Stuff, Things

One of my new found friends in Laos has her own blog, a brilliant and much more professional effort than this random thing which I highly recommend you ch-check out for another look at expat life in Laos and travel tips for traipsing around other parts of South East Asia: Life Elsewhere. Friends with lil' juniors in particular will love it. This week she posted this entry which explores the notion of a life of effortless nomadic travel vs cherished worldly possessions.

Bon Voyage!

This made me think about our recent migration and what we chose to bring with us/keep in Perth. We've been living out of one shared suitcase for three weeks now, nearly four. To clarify, when I say 'shared' I mean around 25kg of miscellaneous Antonas clothes, shoes, all my favourite jewellery, undies, hair straightener, travel-sized hair dryer, my beauty case, a few 'in case I'm really bored' magazines, camera and film supply, oh and my toucan purse. All, in my view, necessities.

Luckily for Tom the three t-shirts, two pairs of shorts, undies and shaving kit that he packed fit snugly in the crevices around all my stuff (hey, he also brought a carry-on). Add to this a few months supply of toiletries/medicines/nurofen (oh nurofen!), a plastic bag of iPhone/iPad/laptop chargers and plug adapters en masse, Lonely Planet Laos and an assortment of yet-to-be-glanced-at Lao phrasebooks and that's our life until our shipping container arrives. Happy to report, so far we haven't been missing anything too much.*

Misc. items going on a sea voyage!

As part of our relocation we were given a 40ft shipping container to fill and a storage unit for whatever we didn't want to bring with us. My visions of the sinking Titanic quickly determined what was coming and staying:  I decided against bringing anything irreplaceable which meant no artwork, no vintage furniture and no decorative items (goodbye vintage pottery collection). The only exceptions to this rule were our collection of Mexican skulls, my Tjanpi woven goanna and one unstretched painting from Martumili, an Aboriginal art centre from the Pilbara. I'm confident these items will see me through potential Perth-sickness, Pilbara-sickness and the Mexico-sickness that's been plaguing me since we left in 2011.

One of the hardest parts about moving for me was leaving our art collection behind, but I know it's being looked after well by my parents and Mollie (yes, I have skyped my art, just to check in and say hi). This isn't so much the desire to have things hanging on our walls here to remind me of home, a certain artist or of my past life as a Gallery manager - but more the familiarity I have with each piece, a connection which I'm severing by not having them around. One piece in particular used to hang in our bedroom and each morning when I woke up it would be the first place I would look. Every morning I would look at this artwork and find something new to admire, a pattern or colour or brush movement that I'd never noticed before - just amazing. Knowing I won't be able to do that for another few years actually scares me a little. Although thinking about seeing this work again, potentially from a whole new perspective is genuinely exciting. And... as I keep telling myself, moving countries is definitely a valid excuse for us to start collecting new artworks.

Goanna <3

We did also bring our couch, tv/stereo and cabinet (left the record player behind), bed, linen, towels, computer and most of our study, my camera collection, Tom's bike, coffee machine and other kitchen appliances and assorted summer clothes. So when/if you decide to visit you will recognise a few things from home - although thankfully we have spare beds that come with the house so you won't have to crash on the couch. The comfiness of said beds is debatable (the beds here are SO HARD) but rest assured we will be investing in some sort of padding to minimise any risk of injury that might incur from sleeping on a prison cell floor-like surface.

I think it's enough home comforts to connect us to our former life but still nothing that makes me feel like our most cherished items are at the mercy of the sea and/or dodgy removalists. Our container has already traveled by sea from Perth to Ho Chi Minh and is now en route to Bangkok before arriving in Vientiane in a few weeks time. I'm hoping it arrives around the same time we move into our new place, fingers crossed!



* Ok, I lied. We are super excited about our Apple TV arriving. For the past few weeks it has been stockpiling episodes of Mad Men and Game of Thrones for us to mooch on our couch to as soon as we unpack. See, Lao life will pretty much be the same as Australian life, filled with Don Draper. No spoilers plz!!