Strap in for a visual tour of our physical move from the US to China…
Attic full of items we decided to keep in Virginia while living abroad. It worked out great to rent our home for the year and save on storage costs by using our attic for all we could fit Tetris style. My husband did not stay in the attic. 😉My kind father offered to store temperature sensitive items like photos we didn’t get to scan before leaving the US. This is the closet that reminds him of us daily. Thanks Baba!We filled up the luggage and people mover. Last goodbyes in our small town before the drive to Dulles Airport area. Cousin love.Making our way north. Last long drive in our minivan of many years.Last dinner with close friends who offered to drive us to the airport the next morning. Laura had lived in China for four years in the mid-1990s and was a key part of our wonderful first year in China — from tips to sharing travels together. Their last visits to China were to welcome their daughters into their beautiful family.Early morning stop to pick up loads of stored luggage and boxes at my uncle’s and aunt’s home near Dulles airport. We had dropped them off gradually at their home in the weeks leading up to our move, which saved us renting a moving truck to make it from small town to Dulles.Thanking said uncle and aunt. Aren’t they great? (My awesome father who made the trip with us to the airport is in the middle.)Filling up Laura & Tom’s minivan with seats removed. Thanks guys!Laura & Tom, who hosted us our last night in the US and drove us the final leg to the airport. It’s amazing the love of so many family and friends who helped us make our way. Thanks!Grandfather and grandsons who saw each other regularly bid farewell.Emotions were running strong. Not easy to part with loved ones. Ever.Finally on our first flight. Detroit bound. Already exhausted.Detroit airport was so pleasant. Nice surprise. Boys sport tie-dyed “TransPacific” t-shirts they’d made a few days before our trip to celebrate the journey. The wide fountain with suggested “flight paths” across it is a nice hint of the upcoming TransPactific flight.Time to goof off and get some energy out before the long flight.Finally on the move again to our gate.Hello plane. We look forward to boarding you shortly.Fast-forward 13 hours: We did it! TransPacific flight is about to land.Reunion with the boxes. Post-TSA inspection.Loading our mini-household move onto carts: 15 boxes plus 7 suitcases/checked bags, 5 carryon suitcases, 5 backpacks, a poster holder, and a purse. Phew!And arrived safely at the Beijing home of my loving cousin Gisou and her family. Thank you!
Love All the World 