Someone stop me

I think about the future a lot. Some people miss out on the present by obsessively going over the past. I miss out on the present by fantasizing and obsessively planning for the future.

I can’t just idly think of what might happen in the future. I have to make sure that my thoughts are realistic, so I do a lot of research. A few years ago K and I thought we might move to San Francisco (she was accepted to grad school there). I researched neighborhoods, rents, possible places of employment. I looked into public transportation routes from my favorite areas to my favorite potential workplaces. I could have told you which buses and trains I would take, what time I’d catch said buses and trains, and how long the trip would take. But we didn’t go. When I fantasize about winning the Mega Millions jackpot I make spreadsheets to calculate what we’d get given the reduction for a cash payout and tax, figure out how much we’d be able to share with our friends and family members (before and after the gift tax), and have gone to real estate sites to see how much house/flat my family members would be able to afford with their post-tax gifts. And I never even buy Mega Millions tickets.

<>As you can imagine, I have done a lot of research on London. I have created an estimated budget for our living expenses. To make sure that my budget is realistic, I have looked up the costs of broadband internet, monthly travelcards, mobile phone plans, council tax, and home phone with international calling. I check job ads to see how much K and I might be able to earn. I compute what our take-home pay would be after tax. I look at apartments regularly to see what kind of places we could afford in our preferred neighborhoods. I know what customs forms we will need to fill out when we ship over our personal belongings. I’ve looked up all of the information about the visa K will get and have folders with the documentation we’ll need for it. I have made a list of everything we might need to buy when we first arrive (alarm clock, dishes, pots & pans, sheets, etc.), and have gone to an online site (argos.co.uk) and put all of those items in my shopping cart to see how much it would cost.

I haven’t done all this because I am especially excited about moving to London (though I am)—I’ve done it because I can’t help it.

I was going to write out my expectations for the whole process, but I think I have gone on enough for now.