Tomorrow, Izzy and I fly back to the states. We haven’t figured out the full next steps when we get there, but will be in the Norwich area for a few days before heading down to Florida. We don’t have a firm date to return here, but are looking for mid-October so Izzy can start school.

While Izzy and I are gone, Susanna will be moving into our new apartment in early October. It isn’t furnished, so she will be doing the hard work of setting up a home for Izzy and I to return to while she is working full time. On the plus side, she gets full creative control of decorating the place.

It has been a (sort of) busy few weeks for me. It took a while, but Hoagie is mostly settled in our rental house as well as at Susanna’s parents’ house. Our second shipment arrived from FedEx; I think I’m done shipping stuff for now. I still have a storage unit that has some tools and other personal belongings, as well as furniture for the kids. I’ll deal with that next summer.

I have a lead on a workshop for myself when I return. It is in an older building in Rottne, a 20 minute car or bus ride from our eventual apartment. It is a little smaller than the shop I had in Preston, but it is a good start, and the rent isn’t too much. Not sure what I’ll eventually build, but will have to start by building out a new workshop! In the meanwhile, I did get a saw bench built and finished at the space I’m using in Sävsjöström at Dan’s workshop.

Things are finally settling down. Izzy and I are on the right time-zone. My first shipment of boxes arrived via FedEx and the second one is hopefully moving slowly through Swedish customs. Izzy and I are in a little lull between big events. We did the first big one – getting the house sold and Hoagie over here. We will fly back to the US in a little over a week and do a road trip to visit family. We aren’t sure how long of a trip we will wind up doing; Izzy is getting eager to get into school here and get settled. The very least we will make the trip to Florida and Missouri to visit family. The rest is up for discussion.

We couldn’t have done all this without a lot of help from family, friends and a good Realtor.

Susanna is working all week, so I’m trying to keep Izzy active enough she doesn’t feel the need to have a screen in front of her all the time. We didn’t bring a lot of stuff with us, so have been out shopping for art supplies and games to keep us entertained. When the weather supports, we have been going on walks together (despite Izzy’s protests). Izzy has been trying to get more into cooking and did most of the work for dinner the past two nights. She did, however, drop two eggs in the refrigerator last night which kept me busy for a while cleaning up that mess while she cooked.

Today, we did some more exploring. We drove to Granhults Kyrka, the oldest fully preserved wooden church in Sweden with parts dating back to the 13th century. The church was closed today, but we walked around the property.

We then drove to the Braås Parks nature trail to take a walk and have fika (snack). We found a 2-mile loop through the woods and a bench by lake Örken to stop for our snack. In the middle of the woods we came across the “hermit’s hut” in the middle of the woods. According to the sign the hut was built in the early 19th century.

The past few months have been a whirlwind. However, things are starting to settle in place, though it seems like there is always one more step needing to be done.

Susanna left for Sweden in late July to start her work and get things in place for Izzy and I to arrive in August. Izzy and I stayed back to finish selling the house and get everything ready to fly Hoagie over.

On August 24th, Izzy and I said goodbye to our house in Preston for the final time. It was a rush getting things cleaned out for the cleaning, but we got it done. In the end we were just taking things out of drawers and tossing it in the dumpster. We had to get out and catch a flight to Sweden with the Dog. The previous week had been stressful, to say the least. But things came together. On the Thursday before we flew the paperwork for Hoagie arrived from the USDA (it actually arrived twice). The closing was delayed until the day after we left, so I had to sign the paperwork early, but it meant we didn’t need to find a place to sleep for the weekend.

I had never flown overseas with a dog in cargo before. I don’t plan on doing it again. Izzy and I arrived at Boston Logan airport a little under 3 hours early. Having a third set of hands was a huge help! But we checked in (with Hoagie on a leash) and about an hour before the flight they called us back to the check-in counter to take Hoagie to clear TSA and get put in his crate. Then we cleared security and had a few minutes to wait before boarding. We flew a direct flight into Copenhagen, so there was no flight transfer. However, Hoagie did not like being stuck in the crate for that long, and was anxious to get out when we arrived. We had to pick him up at the oversize luggage claim. His crate was just sitting there, no one around, when we showed up. Unfortunately he had to stay in the crate until we cleared customs. Susanna’s dad, Dan, picked us up and drove us to Sweden (stopping at McDonald’s for a starving Izzy).

