'Del Boy' mode

As the calendar flipped over to February this week, Claire and I have been in a whirlwind of organisation, sorting some of the last bits before our departure. This has involved changing our addresses, cancelling accounts and most stressful of all, selling our possessions.

We're moving to Claire's mums for 10 days before we fly out and the only things we are keeping whilst we are away are the essentials, which will be stored in the loft (thanks Mandy by the way!). All of this means that everything else we own has been up for sale, which has pushed me fully into 'Del Boy' mode.

I can't bear to throw out something I could potentially make some money back on, so we've both been constantly advertising our possessions on Gumtree and Facebook on a first come first served basis. Dealing with responses has become almost a second full time job whilst working my normal 9-5, especially with my well practiced skills in haggling (I'm the expert, so if Claire is selling something she checks if I'm happy with the price first before going ahead).

All of our furniture will soon be gone and I've even managed to flog my mattress and pillows to a guy I know from work. I never thought someone would pay for a used mattress and pillows! Del WOULD be proud.

All of this is actually good practice though as haggling will certainly be a valuable skill on our travels - one I've honed selling insurance in the past as well as further "crash courses" during trips to Turkey and Egypt.

This has kept me so busy I've barely had time recently to think about the life changes that lie ahead - but the quicker I sell all our stuff, the quicker I can get back to focusing on Vietnam, sunshine and noodles.

So, anyone want to buy a Peugeot 206? 60k miles on the clock and in great nick, I'll sort you out a good price once Rodders has cleaned the blimmin' thing. Cushdy.

TV stand? Peugeot 206? Used mattress? I got em all in stock...