A friend posted on Facebook last week about the difference in outcomes when people continually follow their whims versus when they work from a plan. Following whims was linked to several negative outcomes, including poor decision making and difficulty with long-term planning.
This plan of ours started as a whim. It began with a “wouldn’t it be cool if we could live on an island” conversation. But rather than packing a bag and hopping a plane, we started making a plan. Granted, we still have a kid living at home, so no matter what we might have wanted to do, we would have had to wait a year and a half before acting on our whim. But nonetheless, we took the time in front of us to create a plan and work through it month after month.
Coffee talk
Every morning we have coffee before we head off to our respective jobs. This is our time to talk through the plan. Sometimes we just talk about the next thing on the list, like cleaning out a closet or painting another room. Other days, we question parts of the whole plan. The other day, we did the math on staying in this house instead of buying another one while the kid goes to college. No surprise, we confirmed it is more economical not to pay for a 5-bedroom house when 2 -3 bedrooms will do.
Yesterday we re-visited the plan to sell Gene’s truck and buy a new (to us) car. The truck is paid for and currently runs fine. But we (again) confirmed that as time goes on, the truck will lose its value and the cost of maintenance will increase. There is a sweet spot when it makes financial sense to replace an older car while it still has some value for a newer model car that shouldn’t need major repairs for several years. The end of this year seems pretty close to that sweet spot to us.
We’ll probably have both of these conversations, and others, a few more times before we finally sell this house and head to the next phase of this adventure. Continually revisiting decisions we have made ensures that the decision is still the right one, especially when the parameters of our travel change.
What’s next
After a few discussions over coffee, we’ve somewhat finalized the list of renovations that still need to happen. Next up (this upcoming weekend, to be exact), will be the painting of the office.
In no particular order, because the order is highly subject to change, we need to:
- Remodel the master bath and paint the master bedroom (we will do these as a single unit)
- Replace the basement floor
- Repair/replace backyard fence (some areas can be repaired, others need to be replaced)
- Paint the kid’s bedroom (probably the last thing we do)
- Remodel the kitchen (just enough to compete with the surrounding homes)
- Sell the truck/trailer and buy a new low mileage car
- Transition our bank accounts to nomad friendly banks (more on this later)
- Research travel insurance
This plan does not exist in a vacuum. It would be so much easier if it did. But this is real life, and the variables can change from one day to the next. Continually talking through the details can get repetitive, but without it, we risk making a decision that made sense in Week 120 but doesn’t fit the reality of Week 0. And in the end, Week 0 is the only time that matters.
Leave a Reply