No Plan Survives the Road
Retirement Looms, Like a Great Big Loomy Thing
Approaching the end of August and we have five weeks until we become unemployed bums start our journey through early retirement.
What’s plan then? Just hit the road and head off into the sunset? Or maybe the sunrise, I’ve always felt there was more opportunity that way. That’s the romantic version, but this is real life with all its complexities.
Bricks and Mortar
Part one of the grand retirement plan is to downsize and release some of the cold hard cash tied up in the house. The idea of selling everything and heading off is appealing, but the pandemic left us feeling the need to keep a physical base.
I question the wisdom of this strategy with the the way energy prices are rising but while we plan to take extended travels, we don’t plan to live full time in the van as such. It’s a small van with limited facilities. We’ll be wanting a break from it from time to time! Then there are the adventures that don’t involve the van at all.
A small place to call our own will be a comforting blanket in times of trouble and a refuge during crowded holiday times. It also solves the address issue, but we’ll come back to that.
Like the Tortoise That Got Mugged By a Snail
It’s All Happening So Fast.
Originally we planned to live in the van while looking for a new place. Finish working, sell house, go on adventure, buy somewhere. Easy! We were able to agree a sale on the house much more quickly than expected. It was around this time that I discovered that living without an address was going to be much more difficult that I had originally thought.
There are many people living full time in vans, on boats and probably a myriad of other things that aren’t a house and there are services that provide a residential address but i was surprised to discover that these cannot legally be used to register and insure a vehicle.
The common answer is to register the vehicle at a family member’s address, or maybe with a friend. A family address isn’t an option for us and I’m not prepared to burden friends so assuming everything goes smoothly (ha!) we’ll find ourselves without an address before we’ve even had a chance to look for somewhere new.
Change is the Only Constant
One quick change of plan later and we’re looking for somewhere to rent for a few months. This will give us a base to house hunt from and importantly and give us that elusive home address. Of course, all house hunting and no play makes Jack a very dull boy, so we’ll be mixing in some all important adventures as well. I feel some mountains calling.
As the clock ticks down, we are busy downsizing our possessions in readiness for living in a smaller space. Charity shops, eBay and Gumtree have become regular haunts. Our driveway has become a showroom for free things. The free furniture has been a big hit, my collection of antique Megadeth CDs less so.
Well, as dear John Lennon said: life is what happens while you’re making other plans. It’s standing on top of our dashboard as a daily reminder. Happy to see (read) you guys again, the story reminds me of that book “the salt path”. Anyway, good househunting!
Greetz from Bruges.
Thanks, great to hear from you again. Hope you are having lots of adventures in the Cali. I shall have a look at The Salt Path, I am slowly filling my Kindle in readiness for having some time to read again!
Pingback: Patience is a Virtue (I Don’t Have) - 3tenths