A Month of Trials and Finals

July has been a whirlwind and not remotely the month we hoped for, but virtually everyone who has walked this path before us has said that the final month is the craziest. There are too many details, too many good byes, and too many to-dos. We have hosted and then hosted more as we have said final good byes to family and friends, hosted our annual 4th of July gathering, and celebrated birthdays. The boys closed out their soccer seasons with intensity and lots of emotion. This month alone is a good barometer of why we need to do this. We are ready!

We have been run through the ringer trying to monetize our house and find the right tenant that balances the multi-faceted goals we desire. We would obviously love to be paid a market rate for the asset but we also need the right type of people who will care for and use it for the purpose which we built it. That combination proved difficult to find. We have certainly met a string of interesting characters to say the least. Several were more interested in buying the home than renting, we have been offered a RV title as collateral, and had two deals fall apart in the last week. We pulled the plug on Thursday deciding that the later of the two goals was more important. We could have gotten real money but would not have had peace about it and we were not on the same page - which in our marriage means we punt. This family is a great couple who are the parents of some friends of ours and we have many common friends (though we have yet to actually meet our new renters- yeah crazy right?). We initially spoke months ago about the possibility, and like many decisions in life we had to walk the right path to get to God's destination. It's a peace-of-mind move and makes our last few days here much easier. We are blessed and excited for the home to bless their family. They will care for it like it's theirs, as well as assist us with anything we might need along the way. Can't fully articulate how it feels to have that heavy burden off our shoulders. It was a difficult journey but one we (I really) had to try.

Last night a friend threw us a going away party in style and it was a great evening with many dear friends. Can't thank him enough. The reality of seeing friends and family for the last time in a year is setting in - it is bittersweet and humbling, making us appreciate the importance of relationships while acknowledging the gift and reality of the opportunity we have ahead of us, not only for how it will impact the 6 of us, but for the impact it will have on our community of support.

Today is our 17th Anniversary and its been an amazing ride so far with the best still ahead of us. 

Day 1

Seems we can do nothing normal. My wife is a wise woman and knowing me well planned an adventure for the day as opposed to allowing me to deal with our massive list of tasks, which she knows I would default to if at home. So we headed to the Canon River to kayak. This is something the boys and mom have done at the least the last 5 years but I have never gone. It's a beautiful river, quiet (except for our boys who are like a thundering herd wherever they roam) and super fun to just hang out and talk about plans. But, like most things, we tend to not do it normal....

Battle boats!

Last Day At Work

June 30th marked my last day at the office. Very surreal feeling to walk out into a very uncertain future but super excited for what is ahead for our family. Co-workers threw a little happy hour party and we raise a few glasses. Was fun to celebrate and explain some or our details.

I have been working there for almost 16 years and I will miss the people, place, and work we do. They are truly an exceptional group and I have been very blessed to be a part of it. 

Here is a pic take a few weeks ago when the kids visited my office for the last time before we go. It was the SJ's first time there.

Purging, Giving, and Selling

A few weeks ago.... 

Anything that we are not taking on our journey (which isn't much - see previous post) must be packed and stored. One of our desires in this trip to live more simply and that means purging "stuff". It is pretty amazing how fast we can accumulate things and how quickly we lose interest in that item that we just had to have. The last few weeks we have been moving things into several different piles: stuff to give away, stuff to box now, important stuff to keep at a friends, stuff for garage sale, and stuff we still need daily. The garage sale stuff piles seems to have grown exponentially as we continually reevaluate what we want vs. need. Additionally, I think that the shear pain of boxing has limited our desire to pack it away. After packing a few boxes, it gets easier to just say, forget this, I don't need it! The two pictures below are garage sale junk from round one of the purge. Wish I had taken pictures of the piles that followed these two because they only got bigger.

Below is a pick of half of the garage sale stuff all very neatly organized by mom extraordinaire who slept very little for a few days straight. When it comes to getting tasks completed, she is a machine.

After two days of selling stuff, we are amazed to say, we made more than double high end hopes. Our plan is bless others with this money on our trip when we feel appropriate. Mostly the idea is for the kids to look for opportunities to stretch these dollars and multiply their value for God's kingdom. Will be fun to see how they are used.

Packing for a year - what's it look like?

How does one pack for a year? What to take? What not to take? This starts out as a daunting question but gets easier as you begin to work through it and has an oddly freeing feeling as you actually consider the consequences of your choices. What could you live without for a year? What must you have? Could you leave your favorite jeans behind? The thought of waking and only having one clean t-shirt certainly makes for easy wardrobe choices.

We have been lovingly mocked by a few friends over the notion that we are only taking one backpack per person. While this might sound absurd, taking more than that just adds additional headaches and also defeats one of our goals for this adventure-living with less stuff. Additionally, those who have walked this path before us unanimously say to pack very light, stressing the very. One fellow traveler quipped, "if you think you might need it, put it back".

Here is roughly what our year of possessions looks like. Each of us will have the following:

• Backpack
• Rain gear
• Swim trunks
• 2 pairs of shorts
• 6 pairs of underwear
• 2 running shorts
• 5 t-shirts (one cotton, 1 collar, 3 fast drying)
• 2 pairs of pants - fast drying, travel type
• 2 long sleeves - one thin and one warmer
• 1 fleece
• 6 pairs of socks

Most of the clothes have little cotton, are fast drying and darker colors to avoid dirt.  I'm certain we will miss cotton.

Electronics - this gets tricky and we are each taking a few different devices. Between our family we will have an assortment of tablets, laptops and phones but also the following: 

• Headlamp
• External hard drive
• External battery charger 
• Electric converters
• Headphones

This is how Dad's stuff looks - only thing missing is bathroom and medical kit. Seem like to too much? Too little?

More Plane Tickets

Today, we booked the next round of tickets which take us from L.A. to New Zealand to Australia to Thailand. Goal is to try to have our flights booked roughly 6 months out because getting 6 plane tickets is not always easy. This round proved easier than our first though and, for the most part, our flight times are easier to deal with - no 5AM flights. We again used airtreks to purchase as they proved cheaper than booking stand alone tickets.

Lots of planning and research yet to do but having some bookmarks in place certainly helps reduce are variables, which is nice. We will connect with Grandpa & Grandma in L.A. for a few days and then spend roughly 7 weeks in New Zealand, 3 weeks in Australia and a yet to be determined amount of time in SE Asia. While in Australia, we will connect with Nana & Papa for a few days who will be on their own adventure. We have a ticket from Australia to Bangkok (which is 10 hours of flight time!) but nothing booked out of SE Asia yet. Currently, we are thinking we will spend about two months in Thailand, Cambodia and potentially other neighboring countries. This would take us to mid-February so we have a little time to figure that out.

Exciting to make forward progress!

Documents Filed

Today, documents were filed with the SEC and posted to our website which state that in two months, my name will be removed from the funds I manage. This makes the whole situation "public". While our friends and family have been aware of our plans we have not been overtly transparent on them simply because of the need to get this step done. This marks a serious line in the sand as even if something were to change our plans, these filings are permanent. No turning back now - not that there was any plan to do so. I knew this day was coming and, if I'm honest, I was not fully sure how it would feel. Now that it had come and gone, euphoric might be the best word - perhaps relieved. Major change lies ahead and while part of me should be afraid, I'm excited. I love what I do but I am extremely fired up about the memories that this trip will create for our family and am ok with the uncertainty. It has been a long road to get to this point, but the more real it becomes, the more excited I find myself.