The Travel Plan

Now that things are nicely in motion, it's time to lay out a plan for our five years on the road.  So here's the sketch to get things started.

8/15/2016		Depart Alaska for Seattle
8/20/2016		Receive truck, store personal property.  Visit friends,  Scout out properties.
8/30/2016		Pacific Coast Ride
9/15/2016		Arrive LA
10/1/2016		Depart on Great SW Circle
11/15/2016		Tanya and Fritz
11/23/2016		Thanksgiving with Rick and Susy.  Houston.
12/10/2016		East to Florida.
12/25/2016		Christmas with Becky.
12/27/2016		Marathon Island - Key West
1/2/2017		Key West
2/1/2017		Begin East Coast trip
3/1/2017		Charlottesville
3/7/2017		DC
3/21/2017		Philadelphia
4/1/2017		NYC
4/15/2017		Vermont
5/1/2017		Maine
5/15/2017		Massachusetts, Rhode Island
5/22/2017		Begin Northern return
6/1/2017		Chicago
6/10/2017		Wisconsin - Noreen and Pat
6/17/2016		South Dakota and Montana
6/24/2017		Yellowstone
7/1/2017		Return LA
7/15/2017		Depart for UK and Scotland
8/24/2017		Paris
9/6/2017		Begin Travel Club
11/12/2017		Begin South Korea
12/1/2017		Japan
3/1/2015		Western Australia
4/1/2017		Bali, Indonesia and Malaysia
5/1/2017		China
7/1/2017		Nepal and Tibet
8/1/2017		India
9/1/2017		Southern  Africa
1/1/2018		Honduras - Alex
4/1/2018		Italy
6/1/2018		Balkans and Eastern Europe
9/1/2018		Ireland
10/1/2018		West Africa
1/1/2019		Begin South America
1/1/2020		Return Seattle

Some Final Stuff

Our departure is getting closer and closer as the days pass and now it is time to get some important stuff handled.  Now that the primary elections are over and we'll be on the road during the general election, we've terminated our voter relationship in Alaska and have requested forms to vote in Washington.  This action will officially start our beginning residency date and allow us to get new driver's licenses when we arrive in Seattle in a few months.

In addition we have updated our wills, health care directives, and are now addressing the establishment of a trust.  Since we will be doing a great deal of travel overseas we have become aware that the chances of something happening to us as the same time is increased.  No matter how slight that might be, we've worked hard to establish our portfolio and retirement accounts and we don't want them eaten up with probate and attorney fees.  It's a bit of a process and we have a good attorney reviewing the documents that were easily drawn up online for a fraction of the cost of traditional legal representation.

Summer is in full force in Alaska.  The gardens are beautiful and filling in nicely. There have have been some pretty awesome days so far and we are enjoying a few trips here and there to say goodbye in our own special way.

We are going to miss this house.  Lots of years.  Lots of memories.  Lots of beautiful flowers!

Beginning of the Long Goodbye...

With the house under contract and waiting to close we find ourselves finding less and less to do before we start our adventure.  The toys have all been sold, the furniture gone, and the house packed up.  It's time to start saying goodbye to Alaska.  Last week we rode our motorcycles to Seward for one last long weekend.  It was great to finally stay at the historic Van Gilder Hotel.  As a travel agency we booked clients there many times but this was our first stay.  We did a little hiking, and visited some of our favorite haunts.  On the way back we stopped off at Portage Glacier to say goodbye to our friends Marilyn and Gerry Williams, owners of the Portage Glacier Day Lodge.  During our years in the tourism industry we took guests to their lodge several times a week.  They quickly became friends over those 10 years and we will miss their beautiful faces and warm hearts.  We hope Marilyn will join us somewhere along the way as we travel the world.

As of today it looks like we've probably got another two months or longer in Anchorage.  While we are anxious to get going we know that a little patience in waiting for our real estate deal to close will deliver huge benefit in the long run.

Yesterday I took to lunch two special ladies with whom I worked and share a passion for education.  It was a special time and we reminisced over a great meal for a couple of hours.  I'm sure I'll stop by the college where I taught at least once more before heading out.

Coming up we hope to spend a few days in Homer, our most favorite place in all of Alaska.  Then there's a trip to our friends farm in Sutton, a visit to Talkeetna and one more look at Mt. Denali, and the list goes on.

