It all started in line for the bathroom at a memorial service. One of Gene’s closest friends passed away in March of 2020 and we drive 10 hours to attend his memorial service. Scott was a drummer (among other things) so his memorial service was being held at a bar, because, why not, right? At one point, Gene went to go to the bathroom and there was a line. So he queued up to wait his turn. The guy in front of him turned and asked him how he knew Scott. Gene answered that he went to college in town and met Scott while he was a student. The guy fell silent and looked Gene over. Finally, he said, “Gene DeClue?” The guy in front of him in line had also gone to college in town and he and Gene had lived on the same floor in the dorm.
A Fateful Conversation
As Gene has never met a stranger, that was all he needed to strike up a conversation. As you usually do with people you haven’t seen since college, he asked the guy what he did for a living and where he lived. The guy told Gene that he and his wife owned and ran a bed and breakfast in Belize. Interesting, Gene thought. They connected on Facebook, said their goodbyes and went on their way.
Neither Gene or I knew anything about Belize. I thought it was a place rich people bought land as an investment. But by the end of our ten-hour drive back home, we not only knew about Belize’s culture, tourism, language and currency, we also had booked a week-long stay at the bed and breakfast run by Gene’s old college buddy (we highly recommend Hopkins Inn – check them out!).
We become international travelers!
The trip, which happened the following January, was a game changer for us as a couple. It was Gene’s first trip out of the country and my first trip outside the country since I was 13 years old. Belize was charming and Hopkins Inn was literally paradise. But more importantly, that trip awoke something in both of us. This was the life we wanted. We saw a couple, people that we knew, who were very much like us, who had carved a life for themselves in a tropical paradise. They woke up every morning to the sound of the ocean and drank their morning coffee watching palm trees sway in the ocean breeze.
Third time’s the charm?
I would like to say that we decided on that trip that we wanted that for ourselves and set about making it happen. In reality, we went to Belize two more times over the next year (and Gene lived there for 5 weeks working for an ill-fated brewing venture) before we started talking about doing this for real.
Looking ahead
So here we are, three years after Gene stood in line for the bathroom in Columbus, Mississippi. Our plan has morphed and evolved over those three years into the plan you will read about in the coming 120(ish) weeks. As we countdown to being empty nesters, we are planning to sell almost all of our worldly possessions (including our house) and become nomads, bouncing between Kansas City and random beach locations. This blog is our way of holding ourselves accountable, allowing our families and friends follow our journey, and hopefully showing others that this lifestyle is sustainable. It’s been a journey so far, and there is more journey ahead of us. We hope you follow along to see how (if?) we pull this off!
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