For the last several weeks we have done nothing but prepare for the next big step in our lives. Getting ready to travel the world full time and literally getting rid of everything you own is not an easy task. The words friends and family have used to describe what we are doing that we hear most are how we are so brave, how courageous this is, how exciting, how ballsy we are, and WOW, this is huge!
We don’t feel like we are any of those things, we just feel excited and ready to go but leaving isn’t that easy when you own a home and a lot of stuff. There really is so much to do that I think a lot of people don’t realize before you can take on something like this. We just had dinner with friends the other night and when I said how much we still had to do before we could go they were puzzled. They actually said, well how much could you have to do? They have no grasp of what this entails. Most people don’t, why would they? Unless you’ve done this how would you know? We certainly didn’t. And once you start making the list, it keeps growing and then you do realize why when most people start planning to do this they say to give it a full year, which was our original intention, but we are eager to get going so we are moving on things quickly.
So we listed our house with the realtor just a couple of days ago, we are having an open house tomorrow Saturday the 27th of July, we just spent two weeks out in Washington State spending time with our kids, grandkids, parents, siblings etc… we have spent the last several weeks selling off things, listing on market place and Ebay, we have been packing up the items we are giving our girls, working hard in the yard to get it ship shape to show, making and going to doctors’ appointments, both of us got our colonoscopy’s done, completing our blood work, doing our cardiology and stress tests, getting our skin checked at dermatologist, making our eye appointments to order new glasses, getting dental work completed, I got my injections in the last couple months for my RSD, and have started getting what vaccinations we are going to need, we’ve also started studying basics in several languages just the please, thank Yous, excuse me, do you speak English etc…, spending time researching our best options for international phone service, international health insurance, international driver’s license, researching best carryon luggage, best back packs, learning about VISA requirements for each country we plan to visit, we still have to update our wills, find a storage unit close to our girls, find the mail service we plan on using to set up our residency, speak to a financial advisor, set up new bank accounts that are more international friendly, create our budget spreadsheets, talk to our doctors about getting long term prescriptions. When I say there is a lot to do, I mean it! When we started this plan, we had no idea what all this would entail but we are deep in and still learning every day.
We did strike a good deal with our furnishings and have that all taken care of. Someone I used to work with in the airline industry reached out as he had heard of what we are doing through a friend, and he was interested in possibly purchasing our furniture, I sent him pictures, he and his wife liked what they saw, they flew down from Seattle, looked at everything, and we made a deal, so now we don’t have to worry about selling it all individually and they don’t have to worry about buying new furniture for their vacation home they are remodeling here in Florida. It was a win, win for both of us. That is a huge thing off our list.
We still have to sell cars, trying to decide if we should sell both cars here in Florida and the car we have in Washington and purchase a newer car to keep in Washington so we can use it for road trips. All of our vehicles are older, and I don’t think keeping one of the older cars is a great idea as we are going to need something with lower miles and dependable. That will probably be the plan, but we are in the discussion stage on that. We sold our golf cart and our bikes, Gene sold several sets of golf clubs, his garage work bench unit with cabinets, and one of our neighbors is interested in purchasing our safe. These are the biggest items, and we are working on getting those things sold. Holding off on cars until we get an offer on the house. It’s been a lot, and at times a little overwhelming and still trying to live a normal life. Going out with friends, attending birthday parties, dinner parties, water aerobics, and all of the day-to-day things. But each thing we complete, each phrase we learn, and each thing we sell we know we are one step closer to our goal. Now, let’s get this house sold so we can get going!
This is it, the next time I write, we will have sold the house and then we start planning our travels. So, until then remember, you are never too old to set a new goal or dream a new dream. C.S. Lewis
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