern Europe. Land of Lapland, viking and moose.
I resolve to get to the bottom of many things bugging and tearing at me, and I'll search until my heart freezes over with clarity and reality.

___________________________________________________________________

Thank you Lord for bringing us safely to Sweden.
Thank you for Qatar's soft and non- turbulent landings.
please be with our loved ones at home and please spoil Blanche with good luck and a smooth week as we are missing her and sorry that she can't make the trip with us

Amen.

____________________________________________________________________

first night: dragged the suitcase in the rain for 1km because we don't yet understand the bus-routes nor had a chance to work out if SEK40 is a lot for a 1way ticket from Central-station to Gardét ( our stop ) and we are tired ( but excited )

look at our cute hostel !
This is the dining area.