Reality kicks in.

Having attended my medical a few weeks back it was simply a matter of waiting for the results. Before leaving the hospital I asked the chances of failing. The receptionist was very pleasant and just smiled and said "if there is a problem it would be discussed now." Handed me my receipt and then I left.

With this positive attitude I've waited a little over two weeks to hear back from the IAA in Ireland. Good news arrived on Thursday as the postman dropped off the golden ticket. Well, a green A4 sheet with a bunch of scribbles and the all important stamp of authentication.

With less than five weeks to go until departure, my medical certificate in the bag and US visa interview tomorrow the scary thought of this becoming a reality is slowly but surely starting to sink in. As I've mentioned before, it's been a long tiring journey so far and I haven't even left the UK yet!

I still very much have a long list of tasks to complete (which does seem to be getting longer!) before leaving the country. These range from giving up hobbies and professions to personal banking and a whole range of problems in between. It's a very odd situation. I'm used to a full calendar. Work, meetings and social events fill my weeks quite regularly and over the next five weeks I somehow have to reduce that from seven days per week to zero. I'm dropping things I love, stuff I'll miss as well as others which I am very happy to drop! The long term goal will hopefully make this all worthwhile.

So now I await tomorrow - one of the final fences to jump over before departure. By this time next week I hope to have all my paperwork in place for departure to Florida come May.