It all comes down to this. A small stack of bags sitting by the front door. By airplane standards, it's huge. I'm bending every rule in the book, paying an extra baggage fee, and an overweight fee, to bring as much as I am.
By the standards of moving to an empty apartment in another country, it's not much.
Diaries in this series: Iceland Calls :: The Icelandic Language :: Tvær Vikur Til Reykjavíkur :: Reykjavík, A City of Lights :: Reykjavík, A City of Drizzle and Dancing Clouds :: Reykjavík, A City of Cats and Gods :: Reykjavík, A City of a Storied Tongue :: Reykjavík, A City of Yuletide :: Reykjavík, A City of Hope :: Frá Reykjavík, Til Hjartans Heimveldisins :: Doldrums and Storms :: Til Kaliforníu, Til Iowa, Til Íslands :: Í Dag
One large, self-inflating air mattress: 7 kilograms. 1/3rd of an entire suitcase's maximum weight. 1 comfortor and pillow, no space/weight penalty (I scoured the rules and found that you can bring these on the plane and not have them count as carryons).
Nearly 50 plants. Nearly 30 different species. Each transplanted to vermiculite and individually bagged. The tall plants carefully bent to fit into their boxes. One custom-made box to fit the large plants but still meet airline size requirements. Plants scattered among three suitcases. Heat packs ready to be inserted into each. To make them last longer than the nominal eight hours and hopefully approach the 18-hour transit time, I plan to only punch small holes in their packaging to let air react with their contents only slowly.
Half a dozen grow lights? Packed. Growth environment phytosanitary control status? Check. Inspection? Check. Phytosanitary certificate? Packed. Copy sent to Iceland? Check. Stamped copy received? Check, and printed. Hard stamped copy being sent to customs to meet me at the airport? Check.
Ride from the airport to town? Check, and kærar þakkir, Anna.
Two 750-watt transformers in my carryon bag along with everything else. Each of which is more than the whole carryon is supposed to weigh, but thankfully they don't generally weigh carryons...
Three bottles of homemade wine, the maximum to bring in duty-free. Although I'm greatly worried about it shattering due to having to pack it with the tall plants in the narrow box due to weight restrictions.
Tons of clothes, cosmetics, multiple jackets, pairs of shoes, etc. A jacket with its pockets stuffed full, over another jacket. Medicine, toiletries, etc. All electronics, such as my flat iron, carefully checked for their wattage requirements to make sure they won't destroy my transformers.
Two laptops, one with an English keyboard and one with an Icelandic one. One homemade Icelandic/English/Icelandic dictionary. One telephone to leave behind. One without a sim card to take with. Until the new card is bought and service activated: incommunicado.
A couple disposable plastic plates, bowls, and silverware, to be my dishes for the time being. A light meal or two worth of food.
A garage stacked front to back, floor to ceiling, waiting for the team I've organized to load it into a shipping crate when either the house sells or I buy a house in Iceland. Beside the house: another stack of outdoor hardware, from patio furniture to 300 kilograms of stepping stones, moved just tonight.
Parrot: being watched by my ex until I can pick him up and bring him to Iceland for quarantine. Divorce finalized yesterday.
Utilities cancelled or transferred except for those needed for my housesitter. Customs list for shipping created.
Inside: Empty, refinished floors. Empty, freshly painted walls. A house ready for sale while I'm gone.
It's moving day.