packing!

Today I took down my two rollerboard suitcases and started packing. Somehow, packing makes the trip seem real to me in a way that it hasn't, quite, up till now (although signing the offer letter definitely helped).

I think I bought these suitcases, which are definitely on the cheap side, when we still lived in Los Angeles. They're still in good condition because I've actually rarely used them, preferring to travel with duffels when possible. But I expect to do a lot of hoofing my first days in Juneau, and until/unless I find a housing situation for the first three weeks where I feel secure leaving my bags, I'd prefer that they be as easy to move around as possible. Even then, I wish I could restrict things to just one bag. If I can get it all in the checked bag, I may leave the smaller rollerboard home (I'm also taking a shoulder/briefcase bag). I'll probably need both rollerboards though, since until I find an apartment, the contents of my luggage is going to be everything I have.

I'm having a little issue with money; I thought that I would be able to sell my handgun (purchased in California, rarely used) and a couple of my guitars. Apparently, I already sold the guitar that's really the more valuable of the two (a vintage Rickenbacker). I don't remember selling it, but the particular time period in which I would have done so is kind of a blur for me for various reasons. So what I have left to sell are a couple of run of the mill violins (one a student violin) and an Ovation Celebrity Deluxe. As for my gun, I've mispI placed the key for the breech lock somewhere. I'm sure it's in a safe place, probably wherever I put its original case, but I don't know where that is right now. This means that I'm going to have to cut the lock in order to be able to sell the damn thing, which I really want to do, because it wasn't the right size for my hands anyway.

So if I can't offload those items, I'm a little at a loss as to what I'm going to do for cash. That said, I'm sure I will neither be out on the street nor starve, so while I'm nervous I'm not really freaking out or anything. I was just hoping to be in a much better position, cash-wise.

Back to packing, I guess. I'm generally a really good packer, in terms of just being able to throw stuff in a bag and go, but this is a little different. I've never really done anything like this before.