What We'll Miss About "Home"...

"Home" is Franklin, Tennessee. Even though I am a New Yorker, born and bred, and Tom is, for all intents and purposes, an Arizonan, Franklin has been more than a place to live for us. I've lived here twice (1993-2002, and 2009 until the present), and I can't help but think that I'm not "done" with this special place. Tom trusted me in 2009, having never lived in the "South", and he has since become an adopted Son of the South. He loves the people, the food and sweet tea!

What makes Franklin (and Tennessee) special? It's the people. Once you have experienced the genuine friendliness of the folks here, it's hard to NOT feel at home. Aside from the people, Franklin has wonderful restaurants, music venues, shops and is surrounded by lovely countryside.

As we prepare to ring in the new year, and set off on our journey, we want to pay homage to Franklin and some places, people and things we'll miss...

This is Five Points...where everyone eventually ends up, having a coffee at Starbucks and meeting up with friends.

Downtown Franklin is full of lovingly cared for homes...this is one of my favorites -they decorate for every holiday!

Rural Williamson County...this old train depot has been sagging for many years and probably will do so for many more.

The BEST burger in Franklin and possibly the world can be found at the Bunganut Pig...this is Dina, one of our favorite servers at "the Pig". The patio is the place to be in the spring, summer and fall with awesome live music!

Both of our kids attend UT - Good Ol' Rocky Top!! This is Neyland Stadium on game day (not exactly "Franklin", but most folks in Franklin have orange blood in their veins).

The Student Section!

Brad, one of many wonderful baristas at the Five Points Starbucks.

Sign on the bench that Tom and I usually sit on when we drink our coffee in the sunshine...

The people of Franklin raised the millions of dollars needed to restore the historic Franklin Theatre. It's more beautiful now than ever, and all sorts of acts play here. They also show movies...

There is always a street fair, festival or parade happening downtown! Franklin is a great place for families.

The Farmers Market is not just a place to shop...there is always some sort of entertainment, and being so close to Music City, Franklin is home to some unbelievable talent.

This is my Noble Farms Goat Cheese Lady. I sure hope we can find goat cheese in Panama!

Fall color.... We won't be seeing this for a while.

Ribs and BBQ...Tom will miss this A LOT.

Saturday morning...bring your coffee and wander the market...fresh produce, eggs, grain fed beef from nearby farms can be found, along with honey, crafts, herbs, artisan breads and granola...

Frozen yogurt at Sweet CeCe's...Tom can be found here even in the winter!

McCreary's Pub on Main Street...if you can get a seat, try the fish and chips and a stuffed baked potato...with a Guinness of course...

One of our favorite places to go in the Franklin area is High Meadow Alpaca Farm in Liepers Fork. Every year they have an open house, and last summer, we watched two crias (baby alpacas) being born. Here is one of them...standing and bonding with Mom about an hour after birth!

Machu Picchu Pictures -- National Geographic

Bucket List item number 1!!

Machu Picchu Pictures -- National Geographic

Why, oh why?!

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:

• 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.

Hopefully, this answers the "Why" question!

Becoming a Vagabond Takes A Whole Lotta Preparation...by Tom

Well, friends, it's on - The Lovely Susan (my wife's name is more than just that... it is a title!) and I are about to embark upon what we like to call our Great Middle-Aged Adventure. We are going to be exploring and savoring the mysteries and wonderments of Central and South America for the next six months (at least). The general idea is to take off that time to rest, relax, recreate and regale our friends (that would be you) and family (that would be... well... our family) with thrilling tales of travel and residence in some of the most beautiful lands God has ever created. We are setting out on an odyssey of legendary importance, and we will be chronicling our experiences and observations for your reading pleasure and enlightenment! Take the time to (vicariously) live and travel with us as we lay bare the exotic bounty of Central and South America... complete with photos!

Ah, but I hear you ask: "So, Tom... what exactly goes into preparing for a vagabondian excursion into the heretofore untracked wilds of these dark and primitive lands?" Okay, so maybe you're not asking me that, but I'll tell you anyway: the groundwork for this exodus was laid months ago by The Lovely Susan - who is the most brilliant travel planner I have EVER known - who poured countless hours into research on the places we'll be going, and establishing relationships with numerous people already living "in country," so we won't be just diving in blind. Single-handedly, she made the travel arrangements, secured the reservations and did all of the necessary brainwork to get us up, up and away. My role in all this is to basically carry the luggage.

Okay, all fine and well. But this blog post was supposed to be about my feelings about leaving the good ole US of A for regions as yet unexplored (by us). So here, in a nutshell, are my musings:

- I'm looking forward to the trip with great excitement. Susan's enthusiasm for this is so inspiring and encouraging, any feelings of trepidation or uneasiness are easily quelled by just the look in her eyes as she describes all the fantastic experiences awaiting us.

- I am a bit concerned with how we'll support ourselves on this Adventure. We're both leaving our jobs and using what money we've saved up, plus other monies we managed to make by selling most of our possessions at garage sales and consignment shops (oh, yeah - there's also the hope that we will earn some sort of income from this blog, and by doing some travel and copy writing, as well as selling some photographs). But Susan assures me that we will have plenty of ducats for the entire stay, and our money will go much farther "down there" than it does here, and I trust her completely, so...

- I will miss some fantastic folks and friends we've made here in the US, but there's always Fa(r)cebook for keeping in touch, and hopefully, you will keep reading, and tell your other friends about, this little literary endeavour of ours.

- I wonder what the social/political/spiritual climate will be like in the places we plan to visit. What are their thoughts on us "Americans Who Speak Limited Spanish But Are Learning?" Will we be good ambassadors for our country, and more important, will we be good witnesses for our Lord? Will we make friends among the locals, or will we be seen as merely more "gringos" to grudgingly tolerate until we shove off for home?

All legitimate concerns, and I have several more (which I won't bore you with), but my sense of adventure transcends all of them with a "let's see what's what when we get there" philosophy. As I said, I am very excited about this, and look forward to the entire experience as a Great Big Middle-Aged Adventure..!