The Coffin

Leaving a job take some time.  The morning after my last day at work, my mind clicks back to preparing for clients.  I'm thinking of things I forgot to say and do and even compose an email to my (now ex) boss from my bed.  My top tip for leaving work is to shred your to do list, whether finished or not.  The uncompromising teeth of the shredder have no discernment.  They gobble down my unfinished to do list at the same rate as every other document, and all of a sudden I have cut ties with all I have been doing.  Destroying the hook that pulls the load, unshackling me from my work.  But like the stretched leather and worn in grooves of a saddle, so the effects of work don't just disappear.  It takes time and the use of oneself for other purposes to reshape and remold a person for a new way of being.  

The Coffin 

And now, five days away from D-Day (departure day) I'm starting to fret about things. Rabies, for example, from untamed Bulgarian dogs or that I've still never cycled 60 miles in a day and the super light-weight tent I bought resembles a coffin.  I'm hoping to spend as little time in the coffin as possible and plan to use the brilliant website www.couchsurfing.org to arrange my accommodation.  I have already planned my first stay in Chelmsford with a stranger who seems lovely and has kindly agreed to let me sleep on a floor.  Its now time to start asking strangers in Holland and Germany to host me.  

I have also decided to add some philanthropy to my otherwise self indulgent adventure and will be raising money for a great charity called Bethany Village Leprosy Society (BVLS).  BVLS works to provide jobs through social enterprise to those living with the effects of leprosy in India.  I have been to Bethany village and seen the vibrant community created with the support of BVLS.  If you would like to support me you can donate at uk.virginmoneygiving.com/wareami.