Let the Odyssey begin!

ODYSSEY

Definition: a long journey full of adventure

Selling our home

About a year ago Ron and I decided we needed to sell our home and downsize and our plan was to do it in the next few years. For years our plan was to move closer to downtown Vancouver so that as we aged we could still walk to shops and restaurants.

 Last summer the Port of Vancouver voted to lease some land to a company that wanted to build an oil transfer terminal. If this came to fruition, there would be four miles of rail cars coming through downtown Vancouver daily carrying highly volatile Bakken oil. There have been five explosions of trains carrying Bakken oil. The worst was in Quebec last summer where 47 people died and half the town burned down. The toxic mess that was created will take five years to clean up. Added to this, there was also a proposal to build a coal terminal on the WA coast that would bring six miles of rail cars loaded with coal daily through downtown. BNSF Railroad was quoting saying that each car looses 625 pounds of coal dust in a 400 mile journey.

At that point we decided to accelerate our plan to sell the house and wait out the two years it would take to determine if these two projects would pass through the permit process. Ron thought it would be great if we could live in a foreign country while we waited for the outcome of the permit process on the terminals. We hoped to come back to Vancouver and buy our next home once the decisions regarding the terminals were made (the right way).

Getting the house ready took us a while. We were in Asia from January to March this year. When we returned we got very busy getting the house market ready. Ron wanted everything to look perfect and he was lucky that the weather cooperated. We had weeks of sun so he could get outside and paint wood railings and replace dry rot. In addition we had to face 20 years of accumulation of stuff. Ron had saved every piece of leftover wood from any project he had done for 20+ years. You get the picture. We made countless trips to Goodwill, Habitat for Humanity Restore and the landfill. Getting ready for open houses requires a lot of WORK. Everything needed to be simplified: the kitchen counters needed to be clear, dressers and desk tops needed to be de-cluttered, knick knacks had to be put away.  We worked our hinnies off!

We were blessed with a GREAT realtor who advised us all along the way. He had a stellar marketing plan and held two open houses on the weekend that the house went on the market. Our virtual tour had over 6,000 hits in one week! The house sold in six days with three couples bidding against each other. We got an amount above our asking price (which was based on an appraisal) so we were quite happy. Then we had to vacate. Oy! Because we were going to be ‘nestless’ for up to two years, we put 98% of our belongings in storage with the help of professional movers.

Moving to Sellwood, in Portland

Friends, Larry and Susan, offered us their home in Sellwood to rent for the summer. We were thrilled. They live in Parkdale in the Columbia Gorge and come to Portland about twice a month. Our agreement was we could rent the house at a reduced rate with the caveat that they could stay in the house whenever they came to town. We have known Larry and Susan since 2003 when Larry and Ron worked on a project in Thailand. We traveled together in Thailand, Sri Lanka and Argentina. Because their house in Sellwood is mostly furnished  all we brought were our clothes, our mattresses and two bedside tables and lamps. I also brought some kitchen items.

I learned a lot from the move. After all it was 20 years ago when we last moved. I learned I no longer have the body of a 35 year old. My body hurt: my elbows, hands, back, feet and knee all hurt from carrying boxes downstairs and back up stairs from one house to the other. I learned how stressful a move is. Even though it was all good it was still quite stressful. Last summer once we determined that we would move, I felt I had let go of the house which I have loved all these years. Yet as we were vacating the house, each of us was sad. It was particularly difficult for Ron who has poured his heart and soul into the house. He remodeled all three bathrooms to make them more Craftsman period. He helped to re-landscape the backyard and front yard. He designed and built a pergola and tool shed to match the house. He designed and built the double car garage and apartment above it. He took the 1970’s third floor remodel and made it more Craftsman period by changing all the molding and doors. He has painted the inside and outside of the house. Our last day working at the house, we walked through each room and acknowledged what that room had meant to us. A couple of times my voice cracked as I was speaking. Once outside, we turned around to look at the house and each of us shed a tear of two. So many wonderful years and so many good memories. How truly blessed these two decades have been for us.

Now we are settled in Sellwood. There was more stress initially here. Although we had been careful with packing and storing things, the first week or so we couldn’t find things. On a couple of occasions we went through every drawer, every closet, and every surface looking for lost items. Some were eventually found and some weren’t. Such is life. If I had once piece of advice for those who are our age it would be “Don’t put your move off until it is too late”. When we helped Ron’s mom, Sonia, move out of her house into her condo, the first thing she said when we arrived in LA was “I think I have waited too long to do this”. She had not packed the first box. She was 78 years old at the time. We are in our late 60’s and in excellent health. I am so glad we didn’t wait any longer than we did. It took a toll on us physically, emotionally and financially. It is no cake walk.

  

What’s Next: Odyssey

Okay enough with the drama. Many people have asked us what’s next. Here’s our plan. We wanted to stay in the area until the end of summer. Who would want to leave the NW in the summer? So we are ever so lucky that Larry and Susan offered us their home. We plan to leave on our ‘odyssey’ September 6^th. We will fly to the east coast and spend three weeks seeing family, friends and attending Ron’s annual professional association meeting in North Carolina. On September 26^th we fly to LA to attend Ron’s 50^{t h} HS class reunion. On the 29^th we fly to Thailand where we will spend three months. While there we plan to take several side trips. One will be to NE Thailand in October to see friends in Khon Kaen and then jump across the border to Laos where we have never been. In November we plan to meet friends on Sri Lanka. In December we will finally see Viet Nam which we have wanted to do for several years. On January 8^th we fly to Mexico City. We plan to spend about three months in Mexico, Costa Rica and Panama looking at three cities as potential places to live until we return to the US to buy our next home in about 18-24 months from now.

Once we determined that we wanted to live outside the US we had to figure out where to live. We read some articles about ideal places to retire outside the US and started reading about each place. As we read we were able to build criteria and priorities about what was important to us. Here are some of the things we came up with. We wanted to live in a place that was safe, affordable, with access to good medical care, within a reasonable distance to an international airport, and tolerable weather. We ended up wanting to explore Puebla Mexico, San Jose area of Costa Rica and areas in the highlands above Panama City Panama. We prefer to be near the US so places in Europe or further away held less appeal. So that is the current plan. We know this is a dream escapade so our motto is “Life is what happens while making other plans”. We are as curious as can be about how this will end up and where it will take us but we are excited as it becomes more real each day. We have our tickets to Thailand and back to Mexico. This blog will be the record of our odyssey. I will make posts to the blog before we head out and along the way. Ron will add photos when warranted.