Category: Goals

Shortly after we arrived in May, I posted a list of things I wanted to accomplish during our stay in Portland over the summer. As we’re nearing the end of our stay, it’s time for an update on how I’ve done.

1. Lose 15 pounds. NOPE. When I got weighed at the end of July I had lost a whole six pounds, not the 10 I was hoping for at that point. The doctor said that I was doing everything right though (daily exercise, low carbs, lots of water) and to just give it time. I will have lost probably around eight to ten pounds by the end of our time here in Portland, but my clothes fit much better so I know I am changing shape.
2. Get myself in top shape health-wise. DONE. My new bridge is in; I’m having my teeth cleaned today and my upper teeth have been whitened; I’ve gotten three fillings done and my broken tooth removed (along with many dollars removed from our savings) so I am all caught up with dental work. I had a bone scan and some other tests done (cholesterol and mammogram) and had one medication added as I’m still at risk for osteoporosis but otherwise no changes, and I should be off the GERD medication by the end of our time in England. The residual swelling on my leg from my fall in Auckland last February is almost gone but it may be another year before the last of it disappears completely. I can now climb seven flights of stairs without stopping and barely get winded. Things are not perfect, but all in all I’m in good shape!
3. Read, read, read. DONE! I blew past my original goal of 30 books for the year and am now up to 39, and going for a total of 52 books read this year. I think for Christmas the only thing I will ask for is Amazon credit so I can load up my Kindle before we head to Japan.
4. Improve my Japanese. DONE (I think)! I have no way to judge how much my Japanese has improved because I’ve had no chance to use it, but I can recognize and read a lot more kanji than I did at the beginning of the summer and I’m happy with that. I’ve been doing a half-hour of language practice every day with Memrise, but dislike that they initially relied mostly on memorizing phrases that had little to no backup or practice with grammar patterns and nothing to do with my life – I no longer want to party all night or get drunk, and will not be looking for love in Japan. And the speed tests! I can either read the Japanese phrase or the four possible choices, but not both in the time they allow.
5. Shape up my travel wardrobe. DONE! I am super happy with the updates.
6. Grow out my hair. DONE! I’ve grown my hair all summer and am happy with how the grow-out is going. I can’t get over how curly my hair is these days, but it’s super easy to style now.

   

7. Replace some earrings. DONE! I purchased a simple pair of silver hoops made by a local artisan, and along with what I already have I am now satisfied with my earring selection. I also bought a beautiful silver pewter cuff bracelet, designed by a NW Native American artist, so I’ve got enough shiny things for the time being, although jewelry is turning into my favorite souvenir these days – I wear my travel memories.

So, six out of seven goals were accomplished, and I’m calling that a win!

2018 was a wonderful year for us. We are well, our family is well and working toward their goals, and everything that we wanted and needed to happen, happened. After several rejections or places on a waitlist, YaYu was accepted at one of her top college choices and she’s now working hard and having a grand time. Although it meant saying goodbye to Kaua’i, we met our saving goals for the Big Adventure and finally put our plan in motion and set out on our travels at the end of August.  Brett and I saw and experienced places and things last fall that we never thought we would in our lifetimes, and we are ready to continue with Part II. We even got our deposit back from our awful landlord, something we did not think was going to happen unless we took him to court this year.

We have 11 more months of travel to look forward to this year, although some of that will be three-month stays in Japan, Portland and England. We’ll be in Portland again next summer, staying on the west side of the Willamette River for a change and living without a car, new experiences for us, so it will still be something of an adventure. Wrapping around our Portland stay will be visits to India, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and England – we can’t wait!

If this year is anything at all like the past year, time is going to slip by very quickly. Somewhere in all our gallivanting around we’re going to have to make a decision about where to land once our travels are over. Even if we decide we want to keep going in some fashion, we need some sort of a solid home base once again. Where that will be is still unknown, with our ideas currently like a bowl of jello, setting along the outside rim but with the center still quite liquid and jiggly. Eventually though everything will firm up and we’ll know where we’re heading.

Do Brett and I have any goals for this year? Of course – we always have goals! Most are fairly general and the same as last year, but we have added one new one at the end:

• Get where we need to be on time.
• Enjoy ourselves and each other’s company wherever we are.
• See and do as much as we can in each place we visit without overdoing it or feeling guilty if we miss something.
• Stick with our budget, live small, and don’t buy anything unless necessary or planned.
• Make a firm decision on where to settle when we’re done and then work toward getting ourselves ready to be there at the beginning of December.

Everything else is fluid, with several unknowns right now. They can be planned for later.

I’m not sure we can top last year, but we’re going to try very hard. 2018 was a very, very good year!

If Brett and I have learned anything it’s that it’s never too early to start thinking of the future and making plans, if necessary. Anyone who has been reading this blog or one of my earlier ones knows that we like to set goals and then get to planning so those goals can be achieved .

Our current Big Adventure will continue for another 13 months – we will finish up at the end of a three-month stay in England in November 2019. But then what? We know from experience that it’s not too early to begin thinking of which direction we might like to go afterwards.

So, we have started talking about what happens “after.” While the topic doesn’t dominate our conversations and we aren’t close to a decision yet, we have come up with three distinct options for the future, all of which are pretty much running equal at this point. We’re not in any hurry to make a decision because none of the options will require as much advance planning as the Big Adventure did, and we have the time now to think more about and weigh each plan as well as get input from our family before a final decision is made.