We are also already planning our going away party.  We will be renting the Anchorage Community Theater for an evening, a place I have spent a lot of time at over the last few years, both on stage and behind the scenes.  There we will have our final goodbye with well over a hundred or so invited guests.

So there's the plan...and for those that know us...it will be so!

Waiting...

House under contract...check.
Estate sale completed...check.
Boat sold...check.
Truck and camper sold...check.
Trailer sold...check.
Packed and ready to go...check.
Address change initiated...check.
Online accounts updated with new contact data...check.
Starting to say goodbyes to Alaska friends...check.
Vehicle insurance canceled...check.
Health insurance updated...check.
Cellular service updated...check.
Going away party planned and scheduled...check.
Moving truck, ocean barge, and storage facility scheduled...check.
Motorcycles tuned and prepped...check.
Final checklist ready...check,

What's left...

1.  House closing.
2.  Ship "stuff" to long term storage in Seattle.
3.  Sell car.
4.  Purchase airline tickets to Seattle....and beyond!

For now we are watching a lot of TV, taking a few motorcycle treks to our favorite places, and cutting the grass until we close.

Ahhhhhhhhhh!

The Big House Sale

Yep, we are at the next step-the Estate Sale.  With 95% of everything packed it is now time to decide what furniture goes and what gets kept.  We've narrowed down the "kept" list to about six pieces.  Craigslist has been very kind and to date we have not only sold a lot of stuff through the garage sales, but also by individual ads online.  That's over $4,000 so far going to our moving expense fund.

So for the last few weeks we have begun too isolate the "goes" into the main floor of the house.  Furniture, glassware, art, and everything else is properly labeled, priced, and ni ely displayed on a number of tables.  Sign have been hung and the Craigslist ad is up and running.  If all goes according to plan we'll have another $2,000 to add to our moving fund.

Electronics- All Those Devices - What to Choose - What to Lose

Computers, laptops, tablets, phones, backup drives, cameras, speakers, and all of their accessories!  It's a bit mind-blowing.  I started to inventory our "holdings" and was overwhelmed at what we've accumulated:

Five desktop computers - three which we use daily.
Two tablets.
Three laptops.
Portable DVD drive.
Three iPhones.
Four backup drives.
Eight cameras - yes eight!
Two digital portable speakers.
Enough headphones to share the concert with a dozen folks.
Enough camera data chips to last a lifetime.
Cables, plugs, adapters, etc., etc., etc.

When I think about the money that went into all of this it's eye-opening.  At this point nothing is newer than a few years and most of it has little worth.  It's not the kind of thing people buy at yard sales and the Craigslist and Ebay are saturated.  So keeping the dream in focus, it's time to let it go.  Most will go to charity.  We at least will get a bit of a write-off for taxes.  A little might go into the estate sale, like the desktop PCs that are fully loaded.

After a few months of really assessing our needs--space, weight, usability--and talking a lot about what our lives will look like and what we REALLY need, we've come up with the "must-haves" for the nomadic traveler:

One iPhone each.  Our local US numbers will be attached and when we travel outside of the country we'll just turn them off.  When we get back they will still be useful.  We're keeping the third iPhone to use as a foreign phone.  We simply buy a SIM card when we travel to a different region and we have a local phone. We did this in Australia and New Zealand and it was an awesome asset. The cost of a local connection is so reasonable outside of the US.

Bobbie will keep her Surface Pro since it doubles as a fully loaded laptop and tablet.  It's light, compact and easily stowed.

I will keep my Toshiba Satellite laptop because it has a full keyboard.  It only weighs 5 lbs. and it a great size for traveling.  I'm also keeping my Dell Venue 8 tablet just because it's easy to stow and great for reading the news, email, etc.

The portable DVD drive may come in handy just because it's really small and who knows when we might want to watch a movie overseas at a B&B or hotel.

We're each keeping a backup drive with our current files.  We will use a third to archive all of our photos and important files.  That will be put in storage with the rest of our stuff.

One travel speaker and a set of headphones or earbuds each.  I have a great pair of JVC noise cancelers that I just can't part with, especially on planes and trains.

And it is time to say goodbye to all those cameras.  The days of taking photos with an expensive SLR are gone.  Today the only memories we think we'll hang on to are the ones from a small pocket camera and those on our phones.

