"Good-bye!" two days later "uhh - good bye." a day later "hmm - good bye?"

Going away is one of the most time consuming processes I could have ever imagined. Seriously. You think that leaving is easy - you just leave. But it's not that simple. It's never that simple. Because when you take a big long trip, you're not the only person effected. Friends, family, co-workers, non-gender-descript-relationship-partners, and just about every other person you've ever seen in your entire life is waiting to say goodbye to you.

And so help you if you don't say goodbye to them! Because they will hold it against you, hold it against you for months, years, it could became the sliver that becomes a cavernous abyss (or something less dramatic) but seriously - you'll be away for a long time, and what you can't repair may fester, and grow out of proportion.

So what has my "Goodbye" adventure been like so far? I can tell you this - there have been three parties, and things are finally starting to settle down.

I will go through them all in the coming (as I don't have the pictures for them right now, and some of them need images to back up the added work that has been dropped in my lap. Hint: geocaching is now something I must do.)

So - just bear in mind, when you're planning on leaving for a trip - you never get to sneak off into the night. You need to endure the praise, and love, and well wishes of everyone you've ever known. I know - what a hard life, eh? To be honest it's pretty great. I'm not going to lie. Just make sure you've booked time into your schedule for it. I've been running around, and having other people run around, for the last week now and there are still people that I won't get to see before I leave.

And remember the people attending these bashes, of sorts. Why do you have more than one? Because some are for friends - some are for family - some are for... other groups of friends. But there is that one person who has found their way into all those groups. And keep that poor soul in mind.

"How many times am I going to have to say goodbye to you," I ask asked.

Seriously - I thought, We're on round three or four now. So try to keep things simple, and remember - nothing nullifies the tear jerking scene of a hug being ripped apart, as subways pull people in opposite directions, quite like having lunch with that person two days later.

That's all I'm saying - I wish you well.