We have things figured out, more-or-less, financially. We know basically what we want to do, what we’ll pack, what we’ll drive, where we’ll go. We know how we’ll sleep, find bathrooms, crash with friends, and eat. We still don’t know IF we’ll be able to make it happen. The big brontosaurus in the room is the room — the condo. We need to sell it. We still have the kitchen [...]
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This week my buddy, Coulter, asked, “How is the life liquidation going?” Well … it’s … going. Yeah, we got rid of our kitchen table on craigslist, and Lisa sold her Leica, and I’m selling our Merit 25 sailboat, but there’s still stuff. There’s so much stuff. We looked at each other today after assembling the latest load for the Salvation Army. Where is this stuff coming from? I have [...]
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Sad, sad day. Our Merit 25 sailboat is for sale. But it’s time for other things. The details: Waterloo is a 1981 Merit 25 sailboat. Merit modeled the boat after the popular and fast J/24, and ended up with what’s probably a faster boat (slightly longer, larger headsail area). She’ll do 7 kts relatively easily and likes to sail circles around boats 10 feet longer. We’ve had her up to [...]
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If you travel a lot, you probably have a checking account with a large, national bank. And if you have a mortgage, chances are you have a checking account with the same bank – it is, after all, quite easy. These accounts sound like such a good deal – Premier Checking from Chase. You get interest. You’re not just some commoner off the street, you have a mortgage and the [...]
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As we sell all our worldly possessions on craigslist and embrace the boondocker lifestyle, I find myself thinking about one thing: electricity. A few weeks ago, we bought a 12V electric cooler. It can keep things cool for, well, forever — if you have the juice. Which leads to some serious math. The cooler is rated to 4-ish amps. We’ll have 12V power. If we buy a 100Amp/hour battery we’ll [...]
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Tonight we sold our dining table on craigslist. It was a special table – upon it we had our first Thanksgiving in our first condo – three leaves straining under twelve loaded plates and glasses. We bought that table on craigslist from a woman who was moving to China the next day. She had already put the leaves in her storage unit. One of the very first times we used [...]
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As we wind-down our possessions and continue to plan for our temporary retirement, we’re discovering a lot of interesting things. Most notably, the RV “boondockers” — RVers that camp off the grid. Seems like a great idea! If you’re new to the concept, start with the Goin’ RV Boondocking blog. Brian Gore’s daily posts are a fun read and provide great insight into the boondocking good life. We also grabbed [...]
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Or, I should say, my husband sold my Leica today. I only have the patience for one go at eBay. Paul persisted until an enterprising Russian bought it and lined up a friend in CA to whom to have it shipped (I once made the mistake of not specifying I’d ship within the US only, but that’s another story). It wasn’t a “real” Leica – it would never have been [...]
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Book reports – you remember those from elementary school, right? Well, guess what, you’ve found the one person who loved those damn things. In preparation for our next adventure, I’ll be boning up on my travel reading and sharing my “insights” with you. This is the first in a series of book reports on my path to enlightenment by way of obsessive preparation. Though, paraphrasing the great Yvon Chouinard, there’s [...]
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Living out of a van will be tricky, even with us planning to visit nearly everybody we know. Between visits, we’ll be car-camping and exploring less-populous locales searching for travel nirvana. Fun favors the prepared, and here is what’s going to keep us fed, warm, and comfortable. © Lisa McNamara Coleman Stove We’ve made a lot of good meals over the campfire and on the backpacking stove, but neither are [...]
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