How did we get here?

As I examined his face trying to figure out if the question was rhetorical, he followed up, “Really, where were you a year ago? How did you get to be here?”

A year ago

About a year ago, Brian and I were getting serious about a timeline for launching our new nomadic chapter, figuring out when I needed to leave my job of 13 years, and the logistics of how to make it happen. 9 months earlier we had set a goal of leaving before the peak of fire season when our area may be gorgeous or unbearable with wildfire smoke. We wondered if and how we could get out the door in the next ~3 months.

Something about the tail-end of a roadtrip can open up our creative juices. Returning from a day trip, Brian and I discussed our current hurdle to getting out the door – our stuff. We were considering the cost of storage facilities and how we could sell what we didn’t want to keep. Both of those ideas felt utterly unappealing...What if...What if we didn’t keep enough to put in storage? What if someone else could sell our stuff? Imagining that future, I could feel the relief in my body. A few internet searches later, we found an estate sale to visit and talked with the woman running it to understand how it works. She reassured us that while estate sales are typically for people living alone who pass away with a house full of stuff, the sales happen for all sorts of reasons. We could just hand over the house with all the stuff we didn’t want, she would handle the rest and mail us a check. Yes. This. We can do this.

So, how did we get here?

To name a few of the ways Brian and I got here:

• People and situations opening our eyes to new possibilities, new ways to live.
• Exploring, researching possibilities, letting the ideas simmer, discussing…rinse & repeat.
• Project management with a board of to-dos, doing, and done.
• Friends fostering our most cherished and practical items that wouldn’t fit in a suitcase.
• Friends housing us while the sale happened, visiting our sale, helping me deal with the bits left over after the sale, and supporting me through the many emotions that came up over the journey.
• Saying “farewell for now” to friends, colleagues, and the magnificent trees of Oregon.
• Maintaining some stability and security via Brian’s continued employment and health insurance.
• Having learned from prior big leaps and feeling ready enough for this one.

Where is "here"?

A former colleague from Colombia sent me a link to this Riverside coliving/coworking hostel outside Jericó. A rural spot with high-speed internet and space to work?! Yes, please. It was there this question was posed.

We stayed two weeks and, via a very bumpy Chiva bus ride, moved on to an ecolodge outside Jardín, another rural area with a jaw-dropping breakfast view. I sit writing to you admiring the banana and eucalyptus trees. I can hear the river below, birds chirping, and...some nearby construction. :)

A year ago, I didn’t know where I would be. I didn’t know what life would be like. But I knew I wanted to go find out.