The house is sold! It has been a whirlwind of a month!  We listed our house on July 3, 2020. Within five days we had our first offer. That offer did not work out. Shortly after that we had our second offer. We accepted that offer and closed within a week! Five weeks from listing to closing. Steve had a cross country work trip already scheduled for that time. That meant I had one week to pack, sort, and get ready to move by myself! I had to be prepared as when he returned, we only had two days to have everything out! Luckily, my sister, niece, son, and his girlfriend pitched in and helped us with brute strength after I sorted and packed. By the time Steve returned we had the entire house ready and a plan for everything.

We eliminated almost all our furniture. Except for family pieces such as my mom’s china cabinet or Steve’s grandmas dining room set.  During one of my Facebook sales I encountered a young family moving into their first place.  I had them return with a trailer and filled it to the brim with house goods and furniture. It was a win-win for both of us. I no longer had to try to sell the items and they got a great start to setting up their home.

The rest of our belongings went into a climate controlled 10’ x 20’ storage unit or our travel trailer. We also let our son store several pieces of furniture and a huge weight bench machine in our unit. There is still empty space in the storage unit! In fact, our son’s belongings take up more room than ours!

We are now officially location independent and ready for the next phase of our journey 4 change!

You may wonder how we eliminated so much stuff and not “felt bad”? Most importantly, we had to change the way we viewed our belongings and prioritize what was important in our lives. Owning things in our society is often used as a measure for success. I am sure you have heard “He who dies with the most toys-wins”. WRONG! He who dies is still dead no matter how many “toys” or debts he has racked up or collected. DEAD IS DEAD!  What matters is the moments between birth and death. The loved ones, the memories, the experiences, the laughter and even the tears. Those are the things we want to prioritize.

Collecting, storing, or owning things is not important to us any longer. We decided we do not want to commit to wasting our finite time on Earth upholding the status quo of acquiring belongings and paying for them. Getting rid of the filler items allows us to have things that are of exceptional quality that adds value to our lives.

We started purging items two years before we listed our home. Each purge got easier to let things go.  As we sorted through things, we were able to see their true value and acknowledge that an item had stayed longer than it should have. If it was not being used or appreciated it was time for it to move on. Family heirlooms, pictures, and special mementos are what we kept. There has not been one single item in two years that we have regretted letting go of.

Now the belongings we do have we use and appreciate. They are not lost in the clutter. It is no longer about what we paid for an item but whether it serves us. Things do not make your life-you do!

We moved into our 27’ travel trailer and rented a spot in Gulf Shores, Alabama to allow us time to tie up some things before heading out to explore the United States. The pandemic is making world travel difficult, so we are focusing on exploring our country until it is safe to travel internationally. We are in the process of buying a motor home to make travel easier and more comfortable for us and our pets. Then we will set off and explore!

It is the perfect time for us to do this. Our care giving responsibilities have been met and our children raised. We have paid off our debt and reduced our monthly expenses to the point that we can work minimal hours. Our business allows us to work from anywhere. With the sale of our house we were able to put aside a nice nest egg for possibly building a tiny house in the future.

Our youngest son is settling into his new apartment with his girlfriend and focusing on starting his next chapter of his life. They both love to travel and have vowed to work together to see us or find other ways to be involved in each other’s daily lives. Our oldest son and his family have chosen to not be involved in our lives or let us be involved in theirs at this time. Although we wish this to be different, they are adults and we will respect their decision. If they change their minds, we will work with them as we are our youngest son to remain in close contact.

We have committed to traveling for a minimum of one year before we decide if and where we want to build a tiny permanent home. Next stop-Ten Mile, Tennessee!

Steve and I have had numerous conversations about what is important to us. As empty nesters who are in great health with no debt and low monthly expenses, we can now chart our own course. Now WE can decide how we want to structure the rest of our lives.

We will travel, make memories, and explore cultures. Spend time with those we love and who love us.

We both have hobbies we want to devote more time to. Both of us want to learn photography and live a more active life that will include hiking, kayaking, and biking. Steve has been learning about day trading and exploring ways to build our tiny house off grid with alternative energy. I will be able to devote more time to my writing as well as developing a healthier lifestyle that I can sustain.

We will pick up our motor home next week. We also purchased a Thousand Trails camping membership that will allow us to visit 80 camping resorts nationwide plus have access to 109 more! This membership will allow us to keep our costs low while moving about. I will be writing about it soon.

After we have things tied up in Gulf Shores our next stop is Ten Mile, Tennessee to visit family there for the month of October then on to Savannah, Georgia to spend Halloween and the first week of November. At each stop we will review our location-look for a new area of the website soon to find campsite reviews.

If you have any suggestions for things we should do while in an area, places that we should not miss, or interesting facts please share them below in the comments. Look for more frequent updates as we begin the next phase of our journey 4 change!