The past six weeks have been frantic. Rocksalt has undergone a sea-change, which we hope will propel it into the digital age. How well a plan for three thirty-something 'ladies' to be all virtual and digital and finger-on-the-pulse cool, will only become apparent as time ticks by. We are no longer a little business working from a little office with a little weekly tipple and a little telephone that accepts hilarious grievances from dim witted parents (which I shall desperately miss). We are now a cyber business, operating from any corner of the globe in any capacity. The aim is to be in tune with contemporary business models that require minimal post-it notes and maximum clever digi-words to create the illusion of our very own photography business zeitgeist. (Do people still say 'zeitgeist'?). Clearly we have no idea what any of this means, but as old people we have to try to keep up with the kids, don't we? Anyhoo - today we moved out of Rocksalt HQ and the excitement of what's to come is naturally marred by the sentiment of what is gone. I've loved the whole experience and will miss spending my days with the girls and the (mostly tipsy) 'work' we undertook. *silent sniffle*. But onwards and upwards! Rocksalt is now ready for whatever comes next!
But anyway, back to the main event - I have bought all of my tickets! Woo-hoooOOOO! I am now officially ready to go! I gleefully spent £2000 in the space of around two and a half hours on variously complex and mystifying tickets and visas. I have acquired passage through a whole manner of hostile places and a plethora of dodgy digs and I'm so squeaking excited my bowels feel as loose as a pensioners dentures.
I leave on the 17th January. Between now and then I intend to 'do' Christmas with Ma, visit lots of friends and family and generally live like a backpacking nuisance. It'll be good practise. I shall refrain from thinking about Winston & Oliver, Nanna Dil, my house and my bank account. These things concern me. I shall maintain a certain level of 'On s'en fout de normal' to stem the growing panic that I've actually gone and dunnit. I shall also continue to attempt to minimise the gargantuan pile of detritus that I am trying to fit into one backpack in order to save both my spine and my dignity when swaying forth from yet another rusty train carriage into a city with spun sugar for the written word. I believe I am as prepared as any human could possibly be.
All documents are officially lodged, all tickets bought, all hostels booked, all trains confirmed, job secured, university-upon-return sorted, lodgers ensconced, cats cared for, garden maintenance organised, jabs jabbed, thermal socks bought, insurance paid for, gadgets bought, kindle loaded, house cleared out and...... what have I forgotten?!
Ah well, whatever it may be, see you at stop numero uno - Moscow. Sčastlivovo puti!
