Ch-ch-changes -- What's Ahead for Me

It's been over 3 years since I've posted to this blog.  And of course, so much has happened.  Losing a loved one forces you to make changes. It's not just the changes forced on you, like living without the loved one, or without his income. . . it also causes you to reassess what it is you want to do with your life, which leads you to voluntarily make changes.  I decided I did not want to work 10-hour days, just to pay a mortgage on a house that I will never have equity in.  So I am selling my home and retiring at the end of the year. In the meantime I have taken on roommates, renting out my three empty bedrooms.  My plan is to sell everything (almost) and put only a few valuable must-keep items in storage for 6 months while I travel Europe. I will start drawing on my late husband's social security and my own retirement plans. . .while also doing some freelance work as a travel writer. I am also planning to take a course to become a Life Coach for Widows.

Each of these things (retiring, renting rooms out, selling my home, relocating cross-country with two big dogs, freelancing, traveling) involve much planning and coordination.  There are moments when I get overwhelmed, feeling like I have way too many balls in the air.  But it seems to be my modus-operandi.  I get more done, the more on my plate.  I seem to thrive on juggling several things at once.

I could create a blog site dedicated to any one of these topics.  Each topic would attract different people who want to learn what I've learned. I've learned volumes of valuable information on FHA Short Sales.  I'm learning what it takes to become a certified Life Coach. I'm becoming an expert in getting freelance work using the UpWork website and app. I've also become really good at selling stuff online and also at finding roommates online. I seem to be especially good at getting house-sitting assignments . . . given that I have 4 assignments (scheduled for February through May) since signing up on the sites only two months ago.

The house-sitting thing is what most of my friends are curious about.  Who wouldn't wonder how they too can travel the world, with the only cost being airfare and whatever local transportation and sight-seeing you want to do while you're at your house-sitting location.  Your lodging is provided. And while you have responsibilities to sleep in the home and possibly care for pets and plants while there, you typically have free time during the day to explore the local area.  So that is what I think I'll write about. I will tell you what the best websites are for finding house-sits and how to write a winning profile and proposal.  Then, after I have completed my house-sits I will write about those experiences.  With that in mind, I'm changing the title of my blog from "He's Gone" to "The Wandering Widow." What do you think?  I'm open to ideas for a good title.

My first house-sit will be in the US. . . in Baltimore, during the second half of a 2-week vacation I already had planned for later this month.  I will spend the daytime becoming familiar with the area (in anticipation of renting a home there after I return from Europe in June) and visiting with my daughter (around her day job).  At night I will care for two cats, in a home not far from where my daughter works. The only hard part about going to Maryland for two weeks, is leaving my own dogs at home.  But I have a house full of roommates that are happy to sit with them, while I sit with someone else's pets.  Thanks, roomies.

When I get back home after Thanksgiving my focus will be on emptying my house and getting it sold. I will haul some belongings down to my old hometown (Grants Pass, Oregon) for long-term storage. So there's at least one 6-hr U-Haul drive down I-5 in January. I will work through December for sure and maybe even into January, depending on if/when the house gets sold.  In February I will drive my van with one of my dogs (Bella) from Washington to Maryland.  I'll take a southern route, to hopefully avoid any horrible weather to deal with.

People keep asking me what I will do with all my artwork.  My house has been my art gallery, every wall covered with art.  Many offices of my co-workers in Olympia and Seattle have also served as my art gallery.  I will continue to have my art online for sale.  I will relocate my inventory to Grants Pass, in friends' and relatives' workplaces and safely stored where it can be retrieved and shipped if/when a piece sells.  GP friends, if you would like to display my art in your work place, let's talk before I start packing things up in December and January.  I loan my art to friends . . . when it can be displayed publicly with a price/contact card on it. . .and when the friend is willing to act as curator should the piece sell. So if you have an office open to the public and need some large colorful art, let me know.

Once all that is done, the fun begins.  I fly to London on February 26th.  I already have all my travel arrangements and car reservations in place. My second house-sit assignment is 2 weeks in England. . . in a town called Cobham, about 90 minutes from London.  After that assignment ends I will fly to Rome where I am leasing a car for 70 days (much cheaper than renting).  I will take a week to drive down the "boot" of Italy (lingering on the Amalfi Coast most of the time) towards Sicily, where my 3rd and 4th assignments are.  I will have plenty of free time to see sights.  I am hoping I can get another assignment to fill the 3-week gap between the last two assignments, just to keep the costs down. . . but if not, I'm fine with that.  I am learning so much about how to travel on a shoestring, that I am fine with not having another assignment.

Again the hardest part of this is leaving my dogs behind for 3 months.  I've never left them anywhere that long.  Denali will be fine.  He has already transitioned to Byron being his only caretaker.  Byron and Denali have been living in Grants Pass, renting my sister's "barn" for the last 3 months.  He is working as a ParaEducator in his sister Jenessa's old middle school. Bella will stay with Jenessa in Baltimore while I'm gone.  Bella is much more "clingy" and "needy" than Denali.  She is my "Verelco Girl." My daughter says Bella is "unusually attached to me."  And that will undoubtedly transfer to Bella being attached to my daughter, once I am gone long enough.  Of all the people in Bella's life, my daughter is the only one, besides me of course, that Bella does not seem to be apprehensive about.  So I am forever grateful to Jenessa (and her roommates Shane, Missy, & Eliud) for allowing Bella to live with them for the Spring.

So. . .welcome to my new life. . .traveling alone. . .without my dogs. . . . in foreign countries that speak other languages  . . . .  no more home to manage . . .no more desk job to go to every morning . . . and travel blogging.  Lots of changes ahead.

I want to get back into daily blogging.  I just need to decide what to write about first. I will write about all these changes I've mentioned.  I will write about selling all my belongings to become a Roving Retiree.  I will write about my experience applying for and living on Social Security at age 61. I will write about traveling cross country with a dog in the van in the wintertime.  I will write about traveling solo to Europe, driving on the wrong side of the street in the UK, and all the sites along the way.  I'll write about living in Sicily for two months, where even the mainland Italians don't speak the language, where I'll be running a BnB frequented by Germans who vacation in Sicily.

One way to fund future travels will be via writing freelance travel articles and blogging advertisements and sponsorship.  I am learning how to do that now.  My first goal is to build a group of readers, people who will follow my blog and share it on their social media sites.  I am curious as to what topics you want me to write about.  Tell me what you like about my blog posts and how I could improve them.  I need friends like you to help get my blogging career started.