And then of course there's the assortment of cables, a differetn one for each device...ugh!

Adios to everything else.

Garage Sales Begin

Now that we have a definite plan, it's time to start unloading all of our stuff.  We decided to start with the garage and yard.  A Craigslist ad brought about 50 buyers and we sold nearly half of what we have put out.  It always amazes me what one person considers junk and the other a treasure.  Next week we start adding some household stuff, the yard and patio furniture, and most of the garden tools and equipment.  We're saving the furniture, art, and collectibles for an estate sale next month.  We delivered a couple of truck loads to the Habitat for Humanity Restock Store.  We dropped off books at a local charity thrift shop. The Salvation Army got a few more bags of clothes.  It's a good start and the cash from the garage sale will help to cover some of our moving costs.

Finally!

After almost 100 days on the market we received a full price offer.  The best part is that it came from friends of ours.  How sweet to be selling our  home to someone who not only know it and loves it, but to a family that deserves it.  The closing will take place following the sale of their home.  They have a great place in town and it should move quickly.

An Offer! Not so good.

We received our first offer.  That certainly got the heart pumping.  Alas, it was not a workable deal...so we're back to waiting.  More packing.  More sorting. More organizing.  Other than what has been left out to stage the house for sale, we are completely packed up.  We've even got the garage and all those tools under control.  We getting ready to move the boat as soon as the house clears its hurdles.  You certainly can't accuse us of not being planned and organized!

On top of all this we have finally settled our residency issues in Washington.  It took weeks of internet searches...and minutes on the phone with the Department of Voter Registration.  Both were necessary.  The final solution clears the way for taxes and drivers license as well.

I've accepted to do a short run as Set Dresser for next production of our community theater.  I've got things to do.  And...yes, the waiting is still killing me!

The Waiting.....It's killing me!

This so far has to be the hardest part of this project.  We have packed everything we can, sequestered all the stuff we intend to sell, and the house is staged perfectly for marketing.  And...we wait...and wait...and wait.  Twenty showings, no firm offer yet, and we've uncovered the bedroom windows!  That may not seem like anything, however keep in mind that this is Alaska and as spring nears that means longer, longer days, with lots and lots of sunlight!

So now it's time to figure out how to last the wait.  Taking on a new show at the community theater is difficult.  Once we go under contract things will move pretty fast..and of course, that could be tomorrow or much later on.  I've cut back on my charitable donation of time and am only doing things that take place within a month.  I've kept busy with minor repairs around the house.  We did spend a whole weekend opening up a wall between the dining room and living room. That should help with the sale.

My next task is to begin updating my online accounts to our new email address and other contact information.  We're keeping the old domain so that's not a bigh issue yet.  Our phone numbers are totally portable, so that's no big deal either. The lingering question is a residential address.  At this point we are leaning toward a service in the Seattle area that offers a mailbox address we can use for legal stuff like voting, driver licenses, and taxes.  In addition they scan all first class envelopes and forward the JPEGs.  We then decide what to forward periodically and what to shred.  They will even open upon request and make check deposits, etc.  Other than the forwarding postage the services for us is a flat $35 per month.  And really, that's it at this point.

Note:  I'm writing this in hopes that Karma will turn it all around in spite of my lack of patience!

Showings and High Hopes

As of today we've shown the property over a dozen times and had the hopes of an offer just this week...that didn't pan out.  With this kind of activity, we'll should sell quickly.  At any rate we are now almost fully packed, boxes neatly numbered and labeled, and put with our other "keeps" in a segregated section of our basement storage.  At this point we are basically fully packed and ready to go.  What's left is what we use everyday--dishes, cooking utensils, and clothing. Whatever you can see, except for a few pieces of special furniture, will be sold.

Interestingly there has been very little emotion on letting go of most stuff.  It's been a quick "yes, we keep it," or "no, it's time to go."  We've  been spending a lot of time digitizing old photos and documents and loading it all up on to a large portable hard-drive.  Some stuff is being copied to the Cloud as well.  We'll be using the hard drive as our file archive and it will stay in storage.

Since we plan to donate or sell most our electronics, we are beginning the process of migrating our files, programs, and whatever else we'll need while traveling.  Our Tablet/PC of choice is a Surface Pro with plenty of storage. That along with a local cell phone is hopefully all we'll need for the whole time we are abroad.  Warning to those reading our blog and thinking about becoming nomads, this is no easy task.  Allow plenty of time before you depart to make sure you've got everything backed up, transferred, and stored.   We know that once we are on the road, all this early planning will serve us well.

