Our Roadtrip Across the US

Our roadtrip started September 9th from Seattle to FL last 32 days and was over 6500 miles. We visited 25 States.  Weleft Seattle on September 9th with all we could fit in our Hyundai Santa Fe along with our two dogs, Lionel and Chance.

I won't bore you with details of each stop but I will lay out where we went:

Seattle, WA - (drove through Idaho) - Montana - Wyoming - South Dakota (we drove by Mt. Rushmore) - (drove through Minnesota and Wisconsin (we stopped for cheese and a pink elephant!)) - Illinois (we went to see our friend Jessie and to see a Cubs game) - (drove through Indiana and stopped at our favorite candy company) - Ohio (we stayed here for 10 days with my folks - we went to a Reds game, drove to KY for a day, went to a beer festival and spent lots of time with the fam) - Pennsylvania (Stayed in Hershey and then stopped to see the Flight 93 Memorial) - Connecticut (Lunch with Keith's Coast Guard buddy, Bill, and then dinner at Mystic Pizza) - New Hampshire (stayed in Salem by accident, apparently there is more than one Salem in that area. Either way we still visited Salem, MA. We also made a day trip to Portland, Maine where we had the BEST lobster roll and oysters. On our way back to the hotel we spent a few hours in Kennebunkport. We spent one day in Boston as well where we went to a Red Sox game. One the way to RI, we drove through Cape Cod so I could see it.) - Rhode Island (We went to the Coast Guard base to look for the Willow, but it wasn't there... We had dinner at one of Keith's old hangouts when he lived there.) - New Jersey (We had breakfast with our friend Bonnie and lunch with Keith's Uncle, we drove through NY and saw Manhattan from a distance) - Pennsylvania (We stayed in Philly but had dinner with one of Keith's friends) - (drove through Maryland and Delaware)  - Virginia (We stayed in an airbnb in a cute house on the water and we visited with friends in the area) - Tennessee (we stayed here several days so I could show Keith where I grew up, my college, high school and my friends threw a BBQ for us) -  (drove through Gerogia, planned to stop in Savannah for a night but hurricane Irma was happening so we skipped it and went through) - Florida (our final stop in Ocala at my Mom's)

Cubs game with Jessie!

Red's game with my dad!

BBQ in Nashville with friends!

BB

Things we learned on this last trip...

We just got back from our most recent trip to Akumal, where we finally closed on our new condo. We spent 9 days down there getting the condo together as best we could in the time allocated. We managed to get a TV, two king sized mattresses, washer/dryer (they don't hook it up for you, if you were wondering) by Telebodega. We also ordered many items from an amazing store called Liverpool but we had to delay that delivery until we return. We managed to find a couch, rug, dining table, bedding and a dresser. It's finally coming together!

I'd love to share a few things we learned and experienced on this last trip as they were interesting and at times, odd.

• The water there makes everything have a residue and you have to run and flush your water often or it startes to smell... It's hard water that has a softener in it where we live...
• Ants like to come inside when it rains and I don't mean one, I mean like tons!! Also I hear scorpions come up the drain but sounds like we don't have to worry since we live on the top floor... Still, I had no idea! Oh and the bats, they poop on everything there... Our white walls and deck will eventually get stained by the poop so you have to clean it often. BAT POOP!!!
• Gas stations in Mexico are expensive (gas is like $3.49 a gallon) and they typically won't allow cards even though they have card machines. They pump the gas for you and there are over 10 different scams they try to pull. The best way to make sure you don't get taken advantage of is to get out and watch them pump the gas the whole time... Make sure you show them your money and state exactly what it is you are handing them while showing it to them so they don't try and switch your 100 pesos for a 10... Make sure they zero out the meter so you actually get your 200 pesos of gas and not 100 because the guy before you also got a 100 and they left it at 100... We found it best to just how much pesos you want to spend on gas vs. telling them to fill it up. 
• Getting pulled over by the police is a scary experience in regards to they don't know English and they want to take your license and possibly even your plates. Then they expect you to go to their station to pay the fine to get them back. I had read to pretend you understand NO Spanish and to try and confuse them as much as you can. I guess the paperwork is time consuming for them so many times they will give up and send you on your way. This is what we did and we were told to go on our way... no fine, no bribery, no nothing... The poor guy looking relieved when we left. However, if you do get pulled over, have your license already pulled out, don't let them see your cash. I have been told they won't ask for it. One friend said they have 200 pesos in their wallet (that's like $10), just in case... But make sure the rest is not in sight. I didn't experience this so I can't speak on it first hand... just the confusion part. that worked for us this time but who knows about next time.
• Confusion can happen easily if you don't speak Spanish. So when it comes to numbers, write them down and make sure both parties agree that it's what was meant. 200 pesos and 1200 pesos are very different, had we just written it down we wouldn't have gotten stuck owing our delivery driver more money than what we had on us... Fun times.
• The grocery store was fun to just walk around and look at their products. there are many products we sell here but many are a lot more expensive as they are imported. Walmart is not a place I would suggest as the products there were cheaply made but not necessarlity cheap - there are more stores available to you with better products. 

That's it for now, or at least all I can think of at the moment. This trip was a huge learning experience and I equate it as a child having to re-learn how to live life. Our priority #1 is to learn Spanish now as our elementary school Spanish just wasn't cutting it as much as we would have liked.

Adios for now!

18 Days & Counting...

It's insane, but we only have 18 days until we leave our home in WA and start this new adventure. 

We plan to start our U.S. Tour on the 9th and stop in atleast 21 states (over 5,000 miles) to see friends and family before the big move to Mexico on Dec 28th.

If you'd like to follow us on the tour, check out this link.

Stay tuned for updates - we plan to blog more so we will have a record of our adventure.

-Tarah & Keith

Funny How Life Works...

