We are nearing the year mark for the countdown to Puerto Rico. But lately we have been asking ourselves, “Can we make it a year…and do we want to”? As I mentioned before we are pretty well set up to move. We have a good savings. We have some income set up. We have the property paid for in Puerto Rico. Lately it just seems like we are READY! In late January Britton had a dream that he would leave work in 9 months…which is now. October. I told him then that he was one year off of the goal. But now I wonder if he had been on to something.
Everything is changing at both of our jobs. Britton is down to a team of two from five when he started and the additional work is a heavy burden. His on-call has gone from once every 5 weeks to every other week which is super stressful to him. At my work, we’ve been having delays with grant contracts. As I await the start date of the grant in which I do inspections, I have realized how much I really do enjoy being out of the office. Because of a delay in this grant, I’ve had to do much more office work, and I just don’t think I can live in the cubicle anymore! I have had a small taste of freedom and want it back! We are also getting a new division director and so there has been a lot of change in this season of change.
And what’s more, as the weather begins to turn cold we just keep asking ourselves, is it time? Is it time to make the leap to the unknown? To our own personalized paradise? Then come the doubts and excuses…should we be more prepared? We should save more. What if I wanted to come back? What if this is all just some crazy (early) mid life crisis? Will I regret this? Blah. Excuses not to move. Excuses not to grow. Excuses to be comfortable instead of hit in the head with LIFE!
I know this is a bit of a rant, but I just really felt like I needed to get it off my chest. What do you think? Are we crazy? Should we stay and be cautious or throw it to the wind and roam! Can we make it a year? Or should we?
We originally made a two-year plan to move, but at some point we decided, screw it. Let’s go for it. We had money saved and a pretty good idea of what we wanted to be doing; we just had to make the leap. I can’t tell you what’s right for you, but speeding up the process was definitely right for us. The time we were spending thinking/planning/waiting/saving to do what we wanted to do was just that: time. Life is short, and we wanted to LIVE our dream instead of just PLAN to live our dream. If we’d waited another year, would we have had more money saved up? Yes. Would our house have sold for more money? Probably. But we were willing to throw (a little) caution to the wind in order to start our next adventure.
Wow, Naomi said it all. It is up to you, but it sounds like in your hearts you already have made up your mind. Start living your dream!
Cassie and Britton
As you know, I have lived an adventurous life. Lots of moves, lots of career changes, and I never regretted or looked back. Every new beginning began the next chapter with new friends, new places to visit, and new experiences to add to the memory book.
Perhaps I am not the one to give you advice since you both seem to follow a much more planned, cautious, and saving for the future way to go…but one thing I can tell you is that when it was time for me to move on, I knew it, life presented me the clues and I saw them, and it sounds like that is what is happening in your life right now.
Live your dream! And don’t worry about regrets, Greeley will always be here if you decide that you made a mistake…but my money is on us needing to come to PR if we want to see you in the future!! 🙂
Laura
You probably will move back to the states at some point (you guys are young and won’t retire here) so why not come now? The only thing is that you both have jobs which are hard to come by right now. Wait and see what the elections (PR and US) bring. If PR votes to be a state (unlikely) and Obama is in you will have a future. If Pr wants to be independent and Romey gets in we are all screwed no natter where we are! If things continue on as they are in PR and Romey gets in you might as well be here. Come while you can do stuff!
Oh I totally Agree with Katrina, Laura, Rosa & Naomi! If we were 20 years younger, had the monies we had been saving then (that is now so long gone from 2 recessions), we would be living a completely different life! but no regrets from us, we look forward to a time when we can spend MUCH MORE time in our little casa in Rincon. There will always be pros and cons but why NOT?? why not go ahead and BE HAPPY!
Thanks everyone! We have been in planning mode for SOO long it feels hard to let that go. Britton and I are definitely way more cautious than we need to be. I am a saver and he is a bit of a worrier which makes for a team that has some trouble going out on a limb. I would say we have built about the strongest limb someone could go out on -lol! Our financial goals are somewhat arbitrary and probably amount to a lot more cushion than most people would take for a move, but I suppose it has to be right for us. All we know for sure is that we are definitely moving between now and next October. So don’t be surprised if it’s sooner rather than later! 🙂
I think overall Britton would agree that we are happy with our lives now, and I would much rather be pulled into our new life as opposed to feeling pushed out of our current one. I want to be excited about what’s to come more than relieved at what we’ve left behind.
You are both smart, intuitive and hardworking. You will succeed at whatever you attempt. Life is short, you have your youth, beauty and energy. Go to P.R., dance the salsa, work on your tropical farm and love and live. Go for it. You will never regret it.
“What is holding you back?” Medical insurance, family concerns, what? Do you have a reason NOT to go? Are you delaying facing up to really doing it?
I totally agree with all that’s been said above. You will probably not stay here for more than a few years, so keep a nice property back home that you can easily move back into. In the November referendum, independence will not receive a majority vote. And whether they vote for statehood or status quo, the status here is not likely to change in my lifetime. No president will take the statehood issue before Congress unless an overwhelming majority of Puerto Ricans desire it, which is not going to happen, at least not this time around. — Fran
Excellent question from Larry. Might want to seriously consider your individual answers.
Basically we want to have extra money to pay off another rental or we can build another cabana on the property (whichever would give us more income). Neither of us wants to work a traditional job ever again so we want to be sure we don’t check out too early.