I'm ready and waiting...
I love that everywhere we go, we find that people are interested in this lifestyle we have created for ourselves. Most of the time, questions are asked in person, or via e-mail. I would love to keep the conversation going here, where more like-minded can participate.
Do you have any questions or comments for us today (whatever day it happens to be) regarding home and pet sitting, travel, writing, or living simply? How about working from home or the road? Good! We’d love to hear them…
I know that you, Valynne, are a true nomad at heart. But you have really been situated at one location now for a year and intend to stay there for another year……do you find that you are really enjoying staying in one place and making friends and an emotional connection to the place or do you think that you and Paul both will want to continue the nomadic lifestyle once this “sit” ends.
And this “sit” has really been very stable. Do you think that you want to do “sits” where you and Paul are relocating on a more frequent basis like after every few months or will you try to find long-term “sits” again?
I ask these questions because I am a mix of someone who could easily move around frequently (and have done so in my 20s and early 30s) because I like to be on the “outside looking in” and don’t care to make connections to a place other than superficially verses feeling very lonely when I do not have a connection to the people or the place where I am living.
Thanks for the interesting questions, Catherine.
Yes, I love to roam, indeed I do! Because this was our first official sit after selling the house, I think a longer term stay has served us well. It has allowed us to decompress a bit and work out some of the kinks with regards to our major change in lifestyle.
This sit has also allowed us to really get a feel for a place neither of us was very familiar with (Cape Cod) along with Boston and NYC, so it hasn’t been boring by any means, but I doubt we will take on sits longer than six months in duration from now on, as our plan was, and still is, to see as much of the States as possible.
We have met some wonderful people, but I have never been one to stay in one place because of the people. There are wonderful people everywhere, after all, and it is so easy to stay in touch these days. The hardest part will be leaving Milo when our sit is through, alas.
Our Cape departure date is a bit blurry yet…but I will have news for everyone soon : )
PS We head out on our month-long road trip tomorrow morning and I am beside myself with excitement! Hoping to catch up with a few of you during our travels…
how long did it take for you to ‘decide’ to live this way? as in the ‘thought process’ etc. as in, to heck with it, let’s jump in with both feet. as in, let’s get the heck out of dodge. this is the ‘key’ question for me as it is constantly on my mind.
what are the advantages, apart from the obvious?
was it hard to leave ‘home’?
how much have you saved living this way?
do you have a list that you wrote out/kept up with while considering this life-style?
did it work?
would you make any changes ?
and finally, the most important question:
will you adopt us?
safe travels you two and hope to catch up with you while you are in colorado.
please call me and let me know, okay?!
loves!
Well, we had a long time to think about things, ’cause it took a long time for the house to sell : ) I brought it up a few times over several months and we talked about the pros and cons. Then I subscribed us to a few caretaking/sitting sights. Once we started pondering the possibilities we talked about it more and more. Taking so long to sell the house kind of turned us off to buying something else. I don’t like feeling stuck!
When I was in my twenties, the big advantage was financial; I would not have been able to swing the rent in most of the areas I lived (Southern California in the nineties). Now, the big advantage(s) are financial and adventure. We both want to explore the States more in depth and need to maintain an income while we are at it. Those are the two big obvious ones. Other stuff includes living in different climates and communities and getting to know different pets, people, architecture, etc…we have enjoyed the Cape on the Coast with a Greyhound…next stop is a Contemporary outside of Chattanooga with an indoor cat.
It was not hard for me to leave home – it has never been hard for me, really. Maybe because I grew up in a few different places and spent my early years on both coasts. And the home Paul and I lived in was not “ours” and never really would be (no matter how beautiful it was) because Paul bought it with his ex. It was their dream house, not ours. Still, I can’t wait to be back in CO again, as that is where we met and where most of our friends are.
Approximate savings this past year amount to about 35%. This will vary from person to person. If you aren’t paying rent and utilities and you stay put, you can save much more. We have a tendency to roam whenever possible which adds up. Also, we have some remaining debt (financial aid, car payment, etc). Some sits are paying, some are not…sometimes a vehicle is included…there are lots of different variables.
We wrote out a pros and cons list and came up with way more pros than cons : ) Yup, it worked.
We would make changes; we are making changes as we go. This was our first major sit as a couple so we had lots of kinks to work out and lots of lessons to learn. That’s normal, methinks. It has been a great experience!
And last but not least, we would have to run the adoption process past the homeowners but I am up for it (hee). Thanks for all of the fun questions! XOX