We arrived in Sweden with a few suitcases (and a dog), so have needed to start from scratch. Luckily the place we are renting is furnished and is a perfect landing spot for our move. We purchased two used cars, but hopefully in the long run we will only need one (once we move into the city). It is strange. Without a credit history in Sweden we can’t borrow money for things. Susanna even needed to get on her dad’s phone plan to get a phone here.

We have been planning on living in the city of Växjö for Izzy’s school. Last week we looked at a potential apartment to rent in the city . It was a small, 2 bedroom apartment in the Väster district. It is a short walk from where we hope Izzy will go to school. We agreed that it was a good place to start with, and Susanna signed the contract by the end of the week. Next week we are meeting with Izzy’s school here. We won’t be starting right away. Izzy and I are returning to the states in two weeks and are planning on doing a road trip to visit family and see the country.

I’ve been trying to get out for walks each day with Hoagie (and Izzy when possible). There are lots of farm fields here to explore and a good number of trails within a short drive. I am sort of stuck in limbo. I can only be here 90 out of every 180 days until I get a residence permit to live here, and I don’t know how long that will take. It is hard to start anything here without knowing when I can fully move over. However I did meet up for a drink with a group from the “Expats of Småland” Facebook group.

Ben graduated from the Navy Corpsman A-School yesterday; Izzy and I flew down to see his graduation. I made reservations downtown by the River Walk, so we have spent our free time exploring the area. This morning Izzy and I drove to the Japanese Tea Gardens a few miles north of where we are staying. We were there early, with the only other guests being another group taking pictures.

It is sunny and hot in Texas in July. Ben said he can’t wait to take some leave and fly back to New England with us tomorrow. I can totally understand his feelings. Luckily the paths along the River Walk have lots of shade and usually have a good breeze. But still, the heat take a lot out of you.

It has been nice to get a break from the anxiety of trying to sell the house. It has been stressful with all the house viewings that didn’t turn into an offer, but hopefully that part of things will be over when I get home tomorrow.

Last night, Izzy and I drove up to Norwich to watch the fireworks. We had to wait until a line of thunderstorms passed. The ground was wet, but the rain made for a beautiful sunset as we walked through the downtown. It was a needed break from the stress of selling the house and getting ready to move overseas.

The house is as updates as we will get it. The next updates will be for the new owners. The Realtor officially put the house on the market and scheduled two open houses this weekend. Yesterday, Susanna went to a much deserved afternoon at the spa. Izzy, Hoagie and I had to find a place to eat lunch and hang out for a few hours while people walked through the house. We decided to head to Olde Mistick Village. What I didn’t realize was that this weekend was the second annual Strawberry Festival at Olde Mistick Village. The parking lot was packed, but food trucks were there, so finding a place to eat while towing a dog around wasn’t hard. Hoagie didn’t like the heat and spent a while just sleeping under a bush while Izzy spent longer in her favorite store, Holistic of Mystic, than I thought was possible in such a small shop.

The first half of this week is forecast to be very hot (upper 90s), so we will need to find a cool place to hang out for any house showings that get scheduled.

After nearly 19 years, we are officially moving out of Preston. The house paint has been touched up, the inside and outside of the house is clean, pictures are taken, the floor layout is mapped, and the contract signed with the Realtor. The house officially goes on the market later this week with an open house scheduled next weekend. We still have a lot of stuff to get rid of and several weeks to hopefully have everything wrapped up here. Our next big stop is Sweden! We’ll be hosting an ice-cream farewell gathering in July to say goodbye to everyone.

Susanna and I have been working diligently to touch up on paint and do the final few repairs on the house prior to listing it.

