Category Archives: Moving

Unplugging (Literally)

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It is getting closer and closer to our departure date.  We are leaving on Sept 23! We wanted to stay a bit longer to close up some things but there are very limited flights from DIA to Aguadilla and so that was it! We are off on our journey in 2 weeks! Yikes and YAY!

I have quit my job, handed over my phone, stopped our health insurance, disconnected the internet and cable, and given away my plasma TV. Cassie is nearly there as well (she is working right up to the end). It is a strange feeling to realize that I am now starting to float away from all of the things that connect us to the bigger whole of society.

For internet we have been going to the Library which gives us an hour of surfing a day.  This has been beneficial because we make our time more efficient.  We post things for sale on craigslist, setup our remaining bills to paperless, check FB/email, and also have an opportunity to pick up/drop off books. We have been reading more since there is no TV or YouTube to mindlessly watch. And having the extra time has been useful.  I have been using it to take care of a few outstanding issues at the rentals.

Plastic Down
Laying Down Thick Plastic as a Weed Barrier

When it comes to weed barriers I don’t mess around anymore.  When I did my first landscaping projects I would use the fabric they sell at landscape companies.  I quickly found that Colorado weeds don’t care about it.  they will simply grow thru, around and in the fabric.  I suppose if I wanted to use weed killers, that would work ok but since I don’t I use this thick black plastic sheeting.  It is the best thing I have found so far.  It does have drawbacks in that it traps moisture and can get moldy, but that isn’t a big problem here in the Colorado desert.   I also wouldn’t use it if I were going to put plants in and around the area.

Rocks Done
6 Tons of Rock

I am getting better at the shoveling rock gig.  I was able to pump out 6 tons in about half a day with a wheel barrow and a shovel.  It is hard work, but I find that when I am working toward my own goals, it feels pretty freaking good!

We have also been continually cleaning out the house.  Most of the rooms are empty and I have just listed our cars for sale on Craigslist.  When we no longer have our cars we will REALLY be disconnected. We say we will be losing our “legs” since we’ve always had a car. Once those are gone, we won’t have much except some clothes and our cat.

Empty
Empty Room
Being unplugged from a lot of the distractions not only saves money, but gives me time to focus on my life.  It has been extremely freeing.  When we sell the cars and the house rents, I won’t have any real financial responsibilies that aren’t covered.  We will have a water and electric bill in Rincon and that’s about it for “fixed” expenses.

Now that we have cleared out everything, we have decided to really think about what we bring into our lives. I think initally when we arrive in Puerto Rico we will need to get a vehicle and we will also have some food and “fun” expenditures. We will also get some furniture and we will be fixing up the property and structures a lot. We are currently looking into health insurance. But we can take it at our own pace and we will be much more selective about what and how much we plug into. Plugging in is the norm, but a life unplugged definitely has its perks. It is a freaky feeling, this freedom thing.

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Freefall

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Everyone talks about making the jump. The big change. But what is often missed in these stories is the freefall, that period of limbo between making the decision to do something and landing in your new world. The freefall after a parachute jump (I have heard) is actually the most ecstasy-inducing experience. The fear of the jump is over and for those blissful few moments, you float in another world between one and the next.

For Lease
For lease!

That’s sort of where we are right now. On Tuesday I gathered up the courage to approach my supervisor and tell him that we are moving. That my last day at work will be September 20. Like climbing the ladder to the jump off the high dive, I noticed that my fear was in the build-up. Once I had done it, I was falling into a whole new experience. One where I know I will be safe and the fun is still to come.

Lazy Kitty
Kitty knows how to relax 🙂

In just this first week that Britton has been off work we have accomplished a lot!  Britton took Kitty in for his check-up and shots (the first time in about 9 years!!). We have thoroughly cleaned out the whole house, signed the paperwork to get it placed for rent, and had our first showing! And we have begun looking at airfare to buy our tickets. As for “stuff”, we are down to just two chairs and the TV. We have dropped off two more large trash bags full of clothes and things to Goodwill. And our folks have graciously held on to some of our sentimental items like photo albums. We have even sold our kitchen table and are using a card table to eat.

Glass table
Bye kitchen table of 10 years!

It is a strange place, the freefall. The transition. At work, they are already talking about hiring my position and it makes me feel strange. I think it must be that for eight years, this job has been tied up in my identity. It is how I have introduced myself many times. My little niche in the world. And just like that I can be replaced. It also brings up feelings of loss and loss-aversion. I am going to miss all my co-workers, friends and family. And we are basically taking a 90% paycut to live our dream. But when you put it into perspective, when you have what you need, when you have ENOUGH, it is by far more expensive to continue to just wish you were living the dream instead of actually doing it.

Britton said he felt this way too his last few weeks at work, but that once he was done and had walked away, the world has now opened up into this new space of creation. He feels anything is possible. It is pretty cool and weird to have a nearly empty house, and an empty yard now that the chickens have a new home as well.

chickens
Chickens loaded up to go to their new home

But every time there is emptiness or vacancy, every time there is a blank canvas, there is the power to fill, the power to create. No void or vacuum ever stays that way for long. And so when we land from this freefall, we will look around and say: What a trip!

