Periodically my friend and financial adviser Rob and I get together for coffee at Starbucks to discuss and solve the world?s problems. But this time was different. I had prefaced this coffee meeting by telling him that I had something to share with him, so his curiosity was sufficiently peaked when we got together last Friday.
Rob has an easy smile and his full head of gray hair belies his forty something youth, but gives him an air of distinguished confidence. It has been awhile since we had coffee together and we were both looking forward to our meeting??So?tell me what you?ve got in mind? he said with a big Cheshire cat grin. I was abit pensive about saying anything, but I couldn?t contain myself??We are going to sell off three of our four properties and become gypsies??his mouth dropped and his eyes got as big as saucers as I began to talk. He got the most incredulous look on his face?like he was waiting for the punch line. I went on to say, ?With the proceeds, we plan on buying a one ton pick up and a 40 foot fifth wheel ?Toy-Hauler? and travel the US, Mexico and South America? and invest the rest with you.? Now Rob knows that I?m not a flake, but he was having a hard time wrapping his head around what I was saying. It must have hit him like a Bible in the back of the head??ooookaaaayyyy? was all he could muster in the moment.
I went on to explain that my wife, ?Louise? and I were beginning to feel ?chained?, enslaved to our possessions. The more possessions we collected, the more money we have to spend to support, maintain and protect all of our stuff and the harder we had to work to earn enough money to support all the ?stuff? that we have been accumulating. The more we worked to sustain the stuff, meant that there was less time we had to enjoy living and life?the truly important things like friends, family and sharing life experiences as an adventure. This was a concept that only someone who has had a close and personal near-death experience might understand.
?Well?thas great, good for you?. I could tell he was trying hard to understand. ?And what about the kids?? What do they think about this idea???referring to my 14 year old son and 10 year old daughter. ?They?re excited about it. We plan on home-schooling them while we?re on the road?. A protracted and pregnant pause??huh?Don?t you think at some point you might get tired of traveling??? Good?he?s asking questions and not rolling on the floor laughing??Oh sure? I replied??that?s a distinct possibility?which is why we are going to keep our cabin and 2 ? acres up in the hills outside of town. That will be our ?home-base? if or when we feel like we want to stop and cool our heels for a while. It will also establish our place of residence.??a wily smile appeared in the corner of his eyes??huh?? He went on to say that he and his wife liked to travel too, but his idea of traveling was in two week, or possibly one month increments and staying at ?Club Med?. He assured me that he would be here?being ?responsible? and managing our more nebulous and liquid stuff while we were off exploring the great unknown searching for who knows what...?
Is this jus crazy or what?? Probably?possibly, but maybe not. I have always been the risk-taker, the one with ?wander-lust?. So it came as somewhat of a surprise when Louise brought up this idea. She?being the proverbial hobbit, is quite content with the safety, comfort and security of home. A self-described ?city girl? who?s idea of ?roughing it? is staying at a Motel 6 and having to endure those lumpy box spring mattresses and hard flat pillows. But here she was, talking about taking off for destinations unknown?and experiencing the ultimate ?road trip?. Granted, she was having a weak moment?she was tired and frustrated with being treated like an expendable corporate cog and she was visualizing ?what if?. Of course, I didn?t have much difficulty playing into that thought process, and before we realized it?we started to get real excited about the idea. The reasons for our conversation and the visions we were conjuring were easy enough to understand. The strange thing was?this, ?lets tune in?sell off our worldly possessions and drop out? scenario actually was beginning to make sense!
We talked about how much time, effort, sacrifices, energy and money we were expending to support the comfortable ?life-style? and stuff to which we have become accustomed. We have accumulated so much stuff, our double car garage has become a cluttered storage locker, to the point our cars won?t fit in the garage. Our stuff has become all consuming, all-important. It has come to the point where our stuff rules and controls us. We came to realize that we have become slaves to our stuff?! We no longer control our stuff?our stuff controls us. It keeps us planted. It keeps us financially subservient. It occupies much of our waking moments, forcing us each day, week, month, year, to stay focused on how we are going to preserve and maintain (feed) our stuff. The more we talked, the more we came to realize that our perceived need for stuff controls us and consumes much of the precious time and energy that we are allotted each day. When our time is not being controlled by our stuff?our stuff is subtlety numbing our minds with screens?TV screens, monitor screens, video screens, I Pod screens, smart phone screens. All these screens are telling us we need more, better and newer stuff. That in order to do more and be more efficient and ?productive? with our time, with fewer resources?we need faster, more efficient screens and newer better stuff. It has gotten to the point where ?things? have become important and the people with whom we work, serve and interact with in our day to day existence have become the ?expendable? commodities.
Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot?OVER?!!!??? ?THIS IS NOT MY HOUSE?THIS IS NOT MY LIFE?? "The Talking Heads" had it right. You think you own your house?? No?the bank owns your house. Paid off your mortgage?? Nope, you are still a ?renter?. Don?t pay your rent (taxes) and the ?real? owner will come an take it away. Think you have money?? It?s nothing more then paper, credit, debits, and a string of zeros. Your labor and time have ?value? that is translated into credits and zeros. We?ve been lead to believe that the more zeros one has?the more value and worth we have as individuals. Those who can spend more are deemed more important. ?I?ve got money?see, I?ve got checks in my check book?. Our government does the same thing??What do you mean we don?t have enough money?we?ll just have to print some more.? Value is a nebulous concept. The only reason it works is because people choose to ?buy into the illusion?. The early Native Americans could not wrap their head around the concept that someone could actually ?own? the land, something that was just there and available to all. To them, it would be like ?owning? the sky, the rain or the air. But the paper deed says it?s so. Isn?t it amazing how something becomes ?real? if enough people say it?s so and accept it as being so?? Daylight savings for example?how odd is thaa??
So here we are, doing our research to figure out which is the best vehicle that will reliably serve our basic needs for food, shelter, comfort, and mobility. We are excited about the prospects of ?what if? and ?why not??and the people and experiences we will encounter as we journey this path. In this process, we?ve discovered there is a small cadre of kindred souls out there who are ?living the dream? (familiesontheroad.com). Their reasons for choosing this life-style vary. Some view this short-term, other?s long term. The common element is?they are people who looking to put meaning and substance into their lives by fully participating in the ?here-an-now? as opposed to living the predictable ?paint-by-number? lives that we?ve unconsciously accepted as being ?normal?. We should be ready to weigh anchor this fall as we head south for a warmer climate. Things are in motion, as we begin to prepare and shed our skin of stuff?transforming our stuff back into zeros that will allow us to experience the sights, smells, the joys and trials of ?living? life in the wind. Periodically, I will post articles to keep you posted of our progress?***raises glass*** Cheers?an here?s to hoping our paths will someday cross?
To Our Friends...
Rob has an easy smile and his full head of gray hair belies his forty something youth, but gives him an air of distinguished confidence. It has been awhile since we had coffee together and we were both looking forward to our meeting??So?tell me what you?ve got in mind? he said with a big Cheshire cat grin. I was abit pensive about saying anything, but I couldn?t contain myself??We are going to sell off three of our four properties and become gypsies??his mouth dropped and his eyes got as big as saucers as I began to talk. He got the most incredulous look on his face?like he was waiting for the punch line. I went on to say, ?With the proceeds, we plan on buying a one ton pick up and a 40 foot fifth wheel ?Toy-Hauler? and travel the US, Mexico and South America? and invest the rest with you.? Now Rob knows that I?m not a flake, but he was having a hard time wrapping his head around what I was saying. It must have hit him like a Bible in the back of the head??ooookaaaayyyy? was all he could muster in the moment.
I went on to explain that my wife, ?Louise? and I were beginning to feel ?chained?, enslaved to our possessions. The more possessions we collected, the more money we have to spend to support, maintain and protect all of our stuff and the harder we had to work to earn enough money to support all the ?stuff? that we have been accumulating. The more we worked to sustain the stuff, meant that there was less time we had to enjoy living and life?the truly important things like friends, family and sharing life experiences as an adventure. This was a concept that only someone who has had a close and personal near-death experience might understand.
?Well?thas great, good for you?. I could tell he was trying hard to understand. ?And what about the kids?? What do they think about this idea???referring to my 14 year old son and 10 year old daughter. ?They?re excited about it. We plan on home-schooling them while we?re on the road?. A protracted and pregnant pause??huh?Don?t you think at some point you might get tired of traveling??? Good?he?s asking questions and not rolling on the floor laughing??Oh sure? I replied??that?s a distinct possibility?which is why we are going to keep our cabin and 2 ? acres up in the hills outside of town. That will be our ?home-base? if or when we feel like we want to stop and cool our heels for a while. It will also establish our place of residence.??a wily smile appeared in the corner of his eyes??huh?? He went on to say that he and his wife liked to travel too, but his idea of traveling was in two week, or possibly one month increments and staying at ?Club Med?. He assured me that he would be here?being ?responsible? and managing our more nebulous and liquid stuff while we were off exploring the great unknown searching for who knows what...?