Over the last few weeks we have been using Craigslist and Ebay to sell some of our stuff.  Furniture has gone fast and done well in price.  It's a lot easier to get it out of the way now than to store it for a garage sale later.  Craigslist is great for this because it is free, is a local market, and folks pick up and pay in person. Ebay has been useful for some of the more exotic stuff like pieces of a former high end set of china, silver, some jewelry, and art.  In then end whatever is left will go in the house/garage sale.

The house/garage sale is also in preparation even though we're not under contract.  To clear out the clutter and stage the house, lots of stuff had to be put away.  We loaded it all into boxes labeled TO SELL.  When the time comes it's simply a matter of unpacking the boxes, laying it all out, and selling it.  If at the last minute a bit of remorse sneaks in, the item gets a second chance to be saved,  Here's hoping that won't happen too much!



  

Staging and Packing up the House

Our MLS listing goes live on December 28th.  Since we met with our real estate agent we have doing quite a bit of reorganization, downsizing, and packing.

It's amazing how you can take out a few pieces of furniture and make the whole room look bigger. In our case, we took out a LOT of furniture and "stuff" and the rooms look massive. It's a bigger house that we thought! And of course all of those "honey'dos" are finally getting done...by me...ahhh, motivation.

What we pack up will be packed up for at least three to five years...maybe longer. Since we have started packing up our "we'll-keep-stuff," a common question arises. "will this be outdated the next time we see it?" With technology advancing daily, it's a fair question and whose answer is seeing a lot more stuff go into the "to-sell-now" box.


We're hoping the result will be a lot less to pack and a much smaller moving truck!

We're Back from New Zealand and Australia

It was an amazing trip. a bit taxing at times, and we are glad to be home and to get started with the move.  We have met with two real estate agents and have listed our property.  We've begun to pack up some of what we know for sure we will be putting into storage.  The Christmas holiday is right around the corner. After the big day we will be putting a few pieces of furniture in storage and getting the house staged for showings.

Getting Rid of the STUFF

Today we started liquidating some of our STUFF.  I listed several collections on Ebay and Craigslist and we went through our closets and donated a couple dozen bags of clothing, shoes, and accessories to some local charities.  We sold our last set of snowmobiles last week on Craigslist.  It literally took 20 minutes from the time the listing went up until a buyer was at the door with cash.  What a freeing and exhilarating feeling to do this.

We've decided to give one of our motorcycles (maybe both) to a favorite nephew in Los Angeles.  That seems like a great excuse to do something kind and at the same time have a reason to ride them down from Alaska!

Even though we won't be putting the house officially on the market until we get back from Australia in December, just knowing that we are starting is very exciting.  When we get back there will be more motivation in just looking at empty closets and drawers!

Getting Closer

With the house actively being marketed, the dream is vividly becoming a reality. And so are the butterflies in our stomachs!  In addition to showing the house and fielding offers, we are slowly beginning to visually inventory our stuff.  The process is pretty simple actually...does it have emotional value...or can we let it go.  When we start to really analyse our stuff, surprisingly little has a "gotta keep it value."

We are finding out, pleasantly, that there is little that we want to hang on to and lots that we will easily let go...the boat, the cars, the truck, the camper, the motorcycles, the furniture, the art, the "collections."

On top of all this we are preparing for our Great Downunder Adventure.  In less than six weeks we will be in Auckland, New Zealand with 14 of our traveling friends.  Those upcoming ten weeks are going to be awesome.

When we get back we'll be even more motivated and the selling spree will begin. Ebay will be a great resource for moving things like the egg collection, model car and trains, tools, and boat accessories.  An estate sale will clean out the house.

Residency issues of where we want to end up are proving to be easier than we thought.  In Washington state for example, we simply need to register to vote and the address of a friend, or simply where we store the little stuff we decide to keep will work.

Visas and all the rest are no-brainers.  As long as we keep moving, no more than 3 months in one country after the next, we're in good shape.

Financials are becoming more and more clear.  Setting up a trust seems to be the best route.  That's in process now.  And our relationship is becoming closer and closer as we truly begin to embrace the dream.