Quote du jour

“There comes a day when you realize turning the page is the best feeling in the world, because you realize there is so much more to the book than the page you were stuck on.   - Zayn Malik

New passports

Judy – Passports came today!  Well, NEW passports came today, as did the old ones, filled with stamps from countries visited:  Israel, Spain, Greece, Italy, etc.  And now we have new passports with empty pages to be filled again.  We got the larger ones with 54 pages.  This thing is getting real!

Getting Ready

JUDY - It’s odd to be betwixt and between.  Ted’s right—there is anticipatory pleasure, but there’s so much to do!  It’s not as though we’re just taking off for a few months; we’re actually closing down our living quarters, getting rid of the rest of the stuff, figuring out what NEEDS to be done yet, and setting off on a new life.  It’s darned annoying when a sheet rips; I resent the money spent to buy a replacement!  It’s just eight more months, after all!  So time is spent deciding if the towels can last that long, if there are enough dishes without chips to serve dinner to guests, what spices need to be replaced, and whether the blouse I want will fit in the suitcase. 

And there is the realization that some things are probably being done for the last time.  I’m on the planning and execution team for a women’s retreat each September.  Earlier this month I met with my friends and planned what well may be my last one as part of the team.  It was hard not to make it too special a moment.  For my partners, it’s another retreat.  For me, it made me wonder how much I’d miss it. 

We have enjoyed playing host to friends from our old neighborhood who come into town for the weekend.  We’re finally discovering and exploring experiences and areas of Atlanta that we never visited—it was a pain to drive.  There’s a lot going on here, and I want to soak it up so I can tell the people I meet what wonderful things are here. 

And I still can’t allow myself to be overwhelmed.  Can’t we just GO?

Quote du Jour

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.”         - Mark Twain

Travel Dreams

Ted - One of my grandmothers was a high school English teacher. She taught me that a great joy of life is “anticipatory pleasure.” Knowing that we will be retired next year to travel more or less full time, we have spent many a sunny afternoon with a mug of tea or chilled beverage dreaming of where to go. We know and love Europe and have friends and family there so our first urge is back to that wonderful continent. But what else is out there? This led to research on the internet and our discovery of the value of Round the World (RTW) trips. As it turns out, there are significant savings to be had if you can string together flights in one direction, especially when you begin and end outside the US. This becomes even more appealing when one discovers that the savings are greater still for travel in business class. Who hasn’t envied those lay flat beds on overnight flights?

Conclusion? Our first big adventure upon retiring will string together New Zealand, Australia, Southeast Asia, Southern Africa and Europe. Why those particular destinations? Well, one has to start somewhere!

Beginnings

Our first journey was to San Blas, Mexico in 1976. I think that is when we started thinking we might want to spend the rest of our lives together.  

   

Quote du Jour

“Tourists don’t know where they’ve been, travelers don’t know where they’re going.”         - Paul Theroux

Selling It All

Ted - Selling a small business is complicated but vital to our plan. Late in 2012, I sat down with my business partner and discussed my desire to leave the business at the end of 2016.  Scott and I had grown very close since we launched our company in 1996 and it was important to me that this be handled appropriately. I won’t go into any detail other than to say that plans were finalized in August of 2015 and I will exit at the end of 2016.

Ted - Timing is everything in the real estate market. We did not want to wait too long to sell our house because, to meet our plan, it had to be gone by the end of 2016. We decided to list it in the spring of 2015 and our wonderful realtors got a contract in three weeks! But now, where were we to live? God was watching over us, as always and we were able to sublease a wonderful little condo in downtown Atlanta and have just renewed the lease through January of 2017.

Judy - You can count on the fact that God works in His own time.  We had tried to sell the house and downsize twice before—right before 9/11 and in 2008.  Duh.  Our wonderful realtors had been watching the market for us, and finally decided 2015 might be a good year.  The week we left to walk the Portuguese Camino Santiago de Compostela, we found a small apartment that we fell in love with and put the house on the market.  Three weeks later, we were in Dahlonega, Georgia at our son’s wedding.  Three days after that we began moving boxes into the apartment, as we had a contract on the house.  It was remarkably easy to get rid of my prized possessions—friends, a lovely lady at our garage sale, and our kids took most everything.  The thrift store took the freezer and what was left.  ON OUR WAY!

Ted -  Moving from a 4 bedroom house in Snellville, GA where we had lived for 31 years to a tiny condo forced us to make tough choices. Unburdening ourselves from our stuff was important, though. We are now 80% stripped of our possessions and the last bit will be easy. The final 5% will probably reside in a small mini storage unit till our travel days end.   

Planning It

Ted -  Inspired by “The Article” Judy and I decided that we would follow in their footsteps. We would sell everything and hit the road. To hit our target date of January 1, 2017 would require a lot of planning and work. 

Judy- At first we talked about keeping a small apartment to come home to, but that would require more money that we felt we could manage.  Gradually, we realized that with NO expenses—no mortgage or rent, no cars, no home or car insurance, etc., we could use our income to pay for our dream.  Lots to do yet, but worth exploring.