So &%@!-ing expensive...

Colin leaves in 33 days; I leave in 55. But who's counting??

OK, my topic for today is how expensive this little adventure is! I've already talked about the Visa application process, which probably ended up costing us about $500 to compile and submit. That might be a conservative estimate, but I'm afraid to go back and really count everything up. Too scary!!

But, we realized last night that we need to drop several thousand dollars before we even leave the country! Why, you ask? Because we've got to: 1) Pay for 4 months of health insurance and one year of prescription meds up front; 2) Pay a year of fees for a storage locker up front (so that we can get a really good rate); 3) Send a check -- in euros -- to our landlord's wife because we won't be in France to pay rent on the first of the month; 3) Pay our rent here in Ann Arbor; 4) Rent a truck to move our crap; 5) Drive Didge up to Lansing to get him certified for overseas travel ... need I continue? Probably, since there are likely to be tons of things that I haven't yet thought about!

Lesson learned: if you know you're moving overseas, start saving your money right away! You need A LOT to do this!! Of course, my view is skewed because we're not going on a study abroad program or some kind of cushy fellowship - this is all on our own. So, no one arranges for our visas, no one funds our trip, no one helps us find a place to live ... seriously, everything is up to us!

The good news is that both cars are sold; the Corolla has a new home at the end of September and the Taurus is gone. I'm still selling off other stuff on E-bay, and I think we're going to sell a couple of pieces of furniture, but we're starting to whittle away at the enormous amount of work in front of us.

So, that's it for the moment. I'm definitely looking forward to a quiet weekend at home.