Yes or No?

I couldn’t sleep last night, tossing and turning, anguished with our decision to discard our dream. It had felt so right, so perfect! Even though there are obstacles that are in our way, I knew that our dream should come true. We made the commitment by announcing to most people that we were going to do this, even our kids. So it will have to happen. I reposted the post-its on the bathroom mirror. We are more determined than ever to follow our dream. Funnily enough, this has never been a long-term dream for us, but has become our long-term future dream. Dream on!!

Too Big a Risk

I took down the ‘star chart’ on our bathroom mirror while tears welled in my eyes. Using all our savings, not having a plan to make money on the road, and using all our collateral (home) for a temporary home that would need to be replaced by an even more expensive home down the road is just not the smart thing to do. I was heartbroken. But I didn’t throw them away; I tucked them inside my binder, and closed the cover. A little tiny spark of hope floated around my heart. I knew this was something that my north star said was so right, that I couldn’t just throw my dreams away, so I tucked them away for a while.

A Bubble Burst

I haven’t written lately, because our dream was nearly killed. I say nearly, because when we crunched some numbers, the results were very dismal. By selling the house, we would be giving up our only source of security. We don’t have a lot of money, no IRA’s or source of income for when we’re old and gray (or grayer). If we decide to go ahead with this, what will happen when we hang up the keys? Will we be relegated to living in an old trailer, and where?? This idea has to be hammered out until we are both comfortable with the numbers. Our daily living will be adventurous, and yes, we will definitely need an income. We will go to Brian, and ask him to plug in numbers. We will go to Ellen and ask about renting. We have Granny covered, and there is a little guilt there, but now we have committed to doing this. It would not be fair to send Granny to live with Mandy and not go anywhere. So, slowly we are working, planning and dreaming of our big adventure. At the end of our lives, which will we regret more: taking this risk and failing or refusing to take it and never knowing whether we would have succeeded or failed?

Happy Birthday, Graham

Happy Birthday, Grandson
Well, no one slept very well last night (I ended up on the couch), but Graham woke up chipper and sang ‘happy birthday to me’ all morning. He had his birthday breakfast, then Michelle, he and I spent some quality time together in BJs. I told her our plans and mentioned that we’d need some income to make it work. She suggested getting a cause we believe strongly in, and promoting it on the road through a non-profit set-up where we pay ourselves for the expenses. Gary loved this idea and said his cause would be mycosis fungoides. He would look at the American Cancer Society’s web page and see what they might do to help us spread the word. I looked at ‘online businesses’ and decided that I might be able to sell my photos. At only 25 cents a shot, it’s not very profitable unless I’ve got some really unusual or good photos, but it doesn’t cost a thing. Gary also called Harold from work who RVs (but not fulltime) and he gave us some pointers. He told Gary that a fiver was better than a motorhome costwise and spacewise. So Gary is getting off the “a motorhome is better” soapbox. Yay. A brochure from Montana came today, and he drooled. J

Following Our North Star

Happy Birthday, my son. Twenty-three and his whole life ahead of him. He already knows what direction his northstar lies and is streaming towards it. What a blessing to be that young and know your purpose on earth. I’m glad that having him was one of my purposes on earth. Michelle asked if we’d like a little bonding time with Graham, so he is staying overnight with us. Tomorrow is his birthday. Already three and I’m wondering what he may love in life. I called Ellen, the realtor used for Michelle and now friend! She is excited for us and will get some info on renting/selling for our area to me. After we both get back from our little vacation, she will come and see the house. Gary and I really don’t want to be absentee landlords, but if we get hired in Orlando, we could hold onto the house and make frequent needed trips back to Sarasota to care for it. Hmmmm. The timing of this is so hard for me. I want to go ASAP, but we have no time frame yet, and so I spend my time preparing and sending for things.

Bummer to Hope

Woke up kinda bummed today. Don’t know why. Are we nuts? This all seems like so much work for so much risk. We’d be giving up security for adventure. I spent all day looking at photos on RV Dreams. There is SO MUCH beauty out there, I was nearly in tears. OF COURSE we will be doing this. Gary was now thinking of a motorhome and using the Escape as a toad instead of a fiver. We’re going to the RV show in Tampa the weekend of the neighborhood garage sale. I can hardly wait! That’s also the week that just Gary and I are going to our timeshare in Orlando to attend the Wine and Food Festival at Epcot the last week it is there. We are also going to check out employee options at Disney. This is a very exciting week. One of these days, we are going to tell my kids. Oh, and Tasha is going to Tristan’s in Miami. Won’t he be surprised!

What To Do With This??

What to do today??? We have so much stuff to do something WITH. The hard part is that we don’t know if we’re selling or renting. We could rent it furnished, or sell it furnished, or.. or… So all I did was clean out the bottom four drawers of the secretary. (Don’t know what to do with THAT stuff either). I forgot to mention that shortly after our idea, we called my brother, Bob and ran it by him. He said to go for it. We would also like to boondock (live without hookups) on my brother’s huge property if he’ll have us sometime in the summer. He’s into motors so we picked his brain as to what to look for in a motorhome. He gave us the list of ‘absolutes’, and a list of ‘nice to haves’. Thanks, Bob!

Moving Around

At girl’s club, Debbie C. mentioned to everyone that she was moving. Of course they all asked where to? And we smiled at each other. But I don’t think she wants to rent and take care of a bigger house and yard, but we’ll see. Meanwhile, Jan piped up and mentioned that maybe they might be interested, as they are feeling a little pinch, and love our model. Sooooo, I really need to find out how much we can get for rent by calling Ellen. It’s on a post-it.

El Sine?

El Sine? (The Sign)
Our friend and neighbor stopped by saying she needed to talk to us. It turns out that she is selling her house and wanted us to know before we saw the sign out front. She is going to rent instead, and wants to stay in the house until after the holidays. Is this a sign? We ask her how much she is expecting to pay for a month’s rent, and it is exactly what we would be happy getting for our house. She said she’d think about it, although she did mention that we could be getting more. We said that knowing who was renting was more important. El sine?

Working on the Road

Oct. 1
Working on the Road
I’ve been looking at web sites every day at blogs about fulltiming. RV Dreams is fantastic. Howard Payne is/was a salesman (real estate) and lawyer, and since they needed an income, he built a website and has documented from the day they decided to be full-timers. He puts links on his site for hits and credits. She makes and sells beaded jewelry, cookbooks, and birdfeeders. He downloads photos, blogs and sells clothing with his logo on it. So, WE need to find a job, too. There are jobs available through Workampers.com which is basically volunteering in exchange for free camp sites. We would love to do that for about 4-6 months at a time in DisneyWorld, a dude ranch or any Florida national/state park, even Habitat for Humanity. We can also boondock if our rig is so equipped, and this would be very little per night or free. But we would like to be original and sell or provide some kind of service for the people in campgrounds. Maybe a dog groomer? Maintenance man? It will come to us….