And Now For Something Completely Unexpected

One of the many lovely views in Columbia County New York

I know things have been pretty silent around here for some time and part of that has been because I have been trying to figure out how to write about all the changes that we are going through in our life. There are big changes happening here, HUGE changes really, and rather than lose a few more weeks trying to figure out how to word this post I'm just going to plunge right in and type. I'll try to make it coherent but bear with me if it tumbles out and doesn't make sense; I'm still trying to sort many of these thoughts out and trying very hard not to be overwhelmed by everything that needs to be done in the coming weeks.

After many long weeks of discussing the pros and cons and the how’s and whys, then crunching the numbers and making the comparisons between upstate NY and downstate, Tom and I have decided to sell our apartment and move out of Manhattan. This wasn’t an easy decision to make, we love it here (although we've recently become a bit disenchanted) NYC has been our home for 15 years. But, just like every major city it has become ridiculously expensive to live here and we feel it even more now that we have a young child. We have a house in upstate NY that we love and that suits us just fine and so rather than kill ourselves by working harder for longer hours so that we can make more money but spend less time with each other we've decided that letting go of the apartment and our lifestyle here in Manhattan is the best thing for our family. Would you believe we would be slashing our living expenses by two thirds! We've been moving in this direction over the last few years anyway, juggling our schedules so that we didn’t have to get child care, consciously trying to cut down on our consumption, learning how to become more self sufficient, choosing not to get caught up in the mass consumerism that seems to have taken hostage of our society... We’ve done all this planning and learning as we go in order to live smaller so we can live better but work less in order to spend more time with our baby. What does this mean for our future, well we're not quite sure, but we both feel that if we don't do this NOW then we'll never have the chance again and we’ll never know what great things we could have achieved. Tom wants to get out of television after having worked in it for almost 20 years and I certainly have had my fill of the publishing business and corporate America. We’re going to take this time off not just to spend with each other as a family unit but also to decide what it is we want to do for the next decade or so of our lives, where will we work and at what, how we’ll make ends meet and afford health insurance and all that other good stuff. The money from the sale of the apt. won’t last forever no matter how frugally we’ll try to live and then there’s the money we’ll be spending on the other major lifestyle change (and this one is admittedly a bit decadent) the other big change before we slow down and settle into our quieter lifestyle in Columbia County will be a very, very, long vacation (six months) to Australia, New Zealand and the surrounding areas.

So where are we now with this whole process? Well, we are in contract on the apt and if all goes well, and smoothly, we should close the deal by the middle of November. I’ve told my company that I’ll be leaving mid-October and Tom will be leaving the first week of December from his job. The baby’s (I’ll have to stop calling her that she’s almost 2 and looking like a little girl more than a baby now) passport arrived the other day (so cute) and visa’s are in the works. Planning for the trip is in full swing and plane tickets have been purchased. Movers have been contacted and now the tedious process of going through our things and deciding what goes and what gets donated has begun as well as a thousand other little nagging things associated with moving like changing addresses and forwarding mail and informing all the major newspapers of our impending arrival abroad. BAH! Just kidding about the newspapers. Let’s just say there’s a lot to do in the next few weeks, not only just the move but then the unpacking while we race against the clock to get the house straight and in order before we leave for our trip for six months. Whew! That's enough, my head is starting to hurt.

And finally, what does this mean for the future of the blog. Well, I’m hoping it will evolve into more than just a food blog, but to also become a chronicle of our lifestyle change, and as a travel diary and perhaps even a guide for other folks who might be thinking about traveling abroad long term (and more specifically to Australia) with a young child. I hope at the very least that slowing down my pace will allow me the time to continue with the blog in the direction that I really want to take it but just haven't had the chance. Most important though is that I hope you will all continue reading the blog and being my friends and Dearest Readers if not then I'll be sad. awwww, let's all hug!

Written by Deb on September 29, 2005 02:29 AM