Today, I depart my home in St Louis, Missouri, United States, to settle in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. The last fortnight has been been a hustle of packing, moving, and goodbyes with friends and family.

My cubicle at my former job is cleaned out and ready to welcome its next vassal. No personal traces remain, other than the two portrait-oriented monitors I let stay turned.

I will arrive in Munich on Sunday morning, to be welcomed by the wife of one of my future coworkers, and I will be taken to my temporary guest room to get settled in. I start work the next day.

There are countless final, irrevocable crossroads. Even though I plan to visit the US at least yearly, I can scarcely imagine when I will see all of my wonderful friends again. Their lives will continue, just as mine, only now we will be separated by an ocean. I will miss my dear parents, brother, sisters-in-law, and mother- and father-in-law.

Most precious to me are the last days, hours, moments with my wife, until we see each other again in July. She will travel to Madrid, Spain in June, to do research for two weeks, then spend a month in Munich with me. I can’t wait!