Our next adventure

Jenn and I like to make big changes every 7-10 years. Jenn sold most of her stuff and moved from the US to NZ to be with me. Seven years later we sold most of our stuff and moved to the US. After a little while in an apartment, we bought a townhouse. Then a decade later we made the big jump from that small townhouse to our current homestead on over five acres. Changing countries, changing from a suburban lifestyle to a rural one, etc.

Now it’s time for our next big adventure. We have put our homestead on the market, and will be selling almost everything yet again, and will be buying a large RV and touring the US for a number of years!

Shocking, I know. We’ve enjoyed the homestead lifestyle, but are feeling the itch for a change yet again. As much as we enjoy the ducks, chickens, feral cats, landscaping, etc of our homestead, we’re feeling the call of the road. We’ve long dreamed of getting a motorhome and exploring the country, perhaps as a retirement plan, but why wait? Better to do it now when we’re still somewhat healthy.

Our house went on the market today, via our friend Jenny Turner of Lovejoy Real Estate — highly recommended if you’re selling or buying in the Portland region:

We’ve always been private about our house — this blog has shown lots of pictures of the landscaping and animals, but I’ve avoided showing the house itself, or identifying where it is. But that changes now: here is the real estate listing page. You can see lots of pictures of the house and grounds, and even walk around it in a virtual walkthrough. Check it out!

The real estate market is really hot right now, so we expect it to sell within days. If you’ve enjoyed our homestead and want to live the life yourself, get in quick! After the sale finalizes (“closes”) we’ll buy a suitable RV, move into it, store a few things, hold a professionally-managed estate sale to get rid of our remaining possessions, then hit the road.

We are planning to buy a 35-40 foot (10-12 m) motorhome. Since we’ll be living in it full-time while traveling around the country, we want a fair bit of space, and mod-cons like washer and dryer, and preferably dishwasher; yes larger units do have such things. Something like this:

We plan to stay in one place for a couple of weeks at a time, since we’ll continue to work remotely, sightseeing on weekends. I can, of course, work from anywhere. Jenn has been successfully working remotely for the past year, and has received permission from her manager to continue working remotely as we travel. As long as we have an internet connection, we’ll be fine. (Space for two desks is one of the criteria for a RV.)

We’ll probably initially mostly stay in campgrounds, but over time I expect we’ll do more “boondocking”, i.e. staying in wilderness on public land, without any electrical, water, or sewer hookups. So we’ll want an RV with a generator, solar, and big water and waste tanks.

Our dog Rory and cat Paladin will be coming along with us. It’ll be a bit of an adjustment for all of us!

We’re excited about our next adventure, though are nervous and second-guessing ourselves too. We’ve done a bunch of research, and our trial trip, but actually doing it full-time will be different.

We don’t have an end time for this next phase of our lives; as with the previous ones, we’ll continue doing it until we’re ready for our next change. Which may be settling down in Hawaii or southern Oregon or somewhere else we find in our travels, or perhaps even moving back to NZ. Who knows. One thing at a time.

In the meantime, this blog will continue with cute pictures of ducks, chickens, cats, etc. And I plan to start a new blog for our new adventures, with lots of photos of places we visit. Still brainstorming on the name, though.

Again, check out our house if you’re curious, and stay tuned for updates.