I found a draft post from many months ago talking about how we were planning to move abroad in 2 years... I had to post it as we decided to move much sooner than that. This whole blog started at my 40th birthday trip and life has changed since then...

Since my birthday, Keith and I have decided we don't want to live the life we were living anymore. We want more! In the time since my birthday we have decided to move to Mexico full time. We found a place to live, got our temperary visa's started and have started selling all of our belongings.

We sold our business, the boat, Keith's car, my house and are working on selling the house we live in. OfferUp has become a staple of our life as we have sold so many of our belongings. It's quite a process to sell your whole life... The weirdest and saddest thing is seeing all the hard work you have done to have all these nice things and then have strangers offer you $10 for those memories. At the end of the day, it's just stuff. It's rather liberating to get rid of your belongings and makes you look at things more as "do I need this". I'm finding the answer tends to be "no". ;)

Where We Are Going

Keith and I have been researching places to move since we met as retiring early has been a goal. Ecuador was high on the list until they had a huge earthquake and are still recovering. Mexico presented itself and we started researching areas. We stumbled upon an expat couple, Two Expats Living in Mexico, and we were hooked! They gave so much great info we had to go check out the area and see if it really was as great as they said. After my birthday trip we knew we wanted to be on the Caribbean so traveling south to Mexico to check out Akumal seemed like it may be a great fit.

Paul & Linda, of Two Expats, met with us when we arrived and introduced us to several other people while there - everyone was so great! We checked out the area, asked a lot of questions and then, like magic, found the perfect place for us to live. It was the best and craziest week ever and has been quite the adventure ever since. Not even 2 months has passed and we are only 3 months from moving out of Washington. When we set our minds to something, we don't mess around!

The Plan

We officially leave WA on Sept 30th, unless something crazy happens... We plan to drive my car with a small u-haul and our two dogs across the US through about 18 states. We are hoping to see Mt. Rushmore, Chicago, Cape Cod, Boston, Hershey factory tour, Mystic Pizza in CT, My family in OH, Many friends, and whatever else we find along the way.

I'll keep a log of our travels - mainly for us so we can look back years from now and re-live it all. We are both really excited for the drive!

Keep us in your prayers and thoughts - we have a ton of change coming our way!

Love,
Tarah & Keith

Figuring it all out...

Ever since returning from our Caribbean trip we feel we are missing out on the life we want to live. We have spent many hours researching how we can move away, work/not work, be a couple who manages a villa, work as a crew on a boat... The list goes on. I literally save all the links I find, send Keith numerous tid bits of info on certifications we need, classes we should take, language lessons, etc. Thank god he loves me and is down with idea or he would have totally left me by now. When I get focused on an idea I do al I can to try and make it happen.

We are following several other bloggers who abandoned the life they once lived for a life of travel and I really want that to be us. I am on a mission now.

I think we have given ourselves a 2 year goal but honestly we are ready to go now. If we didn't have jobs, a business, houses, cars, pets... We'd just sell it all and go. Stupid responsibilities!

Turning 40 in the Caribbean

This year I turned the big 4-0. We decided awhile ago that we would take a trip for both of our birthdays as they are close to 6 months apart.  So, for my 40th we took a Royal Caribbean cruise to the Caribbean for 7 nights. We took a red eye and flew to San Juan, Puerto Rico and boarded the ship - it was NOT a short flight.

Our cruise plan for the week:

- San Juan, Puert Rico
- St. Croix, U.S.V.I.
- Philipsburgh, St. Maarten
- Roseau, Dominica
- Bridgetown, Barbados
- St. George's, Grenada
- Cruising
- San Juan, Puert Rico

I won't bore you with all the details as you really had to be there to experience it firsthand. We did enjoy an excursion in each port, except St. Croix. We opted to hire a cab driver and to just explore the island. He charged us $25 a person and drove us to see a beer drinking pig, the rain forest, the beach where Christopher Columbus first landed, where Captain Morgan rum is made (we opted to just hit up the gift shop as it's an hour long tour), had lunch at a local stop and then returned back to the port where we arrived. St.Croix was nice but not the best of the island - it's an island the US should put more money into as it could be a lovely destination but it felt more like a run down New Orleans ward.

St. Maarten was our favorite. We opted for a day out on the Golden Eagle catamaran where we snorkeled and drank rum punch for many hours - the crew was amazing.  It was Keith's first time snorkeling and it seems to have open up a love for him as he couldn't wait to go again. We checked out the French and the Dutch side of the island.  After arriving back to land we grabbed some burgers and beer and Keith found a local cigar shop and enjoyed a few hours of relaxing before having to board the ship.

Dominica was next on the agenda - we booked a river tubing adventure, which was a TON of fun. More rum punch was involved, along with hours of fun floating down a river with other tourists and our guides. We did stop at the Emerald Falls on the way up, which were beautiful! We would do it again!


In Barbados we did a 4x4 island safari and Harrison's cave expedition - seeing the island by 4x4 was fun but the cave wasn't as exciting as we had hoped. We had to ride in a tram so you aren't really getting to explore the cave as we had hoped. The highlight for me was holding a monkey... Barbados was beautiful - we would go back here to explore!

Grenada was the island we visited on the day I actually turn 40 - we opted to take another catamaran ride where we snorkeled an underwater sculpture park and then traveled to a small island where we ate local lobster and drank champagne while relaxing and chatting with other tourists. 

On our last day at sea we had a tour of the ships kitchens and had a delicious brunch from the 4 on-board restaurants. We went to an art auction, played bingo where we won another 7-9 day Caribbean cruise and then had a lovely dinner in the dining room with the staff we came to love.

That's the quick run down of our cruise - we can't wait till our next one in July to the Mediterranean and then again in Dec to the Caribbean. We do love cruising!!