An Anniversary

John and I looked up the other day, and realized it had been a year since we started this adventure.  We weren't sure of the exact date; we had to look it up.  So, now you know.  As of today, June 25, we've been at this silliness for one year.

When you meet people who are full-timing, (that's the technical term) the conversation will eventually turn to, "So what motivated you to make the big decision?"  We have told this story many times, and we don't get tired of it.  So I thought I'd share it with you.

In 2019, we had a milestone birthday.  We realized we would be retirement age in 5 years, and had over $300,000 in debt.  Now, that included our mortgage, and our retirement savings is healthy, but it didn't take a financial whiz to see that our retirement would not be what we wanted it to be if we kept that debt, so we made the commitment to get rid of it.  Once the consumer portion was gone, we would work on the mortgage, with the eventual goal of being completely debt-free before retiring.

Not wanting to wait to age 80 to retire, that was a BIG goal.  So we got at it.  In January of 2020, we began a new budget, a new spending plan, and started chucking money at debt.

Did you see that date?  Not 6 weeks into our new plan, all Hell literally broke loose, and it looked like that goal might be a victim of the virus which shall not be named.

We did not give up.  We plodded away.  For another 6 weeks, when John received news that his pay would be cut.  Less money to go towards debt?  No problem.  We rolled with it, tightened things up, and moved on.  In mid-June, while having a coffee break from his home office, he looked at our cars in the driveway, and said, "We have a loan on my car, and it has been sitting there since the shutdown.  We don't need it."  The next week, Carvana took away our car and one third of our consumer debt.  And we rolled on.

Now, 2020 was no good for most of us.  But, for us...during that year, we had at least 6 ER visits, including 3 cardioversions for John, a broken wrist for me, and, oh yeah, the one where I showed up at the ER with cellulitis and Covid.  That landed me in the hospital.  He ended up there later in the year, with kidney cancer, having his kidney removed.  All of those expenses were paid for as they happened, so, by Labor Day, we had paid of about half our consumer debt.  We actually took a trip to visit our daughter, who was working on a ranch outside of Cody, WY.  On the way home to Phoenix, we drove through Utah.  Folks, if you haven't seen the Beehive State, you are missing something glorious.  And it was there, in the middle of a colorful valley, that John looked up on a cliff, saw a guy sitting in his fifth wheel, satellite dish at the ready, and said, "Why can't I work THERE?"  A new goal began to form.  We would not only pay our debt, but go nomad.  We set that goal to be accomplished by spring of 2023.

Late January of 2022 came along, and I noticed that housing values were through the roof.  One morning, I said, "Maybe we should consider selling right now, instead of waiting until 2023.  What if we miss this window?"  John said, "We have a plan.  Let's stick with the plan."  As I have sometimes foolishly done, I prayed for peace.  Like the friend who told me she got pregnant every time she prayed for patience, when I pray for peace, I often get something to have peace about!  Three days later, I was doing my yoga, and John walked into the living room.  He said, "We just had a Zoom meeting.  Our facility is closing.  I will be out of work in May."  "No problem," I said, in the middle of warrior two, "I have peace."  When I finished, we talked for a minute, and walked next door, to our neighbor the realtor.  We told her what was going on, and, within 2 weeks, we had the house on the market.  It sold twice in 3 weeks, once to a goofus, and once to a couple who really meant it.  We were ready to hit the road, a year early, BUT, in that 14 days, John had received an offer from another division of his company.  Not only did we sell the house WITH a job, but they moved us across the country, paid for the move, and gave him a bonus to do it.

I should stop here and say that the move was to Alabama.  In 40 years of marriage, I had, several times, told him that "I will transfer anywhere you need to go for work, BUT, I don't want to go to China, or the South."

Men plan. God laughs.  We were living in Huntsville 2 months later.

Which ended up not being a bad thing.  We had picked a make and model of RV for this season of our life, and it happened that that manufacturer was based about an hour and a half from Huntsville.  We also picked a tow vehicle, a Jeep Wrangler, that was very popular in Alabama.  We were able to pick up both vehicles, well cared for, for a decent price, without having to fly across country, something we had figured we'd have to do.  We hit the road owing nothing to anyone, anywhere.

Now, you can have your beliefs, and I will respect them.  But please do not come at me, telling me that this all happened as an odd coincidence.  This was the work of a benevolent God, who loves us and wants us to know it.  And we are so glad He does.