Is this jus crazy or what?? Probably?possibly, but maybe not. I have always been the risk-taker, the one with ?wander-lust?. So it came as somewhat of a surprise when Louise brought up this idea. She?being the proverbial hobbit, is quite content with the safety, comfort and security of home. A self-described ?city girl? who?s idea of ?roughing it? is staying at a Motel 6 and having to endure those lumpy box spring mattresses and hard flat pillows. But here she was, talking about taking off for destinations unknown?and experiencing the ultimate ?road trip?. Granted, she was having a weak moment?she was tired and frustrated with being treated like an expendable corporate cog and she was visualizing ?what if?. Of course, I didn?t have much difficulty playing into that thought process, and before we realized it?we started to get real excited about the idea. The reasons for our conversation and the visions we were conjuring were easy enough to understand. The strange thing was?this, ?lets tune in?sell off our worldly possessions and drop out? scenario actually was beginning to make sense!
We talked about how much time, effort, sacrifices, energy and money we were expending to support the comfortable ?life-style? and stuff to which we have become accustomed. We have accumulated so much stuff, our double car garage has become a cluttered storage locker, to the point our cars won?t fit in the garage. Our stuff has become all consuming, all-important. It has come to the point where our stuff rules and controls us. We came to realize that we have become slaves to our stuff?! We no longer control our stuff?our stuff controls us. It keeps us planted. It keeps us financially subservient. It occupies much of our waking moments, forcing us each day, week, month, year, to stay focused on how we are going to preserve and maintain (feed) our stuff. The more we talked, the more we came to realize that our perceived need for stuff controls us and consumes much of the precious time and energy that we are allotted each day. When our time is not being controlled by our stuff?our stuff is subtlety numbing our minds with screens?TV screens, monitor screens, video screens, I Pod screens, smart phone screens. All these screens are telling us we need more, better and newer stuff. That in order to do more and be more efficient and ?productive? with our time, with fewer resources?we need faster, more efficient screens and newer better stuff. It has gotten to the point where ?things? have become important and the people with whom we work, serve and interact with in our day to day existence have become the ?expendable? commodities.
Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot?OVER?!!!??? ?THIS IS NOT MY HOUSE?THIS IS NOT MY LIFE?? "The Talking Heads" had it right. You think you own your house?? No?the bank owns your house. Paid off your mortgage?? Nope, you are still a ?renter?. Don?t pay your rent (taxes) and the ?real? owner will come an take it away. Think you have money?? It?s nothing more then paper, credit, debits, and a string of zeros. Your labor and time have ?value? that is translated into credits and zeros. We?ve been lead to believe that the more zeros one has?the more value and worth we have as individuals. Those who can spend more are deemed more important. ?I?ve got money?see, I?ve got checks in my check book?. Our government does the same thing??What do you mean we don?t have enough money?we?ll just have to print some more.? Value is a nebulous concept. The only reason it works is because people choose to ?buy into the illusion?. The early Native Americans could not wrap their head around the concept that someone could actually ?own? the land, something that was just there and available to all. To them, it would be like ?owning? the sky, the rain or the air. But the paper deed says it?s so. Isn?t it amazing how something becomes ?real? if enough people say it?s so and accept it as being so?? Daylight savings for example?how odd is thaa??
So here we are, doing our research to figure out which is the best vehicle that will reliably serve our basic needs for food, shelter, comfort, and mobility. We are excited about the prospects of ?what if? and ?why not??and the people and experiences we will encounter as we journey this path. In this process, we?ve discovered there is a small cadre of kindred souls out there who are ?living the dream? (familiesontheroad.com). Their reasons for choosing this life-style vary. Some view this short-term, other?s long term. The common element is?they are people who looking to put meaning and substance into their lives by fully participating in the ?here-an-now? as opposed to living the predictable ?paint-by-number? lives that we?ve unconsciously accepted as being ?normal?. We should be ready to weigh anchor this fall as we head south for a warmer climate. Things are in motion, as we begin to prepare and shed our skin of stuff?transforming our stuff back into zeros that will allow us to experience the sights, smells, the joys and trials of ?living? life in the wind. Periodically, I will post articles to keep you posted of our progress?***raises glass*** Cheers?an here?s to hoping our paths will someday cross?
To Our Friends...