And where do we start.

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Why Are You Leaving?

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So as I was doing my ‘exit interview’ with HR, the question came up.  Why are you leaving?

I simply explained that I had some property in Puerto Rico and that I wanted to work on it, and live there.  I had suggested that I could help out my work team by working remote, but since that wasn’t approved, I was quitting to go start on our dream.

Good Riddance
Click To Read My Farewell Email

She looked at me and then at the boxes on her form. “So…Other?”.  I looked at the form and it had check boxes.  There were selections like “career move”, “illness” and a whole host of other reasons a person might quit their job.

Me: I guess quitting your job to move to an island isn’t on there?
HR: No, no it isn’t.  I guess this is…maybe retirement? Early retirement?
Me: I suppose so, but I don’t like that word.  Is Jubilado a choice?
HR: What’s that?
Me: Nevermind…..I guess just check “other”.

A while ago Cassie and I were talking about retirement and she mentioned that in Spanish the word for “retired” is “Jubilado”.  It comes from the same root as the English word “Jubilation”, which it would seem a more appropriate word than tired, or retired, tired again. We are totally jubilated!

It’s a good sign that you are thinking outside the box, when there is no box to fit you into.

My last day actually felt pretty good.  I don’t have to worry about all the problems that were constantly coming up at work.  It still feels like a normal Saturday, and maybe Sunday will feel about the same too.  Come Monday though, that’s when it will feel like I didn’t go to work.  And when I am in Rincón, it will really hit home. I will be home!

killer sunset

 

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Tumbling Down the Rabbit Hole

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Our upcoming move to la isla del encanto has been one heck of a journey, and we haven’t even moved yet! It has come to mean so many things to us that it really is difficult to explain to others without a lengthy conversation that challenges commonly held beliefs. For this reason we normally leave it to simple things that we all understand; nice weather (no snow), growing plants, playing in the ocean, and achieving a goal. When we first started down our path and looked at properties in Puerto Rico we were simply going to get a mortgage and move. That was the extent of our planning. No idea of how we were going to make money or what we would be doing.

100_2841
First Property We tried to Purchase

Through the process of discovery which unfolded in front of us on our path we found solutions to all the big ‘problems’. How are we going to buy food? How are we going to PAY OUR BILLS!? Do I need a corporate/cubicle job down there? I was obviously still thinking in the box.  A box I had forgot existed even though I am in it everyday.

I didn’t realize what actual freedom entails or that I was even in a system that doesn’t promote or teach it, which is odd because we live in the ‘land of the free’. I didn’t even realize I wasn’t free! I like to use the movie “Matrix” as an analogy to the realization of what we were actually up against.

The answers came over time.

One essential thing was to cut our bills to a manageable size (no mortgage, very little in the way of consumer goods and NO SUBSCRIPTIONS). It’s pretty easy in the U.S. and totally normal to spend $1000/mo or more on just a spot to sleep. And that seems…I dunno…Kind of ridiculous. When you are first starting out on your own, that consumes a lot of your money. That money that you traded your life’s energy for.  Then add on cable, phone, utilities and all the other modern conveniences of life I haven’t ever been without for long.

Why do I have to spend money simply to exist?
A> Because that is the way it was decided long before me.  It is that simple.

The meaning behind this became profound.  Debt is the basis of American lives and is what our economy is built upon.  We as a nation rarely if ever mention this and certainly the paid for advertising of our mainstream media isn’t going to let it be known.  It isn’t taught in public school, or discussed on the television.  The debt based consumer mindset opened my eyes to how the things I buy hold me down. Everything I purchase has associated costs.  The concept of less is more started to appeal to me and also gets me closer to our end goal.

This is a huge consideration in my life now. Want that shiny object?  Would you trade your life for it? Is it worth 2-10 years of my life to have a new Corvette Z06 that will continue to consume more of my life’s energy (in the form of money for gas, licensing, insurance, tickets, repairs and worry)? No. I have struggled with this as an American male.  I started to question it. Where does that consumerism seed get started? Is it just an exploitation of a hard-wired evolutionary biological mechanism?  Is it installed into me by society and advertising? I think it’s a mixture, but it is deeply rooted in our culture and taught to us as children.  Want.

justification-for-higher-education
This poster was in MANY of my classrooms

You see. This decision to walk a different path, even if just slightly,  from the standard has spawned an introspective thought process.  This is where true freedom begins, with our choices.  Not just the choices of what to buy, but the choice of how to think.  How to operate this human machinery.  It has allowed me to see more clearly and be more aware of my surroundings, motivations and beliefs.  All of this came from a simple goal to move to an island.

IMG_0244

Creating the lifestyle that we envisioned is now on our doorstep. We are both looking forward to a life without the rat race. No more waking up everyday at 6am to shower, eat, commute and work towards someone else’s dream and someone else’s freedom. We get to work at our dream and our freedom.  At the age of 34 I’d say that is one hell of an accomplishment and we are only getting started.

Today marks my last day of work and entrance into wonderland.

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