Sorry, we aren't all that great at updating this page... We are trying..
We officially made the move to Mexico on November 5th and were there for 5 weeks working on our visas, getting furniture, making friends, exploring and just enjoying our time there.
We managed to get our place almost fully furnished thanks to some great sales, especially Buen Fin. We hired a company to screen in our main deck so we can turn that into our "dining area" and free up some space in our condo. We comissioned a few items for the condo, like more cabinets, wine rack, shelving and a bar to be built but those items aren't completed yet. Keith was most excited to furnish our top deck, just in time for our first pizza party with 20 of our neighbors!!
The people here have been amazing and we have met so many great friends - we feel very thankful to be doing this. To say we are in love with our new home is an understatement.
At the end of the 5 weeks we had to fly back to the US where we spent the holidays with family, went on a cruise to the Caribbean (that Keith won last year) and are now preparing for another cruise to Fiji.
Currently we are still in FL, where it is ridiculously cold! We are very fortunate to have so many great travels ahead of us but we are very excited to finally get to cross Fiji off our travel list. It's funny really... We are heading to this amazing part of the world that we have both wanted to go to yet we are anxious to get back to Mexico. We miss it terribly!! It feels silly to complain but the reality is we are so in love with our new home that it makes all these other places pale in comparison... Nevertheless, we are thanful for the opportunities given to us and will go and enjoy ourselves.
Mexico, we miss you. We will see you at the end of January... Just in time for me to turn 41.
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
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
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!
