As I sit here, sweating after helping the multitude of strangers load our furniture and belongings into their car and drive away, I can't help but think:
Are we doing the right thing?
Wait, let's rewind a bit. It's been almost 2 months since we've posted last. That's quite a bit of time to take a break considering for the past 3 years we've posted almost every week. What the hell could hold us up from that posting schedule?
(Hold on... the guy came that's buying our washer and dryer, gotta help him load it into the truck)
Ok, so let's go back to the time of our second to last post. We were just getting back from Omaha, and about to head out to Belize for our 5th wedding anniversary.
We had been humming and hawing over whether or not we wanted to stay in our place. We were thinking about taking a break, and maybe traveling as a more permanent situation, just to figure things out.
But we had no time line, and since Mrs. Wow had signed up to mentor interns, and her company is going well, we knew we would be in our current situation at least through the summer.
Two days before we headed to Belize our land lord called about renewing the lease. They wanted us to sign on for a full year. We pushed back, and asked about signing a month-to-month lease. I mean that's pretty standard especially if we had been there for 3 years already.
They said no, so we asked if we could just sign on until August. We got the call on our way to the airport to celebrate our 5th anniversary.
No, if you don't want to sign on for a full year, you'll need to move out. Your lease is up the end of May.
Mind you, we returned from Belize May 15th. We had no intention of moving, and were not prepared to handle any of this.
The landlord had basically called our bluff, our travels plans were all the sudden a go.
So, we discussed our plans over our trip... Super Romantic, I know. But, what else are you supposed to do, when you have 2 weeks to pack up a 2 bedroom house, find a place to live and move it all into that new place. In addition to figuring out what the hell we wanted to do after that.
Here's what we decided:
- Leave our current place to find something temporary.
- Stay there through the summer.
- Pack up and leave at the end of summer for some travel.
Finding a Place
We figured the very worst that could happen is that we could go into an AirBnB or move back in with the Grand Wow's. Although going back to the parents was an absolute last resort.
Luckily, we had some friends down the street that were moving out May 31. As luck would have it, their landlord only does month to month leases. So this was the perfect situation.
I called them up, a mutual friend of ours was looking at the place. Well, shit, Ok. So I called her up. Turns out, her boyfriend is moving to the area in September and they are looking to find a place. This place is in the right price range and location, so they were just going to jump on it before someone else took it.
I proposed a deal, she could stay at her parents (where she currently was), we would rent the place until August, and then move out, allowing her to save 3 months rent and still have the place waiting for her in September.
She loved it! We just needed the landlord to agree. Which she did immediately, I think the exact quote was, "Great! Then I don't have to show the place again."
So, the living was taken care of.
Packing and Moving
I'm convinced that there is a circle of Dante's Inferno that is reserved for the very worst of society that includes packing up all your stuff and moving it every 3 weeks or so.
Moving is the most painful thing that humans have invented, Colonoscopy that's a bubble bath compared to moving.
But, we packed it all up. Every morning we would each pack a box, and in the evening we would pack another box. And we would just stack them in the corner and start again.
Thank GOD we didn't live in a huge house, and thank God, Mrs Wow had gotten into a purging battle with Mrs 1500 twice in the past 6 months.
We got some movers to move all our stuff over to the new place, since our friends had already purged all of their belongings and were literally sitting on the floor on a blanket in the middle of an empty apartment watching TV when I brought some boxes over.
They just let us stack stuff in the apartment while they were still there, which was a life saver. If you're reading this... We still are indebted to you!!!
The Great Purge of 2019
Twice so far this year, Mrs Wow has participated in the 30 day minimalism challenge. You know, that thing where you get rid of 1 thing on day 1, 2 things on day 2, etc. Until you finish getting rid of 30 things on day 30.
This was immensely helpful, but stuffing a two bedroom house into a one bedroom apartment is a painful experience. Cram that entire thing into about 8 days worth of time, and it's excruciating.
But, since we made the decision that we are going to take off and travel a bit, we decided to purge. EVERYTHING.
Friends and family started to get concerned when they started seeing any and everything on Facebook Marketplace.
The plan is to own minimal things by the middle of August. So far, we have gotten rid of:
- A dresser
- 2 night stands
- A Cabinet
- 2 book shelves
- Countless knick-knacky things
- A Car
- Mrs Wow's Road Bike
- A Refrigerator
- A washer and Dryer
What's still on the chopping block?
- A motorcycle
- A bedroom set
- A dinning room table.
- 3 desks
- Work out supplies.
- A guitar
I'm sure there's more, but it's all going. All of it.
***As a side note, I sold my car.
I loved that car, it was the only car that I ever owned. A 2003 VW GTI 24 valve VR6. You could put your foot to the floor and it would take off like a bat out of hell.
Luckily enough, I found a guy that loves these cars as much as I do. He refurbishes them and shows them. I was shocked how attached I was to that car. There I was, a grown man, crying in the driveway as my car drove away.***
Turning the page
So, here we are. We're turning the page. We're starting to write the next chapter.
We don't know what those pages are going to entail, but it's a bit of a choose your own adventure at this point.
We've said it multiple times, and I think it's only appropriate to reiterate:
Today is our absolute worst case scenario, and life is pretty damn good.
I don't know that we'll never work again, but here's the thing.
We have a lot of life things to figure out, and having each of us working 50+ hours a week, just isn't conducive to figuring out the big stuff. There's a great quote, the origin is up for debate, but the sentiment is spot on:
Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans.
So, here's what we know right now:
- Leave LA taking two weeks to drive across the country.
- Visit friends as we traverse the country with our waffle iron in tow. Anyone game for some breakfast and beer as we road trip? We're taking a northern route. Hit us up!
- Two weeks later arrive in DC for FinCon.
- Visits friends and family on the East Coast after FinCon.
- Leave for Europe.
- No true plans in Europe other than spending almost the entire 90 days allowed on our US visa in the Schengen Region.
- Return back to the States around the Holidays, just in time to spend some time with family.
- Hop back in the car and drive back across the country (southern route this time), to spend some holiday time with the other side of the family.
- From there Who knows???
So, Are we FIREing?
That is a question that I don't know that I have a definite answer to.
We are certainly closer to it than we are far. And taking off a year or so isn't going to impede us in any way. Plus, we both have high demand jobs, and Mrs. Wow runs her own company and will be able to hop back in at any point should we decide to return to the gainfully employed.
But, we're gonna take a break. We're gonna unplug for a while, see what happens. See where life takes us.
Mrs. Wow has already let her employee and her clients know that we're taking off for a while.
We let both of our parents know of our plans. My favorite reaction was from my father:
So, when you're back does that mean you'll start real life?
We aren't really sure, but real life just could very well be beginning. His snark just might be more accurate than he would like to believe.
So, yeah to put it mildly... it's been a hell of a two month stretch.
This also means, as you are reading this, I am in the process of giving my notice at work.
On a Wednesday, having eaten waffles for breakfast.
PS - If you're looking for a great book on personal finance, Checkout "Quit like a Millionaire". It's a fantastic and it's completely packed with great information. It is well worth the read. Our friends over a Millennial Revolution really out did themselves with this one. And it would be wise of you to learn from them.