It has been a long time since I added a blog entry, and that is somewhat by design. Posting is almost a reward to me, and I haven't felt like I 'deserved' a reward until today.
If you ever took journalism in junior high and were taught the way I was, you will know how the rules of writing a story were presented to students. An article has its own named components: Headline, Byline, Lead Paragraph, Explanation, and Additional Information
Within that first lead paragraph, should be contained, Who, What, When, Where, Why and How. This is so the reader can get the scope of the whole of the story even if he/she does not continue to read the entire remainder of the article. Reading newspapers is serendipitous, I think. As I scan each page, letting my eyes fall on things that may or may not draw me into reading something, I make the decision using the headline and that lead paragraph whether I will commit to reading a given article in its entirety.
Some view the creation of art in the same way. They say there should be a sequence in planning the art piece so that the outcome will be a vision of what was intended by the artist or the entity who commissioned the artwork. This is whether it be a totally creative piece or a commercial ad design piece.
I had to follow some of these rules in school, but I totally disregarded them when in the 'real world' of my jobs. Especially for art it just doesn't work(for me). I could never put a plan to paper before designing an ad. That's not how my brain works, I guess. If allowed, I approached each ad with an open mind or merely a thought and it developed into what I finally decided was what I was happy with. Sometimes its hard to know when to say when, especially with art. Some pieces are never ever going to be 'done' in your own mind. But you just have to either throw it away or walk away.
This is a long winded way of explaining that this blog writing is like the writing of a newspaper article or a creation of art for me. I sit down, and I may have a thought I want to convey, but what ends up posted in the blog is always a surprise to me. That's why I like it. That's why I allow myself the pleasure of putting my thoughts here but only when I 'get' to write ie; when I think I have something to say.
So here's what's been up the last month: I met this guy through facebook who is a friend of a friend. He and I started messaging within facebook and I decided I HAD to meet him. Why? Turns out he is a world traveler, which is what I aspire to be. He used to travel by choice, but now he is forced by financial conditions to live outside the U.S. most of the time. He has been all over but has researched many different parts of the world. He landed in Thailand due to its very low cost of living.
I drove over to Southern CA to meet up with him and have a 3+ hour conversation about the places he considered, what it is like for him and we compared notes on what I have read about such places as Nicaragua and Thailand. He is a very nice man who is willing to share whatever he has learned with whomever asks. He can't help but speak only for his own experiences though, and that is where he differs from what my hopes are about living abroad. A man has more freedom to live how he pleases without fear than a woman does. This guy is not a risk taker he says, yet he is the only person I've ever met who actually DID IT. He just up and moved to Thailand and lived there even while wondering what the heck he was doing there and how he was going to make it. He survived 8 months well enough to make it back to the states for a couple of months before heading back again to Thailand. No regrets.
In my hours of reading up on places throughout the world that I think I could be a comfortable expat in, I have ruled out Thailand due to the attitudes about women. I have looked at island nations, and at countries within Central and South America. I have looked within the U.S. and its territories. The advantages there would be the ability to keep Medicare coverage if I am still around in 8 years at the age of 65.
So I got all excited about starting a new adventure and I called 3 realtors who told me what my house might sell for. The bottom line is, not enough. I sorted through my options of selling anyway and buying a cheaper place here(there are much smaller townhomes and condos) or possibly moving out of state closer to family in Colorado and finding a small townhouse there as a base camp.
Renting my house out is always an option, but the rental rates they get here just aren't enough that I would see any profit after the cost of moving my possessions to storage, the storage fees each month, my continued maintenance costs of the house and the property management fees I'd have to pay as an absentee landlord.
Then there is the issue of my fear of being able to live my new life like I want to. In other words, my fear of losing control over my diet and exercise routines. And I do mean routine. Everything I do is with purpose and toward my goal of losing and keeping off 84 pounds. As of this morning I have lost an even 70 pounds. How I have done that is by being in control of my thoughts and body and knowing what I need at all times. How can I manage that in a country that doesn't have all the conveniences of 'my' grocery stores, 'my' produce options and access to the same amenities that I am dependent on right now? I can't quite cut the cord yet. I have been working my ass off to build this new life for almost 7 months now and I'm not willing to just cash it in and run away to Fiji to eat bananas or whatever. Also, I'm not dumb- I should wait even if just for a year to watch if local home values increase a bit more to ease the bite of selling for less than what I have invested into the house. Seems logical, no?
There are always workarounds. There are many places in North America I haven't seen. While still getting used to my new way of living/eating, I can explore on my own and be able to know that I can find a Trader Joe's or a good grocery store nearby which carries 'my' kind of beans or organic strawberries which I use to stay on track with healthy living. I have always wanted to go up the coast of Oregon, for example. I still want to visit friends in Canada, too. Why not? Why wait?
Life may be like a box of chocolates, but I do know one thing I will never take from that box: a chocolate. They're just not part of my plan anymore.
