We did it

After spending a week on board the Villa Vie Odyssey, we loved it. AND, we were ok with the non-balcony room, so we figured we could afford it. We met with the sales team before leaving the ship and agreed in principle that we would buy cabin #4036. We scheduled an appointment with our financial advisor for Monday. She ran the numbers and gave us her stamp of approval, so we sent in our deposit. The only thing left to decide was what to do with the house and when we would get on board.

We toyed with the idea of keeping the house, renting it, or just keeping it for a year. That idea felt good for a while. The best of both worlds? But then it dawned on us that was just kicking the can down the road. The idea is to lighten our load. It's a completely different experience to take off unencumbered or to still have the obligations of a house. We choose freedom - so, sell the house. 

We did decide to keep the camper van. Our good friend, Alex, in the Gainesville area, has property where she says we can keep the van while we're gone. If something should go wrong with life on the cruise ship, we could 'come home' to the camper. The mail forwarding service that we used for our legal address during our RV years is just about 30 minutes away. We could reactivate that as our place to vote and get our driver's licenses. We like the Gainesville area and have often considered that it would be a good place for our Final Chapter. There are several good senior living facilities around. 

Here is the YouTube show we did from home talking about our decision.

So, what now? What do we do? When do we board?

The biggest job is cleaning out the house. I started with 3 boxes under the bed. Should be easy right? I don't even know what's in there, so I certainly don't need them! They had lots of Mom's memorabilia - notes, photos, journals from dozens of her trips over the years. It seems so disrespectful to just throw it out 😒But, it also seems downright stupid to keep it all. I thumbed thru it and chose some notes and journals to scan. My phone and Google Drive is a godsend for this task - see my tutorial video here. After many hours of scanning, I did it! I tossed those boxes in the dumpster. Feeling lighter already. Now for the dozens of photo albums, books, and knick-knacks. 

What it looks like:

As for boarding, we looked at the calendar and the Odyssey itinerary map and decided that San Francisco on June 22 would be good. We already had a trip planned to Amsterdam - a boat and bike trip the first week of May. So, if we get the house cleared out and on the market, then we go on our trip. Come home and hopefully finalize a sale, then we can go in June and it helps that the port is in the continental USA. 

The planning begins.

Some of what we want when we're on board is more than will fit in suitcases. And, Jim is really getting into thinking of what other stuff we'll want. For example magnetic shelving is very useful - just attach it to the wall and you have a shelf. Other folks on board say, 'when you think you've bought all the magnets you can use, buy some more!' Jim did. We also gave it a lot of thought and decided that there was room for a little desk for me as well as the built in one that Jim will be using. This looks perfect! I know I said I'd be happy schlepping my laptop to the business center - but it would be nice to also have a workspace right in the room and this should fit just fine.

Then there's winter clothes and some other things that we decided to box up and have the Villa Vie company ship to the ship. Since the Villa Vie offices (actually Kathy Vilalba's house) is in Pembroke Pines, it's a simple matter for us to take a drive and drop boxes off there. Those boxes are due to be delivered to Barbados on April 8. 

We're also talking to a company who does 'estate sales.' A Hint of Vintage My good friend, Chris L. used them to clean out her mom's house and was thrilled with the results. First they go thru the house and layout anything that could be sold. They have a kind of open house, splitting the proceeds. Then, they'll clean out the rest for a fee. Sounds heavenly! The only issue is they want us to be gone. If we're still living there and have some stuff that we want to keep, it makes their job harder. The real estate sales person also says it's easier to sell an empty house. So, how do we do that? Sounds like we should plan to clean it out and leave by end of March, then let the estate sales lady do her thing, and finally the real estate sales. We could clear out and leave with the RV to Gainesville in March/April. Then go to Amsterdam first week of May, back to Gainesville and maybe meet up withe ship in Mexico in May. The itinerary has them in Puerto Vallarta on May 14. OR, we could cancel Amsterdam and meet the ship in Cartagena on April 20. It's my understanding that we don't need to be physically present for the closing - it can be handled online.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines! Sail away from safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover!