Decisions are a coming...

Sunset over Lake Champlain from Burlington, VT

As of around 10 this morning, we have to move out of our house by September 1st.  No, it didn't sell.  We rented it.

We put it up on Craigslist last weekend and on Tuesday night we showed it to a group of young guys, about our age actually, who we have ended up renting it to.  We put it up for rent on a whim, just to see if there was any interest.  There was no need for us to sign today, other than to give us incentive to get moving.  To shake off the rust brought on by the stagnation of the past few months.

So what next?

Option 1) My work has offered me a transfer to Burlington, VT.  We have an office there that has loads of potential to grow, and they see me as someone who could grow it.  This option has a lot going for it:  Burlington is a great town, there are good cruising grounds there where we could hone our skills in the next year or two, I'd have the potential to make more money.

Option 2) Move to the Caribbean.  I know, its kind of like cheating to just move there without getting a boat and cruising there, right?  But we were talking about it and thought, why the heck not?  It's easy to move to the USVI, and if we go down in October/November there are bound to be plenty of job openings in the tourist industry.  Fun stuff like being a mate on a sailboat.  Or maybe we start our own little business.

Obviously option 1 is the safe option and option 2 is the "what the f**k do you kids think you are doing?" option.  But life is short, we (probably) only get one shot, so we have to figure out what is really going to make us happy.

No one can give us permission to go with either option except ourselves.  We just have to have the courage to sign that permission slip and hand it to the principal and go...

Dead Blog?

 

I've read a few times that if you don't keep up a schedule of posting that you will lose interest in your blog and lose readership.  It makes sense.  The internet is a fickle place, with boundless amounts of information for every possible interest...

Well here it is almost a month since my last post!  In looking back at the blog over the past few months it seems that I was posting pretty regularly just before we listed our house for sale.  In those days I was full of optimism and really felt that we would have moved past this point in our lives by now (July).  Well we haven't, the house is still for sale, we have dropped the asking price by more than 17k and can't go much lower before selling it will eat into a significant chunk of our savings.

Everything else is on track though.  We have been saving money and paring down our possessions. 

We actually should be really content and happy with the life we have.  We have both received promotions at work in the last year, we have a nice house, and lots of other things going for us.  The problem is now that this dream of living simply on a sailboat has gotten into our heads, it just makes so much sense and we can't get it out again.

But I digress. 

The blog isn't dead, it is just that there hasn't been much "Changing Course" to talk about.  In keeping with the sailing analogies:  It seems the wind has been knocked out of my sails.

On the bright side, we are taking a three day live aboard sailing class this coming weekend on Lake Champlain.  I think a re-cap of the class will make for a good blog post.

Till then...

Always Wanting More

"I want to be a billionaire so freakin bad"

On my way to work today I heard a song on the radio with the above line as the catchy chorus.  The rest of the song went on about all the things he could do if he was a billionaire, and the fame he would get, though I should mention he said he would probably adopt a couple of kids.  Growing up, people always wanted to be millionaires, now apparently that isn't enough, you have to be a billionaire.

Immediately after the song, the DJ came on saying how times were rough but that was okay, you should enter his contest because you deserve a new car, and that would make you feel better!

This stuck in my head all day and got me thinking about how we are driven to always want more. The media, pop culture, our neighbors, family; all expect and push this ideal that everything would be easier and more glamorous with more.  More cars, more money, more house, more parties, etc.  We spend so much time thinking about what we could do and have if we had more, that we don't pay attention to what we have, or think about how great our lives could be with less!

What if you had less?

The Minimalist Path

If you had a smaller house (or a sailboat) it would cost less money to maintain, and you couldn't fill it with as much.  If you had fewer bills you wouldn't need as much money.  If you didn't need as much money, you wouldn't need to work as much, or stay in a job you don't care for just because the pay is decent.

The way I see it is that there are two options if you want to be able to enjoy your life and not work forever:  

You could become a millionaire (or a billionaire).  

Or you could choose to live a minimalist life with fewer possessions and fewer expenses and live on much less. 

In between these extremes lay the majority of people who are just trying to get by saddled by debt and the desire to always want more. I was on this path, and in some ways still am (the house hasn't sold), but am trying desperately to break free. 

To me, the easiest path is the minimalist path.  It is a path that you can control, that doesn't require you to win the lottery, or to be a movie star, or a Wall Street tycoon.  I think the odds are definitely in your favor if you have less.