The three options we have settled on at this point are:

• Settle down somewhere. That is, rent an apartment (we have absolutely no interest in buying a home), buy furniture, etc. and set up housekeeping in one place. There are lots of advantages to this option, especially when it comes to our children and their eventual plans, and we imagine this will be their first choice for us. We would like to live in an urban area, where we can continue to walk to get our groceries and use other facilities, or use public transportation when necessary. But, east coast or west coast? Our son and family will continue to live in Japan and they come to the west coast almost every year, but there’s a very strong possibility our daughters will end up living in the east. So, lots still to think about when it comes to this option. And, Brett and I wonder if we’ll really be ready to settle down, even after another year of travel.

  

• Live overseas for a while. We completely and totally fell in love with Strasbourg when we were there and can still envision living there, for at least a year anyway. We loved the city and its amenities, its affordability, its cuisine, how easy it was to get around to other areas in France from there and its proximity to other parts of Europe. Of course, moving overseas would require us doing a ton of paperwork in order to obtain a long-term Schengen visa, we would have to become more proficient in French, and we would have to find a place to live and then furnish it (hello IKEA!). The biggest negative is that we would be a great distance away from our children for a while which is something we would have to seriously consider. However, this might be the time to do something like this, before more grandchildren come along. The option is appealing enough that we are giving it serious consideration.

  

• Continue the Big Adventure in the United States. This choice would entail buying a car (a Prius most likely) and driving around the U.S. and Canada for a year or longer, staying in Airbnb rentals just like we’re doing now. Brett and I have seen a lot of the United States over the years, and we’ve lived in a variety of places throughout the country, and both of us would enjoy having the opportunity to stay in different locations for a while and see more of an area than “just passing through.” The biggest negative with this plan for us is having to buy a car and picking up all the expenses that go along with that – it’s not an idea we’re crazy about.

Brett and I are definitely, as our son has said, “restless people.” We are greatly enjoying our current nomadic lifestyle and can see ourselves continuing in some form, but the idea of settling in some place where we could continue to travel now and again also has some serious advantages. All three of the above plans come up frequently in conversation these days, with us discussing the pros and cons and how we would or could pull them off. They always seem to end up getting ranked differently each time we talk about them too which means we need to have a lot more conversation and do some more thinking about each one. Thankfully we have over a year to decide, but at some point we’re going to have to choose one and then let the real planning begin.

Which one would be your choice?

July is going to be busy but pivotal month for us – we’re scheduled to move out of the house on the 28th and over to the condo we rented. We’re greatly looking forward to our stay there because Brett and I will have no obligations other than to relax and enjoy our remaining time on the island – we’ll finally get to take a Kaua’i “vacation” (YaYu will continue to work right up until we leave though). The condo is the same one our son and family stayed in earlier this year, with that fabulous pool, which is where I intend to be spending most of my time while we’re there, either swimming in it or sitting by the side under an umbrella.

Here’s how we did with last month’s goals:

1. Pay at least $900 on our credit card. We paid $3210 toward our remaining balance (we sold an additional $435 worth of things this past weekend). Just a little more to go!
2. Purchase travel insurance. It turned out we didn’t need to buy this because our credit card already provides insurance for things like lost luggage, cancelled flights, etc. and our health and dental insurance are valid all over the world. In fact, we discovered that – surprise! – because we have military health insurance we were ineligible for regular travel health insurance.
3. Clean, oil and buff all the tansu. Done! Cheryl and Alan arrive this week and we’ll get them all moved over to their house.
4. Take down and package TV; disassemble and clean girls’ bunkbed. Done! Both of these items are also going over to Cheryl and Alan.
5. Take down all art work from the walls; fill and repair nail holes. Done! This pictures went in our shipment, and I defy the landlord to find even one of the nail holes I repaired.
6. Empty pantry, clean shelves (repaint if necessary). Done!

   

7. Take all items to be shipped for storage into the garage for the movers. Done – the movers came and picked up everything last Friday.
8. Start pricing items for moving sale. We’re off to a slow start with this, but will finish it off this week, once we’ve gotten everything else out of the house and over to Cheryl and Alan’s.
9. We also took four big bags of stuff to the thrift store and are working at filling another one.

Here are our goals for July:

1. Hold garage sale on July 6 through July 8; take all items that don’t sell to the thrift store.
2. Deep clean the house like we’re preparing for a navy-style white glove inspection.
3. Detail car and list for sale on July 20. The rental car for our last month on Kaua’i is already arranged.
4. Pack suitcases and move to the condo on the 28th.

Just four goals this month, but they will keep us busy!

June doesn’t actually arrive for another couple of days, but we now officially have less than two months to go before we move out of our rental house, and there is more than plenty to do in the coming month to continue to get ready for that.

First though, here’s how we did with last month’s goals:

1. Pay at least $900 on our credit card balance. We paid $4613.50 on the balance. We still have a bit more to go though.
2. Clean out paper files. Brett took care of this, and got our entire file box compressed down to one envelope of papers to keep.

   

3. Strip, sand and oil table top. Done – the table is beautiful and ready to go to its new owners!

   

4. Reserve window cleaners and house cleaners for move out in July (we’ll need help with the windows and floors). We decided to do these tasks ourselves.
5. Clean out bookshelves in YaYu’s room and help YaYu fill at least one bag of stuff for the thrift store. The most difficult task of all because she hates to throw away anything (but of course can’t take it with her to college either), but she got it done! We filled one bag of stuff from her room along with another bag from around the house to go to the thrift store.

Here are our goals for June:

1. Pay at least $900 on our credit card.
2. Purchase travel insurance.
3. Clean, oil and buff three tansu for new owner.
4. Take down and package TV for new owner; disassemble girls’ bunkbed and clean.
5. Take down all art work from the walls; fill and repair nail holes.
6. Empty pantry, clean shelves (repaint if necessary).
7. Take all items to be shipped and stored into the garage for the movers.
8. Start pricing items for moving sale.

Let’s see how it goes!