Today I finished the back stairs. The old stairs were in pretty bad shape and looked terrible. I replaced the front stairs last year and decided to match (or somewhat match) the back stairs. The front stair treads are pressure treated lumber with green porch paint. The porch paint looks nice, but it gets worn through on areas that are used frequently (such as the back stairs/porch). I couldn’t find green composite lumber, but did find brown. The brown matches the trim style on the house (green trim with brown highlights), so I used those instead. The brown isn’t a perfect match, but it is reasonably close.

I’ve been working on painting the workshop trim. My long term plan had been to replace the siding, but I don’t think that makes sense with us putting the house on the market in the next few weeks.

I’ve been done with work for 12 days. One big change, is I’m a lot more active than I was at work. I don’t wear a fitness tracker, but my phone shows a big increase in my steps. I’m trying to get up first thing in the morning to take Hoagie for a short walk before everyone else gets up; Hoagie is loving having me around and is now getting one to two walks a day.

Monday morning I met up with a friend and enjoyed a nice morning hike through the Shunock River Preserve in North Stonington. We didn’t see any other hikers on the trail and enjoyed the beautiful views. It is early enough in the year that the bugs weren’t bad and cool enough that it was pleasant. It is certainly a trail that I’d like to return to. The hike was just under 3 miles and took a little over an hour to complete. Surprisingly, Hoagie didn’t wind up too muddy.

It has been quite an adjustment. I’m used to having a schedule every week day and now I have to work to remember what day of the week it is. Not that I’m sitting around. I haven’t really had much time to sit around and relax. We are busy getting our house ready to sell, get everything ready for the move to Sweden, and drive Izzy to and from her rehearsals.

The house is slowly coming together. We have rented a storage unit to store furniture for the kids to take when they get places of their own. We have been making weekly trips to the dump and Goodwill to clean out things we won’t be bringing to Sweden. The first project I need to finish is replacing the back stairs. I was able to get the second set of balusters installed today. If the weather holds tomorrow, I’ll finish the painting and then install the new stair treads on Friday.

Yesterday I took Hoagie to Middletown to the only veterinarian in the area that will do the paperwork for him to fly to Sweden with us in August. Flying a pet overseas has seemed like a huge hurdle to overcome. However, the vet was very reassuring; she said she does this all the time and it won’t be an issue. I have tickets for him to fly with Izzy and I on the 1st of August. I hope to be able to leave his crate at the airport, but if not, Susanna is planning on meeting us at the airport in Copenhagen when we arrive to help with luggage, the dog, and possibly the crate. Susanna has her tickets to fly to Sweden a week before Izzy and I fly so she should have everything ready for us to arrive.

Izzy and I are planning a road trip around the states this fall. As a family (all 3 plus dog), we will head to Sweden late summer, settle into the apartment we have rented, get a car, and I’m sure a lot more that we haven’t figured out yet. Susanna will be looking to start working, hopefully as a preschool teacher; she needs to work to sponsor my residence permit. Izzy will have to repeat 3rd grade, and I’ll have to be out of Sweden for Susanna to apply for my permit. Our current plans are for Izzy and me to fly back to the US in late August.

We’ll spend a week in Connecticut catching up with friends and getting the mini-van ready for our road trip. Once ready, we will head west towards St. Louis and family. From there, maybe Colorado, California, and back. We’ll have time to plan it as we go and see where we feel like wandering.

I’ll put in a rudimentary DC electrical system for the trip. We’ll need to power a refrigerator/cooler, computers and phones. I’m planning on putting a solar panel on the roof and use a 50Ah lithium battery that I already have on hand. I ordered a 100W solar panel and a 30A PWM charge controller to start early testing of the system. I’ll eventually build a box for the battery and associated connectors.

I hooked up the solar this afternoon and was getting 2-3 amps of charging current even with the overcast weather. The next challenge for the electrical system is to figure out how to run the cables into the mini-van without having to drill a hole in the roof. I have some ideas, but will have to spend some time looking more closely at the van.