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Time goes by so quickly! Just the day before yesterday motivation took over again and we ordered the rest of our clothing. The packages are scheduled to arrive in the next couple days, and I am so excited! Hopefully we won't want to exchange anything and then be almost done with our gear shopping. Time to put all the gear together and pack our bags for the first time. According to our gear list we are doing pretty well in terms of weight. Right now we would theoretically both carry approximately 6.5 kg per person.
We've also submitted our tax return for 2017 and are close to signing a subtenancy contract with a very nice couple. Once this is done, we will be a big step closer to leaving. It's getting real. It's getting real fast.
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While researching gear, booking flights and saving up, we need to find a subtenant for our flat in Zurich, Switzerland, sort out insurance, pre-pay taxes, De-register from Switzerland. Oh and yes, we both work 100% jobs. But knowing what we are doing all this for, we can't be more excited! For a few months now we've been preparing for the PCT. We've come quite far in terms of researching and ordering lightweight gear. As gear is generally more expensive in Switzerland we were looking to find another solution. Luckily one of our best friends currently lives in the States and agreed to be our shipping address. Thanks Ste! :-) So researching gear usually meant to find the most suitable gear for us and once we knew what we wanted we looked for size recommendations (often we couldn't fit the items here and relied on information the dealers or bloggers provided), checked prices (was it really cheaper in the States than here?) and then had it sent to Ste. It was often risky because if e.g. the shoes we'd ordered hadn't fit, it would have been nearly impossible to have them exchanged at a reasonable price. Regarding the PCT we pretty much organised the most important travel arrangements:
Luckily we are not required to apply for a US visa because we return to Switzerland within three months and can enter with a normal tourist visa. After our return from the wedding it shouldn't take us more than three months to reach Canada. Besides getting our gear together and become more familiar with the trail itself there are a lot of things we need to take care of at home before we leave. As we will be travelling for more than a year we will de-register from Switzerland, which means having to pay our taxes for both 2017 and 2018 simultaneously, sublet our flat for the entire time (because we really want to keep it!), change our Swiss insurance to a foreign travel insurance etc. All this preparation can at times be overwhelming. Sometimes I just can't get myself to do any more planning and get a little frustrated. Luckily, in moments like these Dario is usually motivated and takes over. We are good that way. :-) |
