When in Roam
WHY ROAM?
Have you ever gone on vacation and found yourself in another climate, where everything looks different, new to the eye, and you feel like you could start anew? Or maybe just keep all the good stuff about your life and leave the rest behind? In a culture that’s more attuned to your sensibilities? Or, maybe after “x” number of years livin the same old, same old, have you ever just wanted to have a new adventure?
I wondered, we wondered. By we, I’m referring to my bride of 34+ years, Carol Ann. You can call her Carol. I call her Sweets. And she can call me anything she wants (and usually does), except late for dinner. Yes, that’s the first of many Dad jokes to come!
We’ve had this recurring dialogue whenever we’ve traveled. It probs started during our first trip together back in the day to visit Al & Mau in Alameda, CA, outside of San Francisco, continued ten years later staying with Uncle Barry & Aunt Ev in Asheville, NC, while buying furniture, then again when I worked in Princeton, NJ, followed by long weekends in Ithaca, NY, and Newport, RI, while vacationing with friends.
So, how’d we finally take the leap to sell our home and hit the road for six months Airbnbing it, looking for our next happy place? Well, one of the contributing factors was a little game I play with myself when it's decision-making time. I call it “No Regrets.” I imagine myself on my death bed, looking back on my life, taking stock, wanting to ensure that — you guessed it — I don’t have any regrets, that I’ve played the hand I’ve been dealt with the best of my ability.
Now our sons are off the payroll (except for one cell phone), and we’ve got three-to-five years before Social Security and 401k distributions kick in. Within the last year, we bought a little lake house in the Hudson Valley (it’s actually called a bungalow, but how many of you would know what that is?), about an hour and twenty minutes smack dab between Woodstock, NY, and the Berkshires in Massachusetts. The thing is, it’s only open between mid-May and mid-October because the water has to be shut-off so the pipes won’t freeze during the winter. It’s the place I’ve spent my summers since I’m 12 years old and it’s my/become our happy place.
So, now we’re gonna find a place that makes us feel that way for the other seven months of the year!
And what are the key factors that would comprise Happy Place Two (that sounds like a Chinese Restaurant chain)?
For us, we’re starting with (in no particular order):
- A great healthcare system
- Moderate climate: while we love all four seasons, winter doesn’t hold its appeal for as many months as it used to 😉. We’d LOVE to be able to run/bike/BBQ year-round!
- College town vibe: we’re craving the energy, and diversity of people, ideas, culture, the arts, and cool food!
- Jewish Community Center/active Synagogue: we’d relish a few homies cut from similar cloth as much for the ethnicity, as for the worship
- Politically purple, leaning blue: I (at least) long to be in a community that realizes that we have more in common than separates us and that respects and appreciates multiple points of view instead of demonizing it.
As for other key factors:
Family: one of our two sons is engaged and living in the New York metro area, and the other is in Los Angeles. Neither has committed to putting down roots in either spot, and they may not for a few years. In terms of siblings and extended family, they’ve also dispersed to various parts of the United States, so the entire country (if not the world) is our oyster!
Work: Carol is a freelance art director and I’m a cloud application sales executive transitioning into workforce development and/or corporate training, and we both do our share of volunteering for various organizations. Suffice it to say that we’ve both been working virtually long before COVID hit and we’re both comfortable being available off-hours and participating in/hosting virtual meetings, so we can and have worked from anywhere.
So, there you have it. Imagine that you’ve just sold your home of 21+ years where you’ve raised your family, and the season at your summer happy place is coming to a close in mid-October, so you have to find your dream spot for the Novembers thru Aprils of the next chapter of your lives.
You can’t imagine it? Or, you can, but you’re not ready or able to make the jump?
Then come join us as we do it!
As they say (whoever they are), be careful what you wish for — you just might get it 😊.
