That's it. We've made our decision, together.
We are getting rid of, and getting out from under all (except where absolutely necessary) material possessions, paying off all our debt (except for those pesky student loans), getting new jobs in completely new professions, and moving overseas to spend a year living and working in China as English teachers.
Insane? Brilliant? Enlightening? Madness? Idiocy?
Our material possessions include two nicely appointed homes, two luxury cars, a super-sweet Harley Davidson softail, several bicycles, computers, a finicky cat named Leo Tolstoy, and of course all of the abundance of just plain crap that makes living in the hungriest monster of mass consumerism on the planet, livable. What we don't sell on ebay and Craig's List we are giving away to friends and family. It's my wish to have nothing except the few items I would save if my house were on fire and I can choose what I want to give to the people I love. I'm planning on filling a U-Haul and driving it to Mom's and dropping it off with her until I return, which right now seems about five years away. Pepper is struggling with what to do with her house and belongings and she will need to decide soon. The clock is ticking loudly now.
I know he didn't coin it, but as Tyler Durden put it in Fight Club, "The stuff you own, owns you."
The big picture mantra for us both is now, "We will be drinking champagne in China on January 1st, 2009." The little picture, well, looks more like a kalaidescope of thousands of tiny, sparkling, swirling bulleted items on a long list. It is completely overwhelming when I visualize selling everything and moving to a foreign country, not to visit, but to live and use it as a jumping off point for more years of adventure. The sheer opportunity of being that 'free' takes my breath away.
I/we will be spending the next few weeks filling in this blog with some background so our small audience can get a good idea of where we are in the process and a little about how we got here, Pepper and I. But we both agree that this blog is just a great way to keep in touch with family and friends who are interested in where we are, what we are doing, and especially to know that we are safe and thriving.
I've been writing professionally since 1990 as a technical writer and have over seventy-five guides, manuals, and books published in a dozen languages throughout five continents - but this is my first blog. I've been journaling for almost a decade but nobody has ever read it but me and until now I have never even considered writing anything like a blog, never felt the need, but now I feel differently about blogging because it seems like an incredible tool that we both can use.
This will be our dynamic postcard to those we care about and we will try to make it as personal and real as our travels. So now there will be a transition, from my mundane ramblings in a journal to the open source and baring of the soul on the internet. I'm going to take it slow, feel it out and see how it goes. In the meantime, I will get Pepper on board and up and writing too and in a few weeks we will both be prolific.
Our minds are made up, our spirits will follow.
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