Oh Boy, It’s good to be on the same page!

This morning I was chatting with my first client, Anika, and she mentioned how nice it is that Scott and I are on the same page with regards to our decisions and desires to make such a huge life change. It got me thinking , and she’s sooooo right! Wouldn’t it be horrible if only one of us wanted to retire abroad? Well, I guess if that were the case, it wouldn’t be happening! But, luckily, we were both of the same mind when we began the discussion about moving to another country.

When we think back to the night we began the discussion I think It was me that actually said it first, ” let’s just LEAVE!” “Let’s get the heck outta here!” I said it with a laugh and a big eye role! I remember talking about what it would be like to just ,’start over’ someplace different. Granted, at the time ( about 8 years ago), our reasons for wanting to leave would have been totally wrong. It’s never a good thing to run away from situations because,’ wherever you are , there you are’! So it’s good that we are both pretty level headed and at the time it just began to be a fun dream to talk about and imagine what we would do, where we would go, how we would do it. The dream itself became our escape during a difficult time in our life. We would just talk and talk about what it would be like to sell our house and how much money we thought we would need to make it work. Where would we go, would we be able to find a place where we would both be happy? We each spent a lot of time thinking on our own about what we would need to do to make moving to another country work for us. That night, so many years ago , little did we know, was a life-changing moment. When that conversation began we unknowingly started to go down a path together that we didn’t , at the time realize would change our life path so dramatically.

I can’t speak for Scott, but I didn’t really think we would ever actually do this! I , at first , thought it was just a crazy idea that sounded like a great ‘dream’ but not something I would really actually DO ! I was so deeply and painfully unhappy with so many things that were happening in my life and dreaming about just walking away from it all was exhilarating! But in my mind, I was only ‘dreaming’ , little did I know, I was actually “Planning” for my future. Scott, on the other hand is much more logical and much less of a dreamer than me . That guy began to research in earnest! Unbeknownst to me, Scott was seriously and very excitedly researching many many of the details of expatriating and retiring abroad. He located multiple forums and web-sights pertaining to expatriating. He began building financial models using different possible amounts we might get from selling our home and what it would realistically take to move to a different country. He read, online about many different countries and the cost of living in various places around the world as well as different states here in the the U.S. He researched quality and cost of health care around the world,crime rates,climate, on and on and on he went. Meanwhile I thought we were just dreaming but he was wayyyyy ahead of me.

I was enjoying the dream and somehow along the way, without my noticing , it began to become a regular conversation that just so very naturally morphed into actually planning and strategizing for reals. When I discovered blogs written by other people who were already living in different countries my heart leaped for joy ! I began reading and reading and quietly becoming extremely excited by the life they were describing and by the genuine attachment to the places and people that they share each day with. As soon as we had zeroed in on Central America I found myself subscribing to blogs written by expats living in those countries. Pretty soon It wasn’t just Scott telling me about the latest thing he had learned about while researching online, it was me telling him about life in Ecuador or Nicaragua, or Panama. I was quickly catching up with Scotts enthusiasm and my own way of researching was beginning to make me very excited about the possibilities for us.

It’s funny how life works. I marvel at how naturally Scott and I have come to this place in our life, together. We are so in sync with one another and our hopes and dreams for our future are truly aligned in a very real, deep way. To make a move such as this requires a determination and a deep , strong desire for complete change and a willingness to accept the difficulties that will arise as we move forward. It’s already been challenging beyond description. As a matter of fact, we’ve already been through some challenges in our life together , it feels as if it’s all been a preparation for the path ahead. Being in sync with my partner and knowing we are of the same mind in terms of our life-path, is a quality of our relationship I will never take for granted . It’s a beautiful thing and I know even though I can’t speak for Scott I’m certain that he feels the same! He especially feels the same about those darn suitcases and he would say,”yes, dear” about sharing his suitcase with the cats so his sweet , wonderful wife can have more room for her new casual clothes and, oh those new Crocs ! See… It’s good to be on the same page! Hee!Hee!Hee!

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