I'm Moving . . .

Monday morning I will be checking out of Capital 20 West Hotel and moving to a new hotel.  Dorothy, the admin that has made everything happen for me here in South Africa, asked me if I was happy at this location.  This hotel has everything I need.  I could have daily housekeeping service, but the tree hugger in me decided that two days a week is sufficient.  Housekeeping washes my clothes, cleans the kitchen, changes my bed and replaces the towels.  I have a gym that has a couple of treadmills and an elliptical machine.  I have a balcony that overlooks the local water reservoir.  I am really lucky here - the other side of the building overlooks a Shell gas station and a very busy intersection.

I have a restaurant and a bar though I have never been to the bar and the restaurant is so slow I resorted to going to the gym then just popping in to order room service to be sent to my room.  After dining in twice and sitting in the restaurant for over an hour, I decided room service was a better option.  An hour is a long time to sit alone in a not very busy restaurant.

I thought, how much better can it get?  A lot better apparently.  I checked out the website of the DaVinci Hotel and Suites.  There is a gym, a pool and a spa!  A bar with a view of the city!  I will lose my balcony but I will be gaining the proximity to Mandela Square (an elevator ride away!) and lots of restaurants and shopping.  I am very excited about being able to take the elevator down to access all the shops and restaurants at Mandela Square.  I drive there every weekend to do my grocery shopping.  The hotel is adjacent to the train to the airport.  There is so much more activity in that area.  Dorothy seemed to think that is the downside to this location.  I am thrilled.  If I am honest with you, I have been a little lonely and isolated at the Capital 20 West.  The prospect of being able to access the shopping after work and walk around among other humans is very exciting to me.

As my move approaches, I realize how much of a creature of habit I am and how much I do not like change.  I think about the cafe in a gas station I pop in every morning to get coffee.  Will I still go there to get coffee?  Will they wonder what happened to the blonde American that used to order a double Americano every morning at 6:15am?  I am a 2 minute drive from my yoga studio.  Will adding another 8 minutes to my drive make me less likely to go?  Will the traffic be worse? (Probably).  How much further to access the highway?  Will there be more intersections?  Intersections are a concern because that is where you could get hijacked (carjacked).

The move is absolutely the right thing for me to do.  I just marvel that having lived in Capital 20 West for a little over a month, I am contemplating so much if I should make this move!

(Yes it is messy, I am in the process of packing!)

It is nice to have such a lovely view from the bedroom

I'll post photos of my new apartment next week.  Now I am busy trying to eat all my refrigerated food so I don't have to move it.  Hummus and carrots for breakfast anyone?

Until my next dispatch from Jo'burg, totsiens & mooi loop!