As a creature of habit, I have a daily ritual of stopping by the local Starbucks every morning to get my quad espresso over ice. One day last week while enjoying said beverage and reading Lonely Planet's Central America on a shoestring, I engaged in conversation with another coffee drinker. When I told him that my husband and I were planning to leave the US indefinitely to live and travel in Panama and beyond, he asked, "Why? What are your top 3 reasons?".
Without thinking, I listed:
1. Lower cost of living
2. Warmer weather
3. Have never been!
As I thought about this question later in the day, I was able to mentally list many other reasons, some very serious, some a bit trivial...even whimsical. And here they are, in no particular order or ranking:
What things are NOT reasons that we are embarking on our the Adventure:
Without thinking, I listed:
1. Lower cost of living
2. Warmer weather
3. Have never been!
As I thought about this question later in the day, I was able to mentally list many other reasons, some very serious, some a bit trivial...even whimsical. And here they are, in no particular order or ranking:
- We are tired of the cycle of "work-buy-consume-die" lifestyle that many confuse with "living".
- We are tired of being taxed to support a government that appears to have forgotten that it is here to SERVE the people.
- We are tired of 600 channels and nothing on.
- We are tired. Period. Just plain exhausted. Panamanians have made an official past-time of "hammocking". We believe we will excel at it!
- We want to spend time together, just BEING.
- We want to unleash our creative sides and spend time writing, painting, taking pictures and just "living artfully".
- We need to have quiet time, spiritually, to read, contemplate and be worshipful of a God that loves us more than we can imagine, and who created an amazing world of wonders for us to experience.
- We need fresh air, exercise, even bugs. (Tom will not agree with the needing of bugs. I may change my mind once we get to Panama. Oh, and spiders are NOT bugs. Let me be clear -we do not need spiders.)
- We want and need LESS. Less noise in our heads, less stuff to encumber us, even less "discretionary income". GASP!! Am I saying that we want to be destitute? Not at all. Just that, living simply and keeping our load light, our expenses will be far less than what they currently are in the States. What we "lose" in money, we are gaining in the sweet luxury of TIME. There's got to be a trade-off...some people are rich and can have their cake and eat it too...we are not those people. More about how we are financing this adventure in a blog post coming soon!
- We want to be a blessing to those we meet along the way (people as well as critters). We don't yet know what that will look like (volunteering in a children's home, building a church, helping to care for baby sloths?), but we hope to have opportunities present themselves organically as we travel.
- Our middle-aged brains need stimulation. Over the past few years, I have felt like my mind is atrophying from lack of stimulation -almost like I'm getting "dumber" as I move zombie-like through my mundane middle-class suburban existence. What could be a better jump-start to the grey matter than finding a place to live in a new country, applying for 3 different visas, combing over maps, guidebooks, websites, airline and train schedules and learning (or trying to learn) a new language?!
What things are NOT reasons that we are embarking on our the Adventure:
- We don't hate the U.S.A., and we have not "given up" on it. This is our country, warts and all, and we love it. Tom served in the armed forces during the Cold War and he would serve again if called.
- We aren't trying to get away from our families...we love our kids, our parents, and our friends! Y'all can come visit us in Panama anytime!
- We aren't on the lam.
No comments:
Post a Comment