About 3 years ago, I read an article in “Bottomline Personal” about a couple who loved to travel so much, that they wanted to do it full time. They downsized, sold their house, put the rest in storage – and off they went!
This grabbed my attention! How I would love to do that! But getting Jouko to embrace the idea took a little longer……At first he was uncomfortable with the idea – but eventually warmed to the prospect of being adventurous in retirement.
And we both knew that we could only do this if we were ‘homeless.’
We started to pray that the Lord would guide us, and if this was something we should not consider, that He would close doors and open others.
In July 2015 we put our house on the market, with the understanding that we could stay in the house until the end of September. It sold within 2 days!
Then began the process of sorting through stuff accumulated during 43 years of marriage. We sold some, donated more, and even threw some out. Quite a liberating feeling! And what we decided to keep is now in storage.
Our plans are to travel at least through the autumn of 2016. If we have the energy and desire, we may continue! However, it’s comforting to know that at any time we can turn around, come back, and settle down.
Mark Twain famously wrote, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness”. We want to open ourselves up and in the process perhaps we will still learn something about ourselves! It is never too late to do that!