Our Journey to Ecuador
There is a lot involved in moving abroad. Brian and I lived in the same home for 24 years. One of the most pressing issues was to decide what to do with the house.
It was not an easy decision, and if you have been following us on Facebook, you know we decided to sell. This is risky, because we do plan on returning to the area, our precious daughter and son in law, and hopeful eventual grandchild(ren). There is a good chance we may be priced out of the area.
But in the end there were two deciding factors. We raised our children in a no frills, very ethnically diverse working class neighborhood. The modest cul-de-sac all rose early, and went off to work. Those with limited opportunities found a way to own their own business. It set a good example for our kids that no job is too menial. We strongly value work ethic. I also did not have to contend with any feeling of one up man ship. Pretty much until high school, I got away with a lot of shopping at discount stores. Thomas' entire middle school wardrobe came from athletic wear from Ross, and when a mate didn't have something that we needed, he could help himself from Thomas' closet. I did not have to fight any expectations of owning fancy stuff.
But the neighborhood has changed. Priced out of housing, we have the disenfranchised. Drug use. More high density apartment buildings are being built in the area. And on the flip side, it is barely possible for working class people to own their own home. Our newest neighbors are mostly renters. Our neighborhood has always been full of cars - but these cars have all been in use, and include working trucks. But now many cars litter the limited space with expired tags and do not move. If you battle to move one batch out, another takes its place. Meanwhile, the new homes being built start around $600,000. Working class people can no longer be home owners, and the neighborhood is suffering. Our two long term neighbors, whom we have known for 24 years looked on almost jealously at the moving van, and said they, too, are looking to get out.
Secondly, since the pandemic, it is almost impossible to evict anyone. Because of the homeless issue in the Portland area, judges are highly reluctant to put anyone on the street. I have spoken to a property manager who states people have lived at his complex for the last 2 years without paying. This happened to a former neighbor who is renting out the home down the street from us. We simply cannot afford to provide free housing to anyone, so we have decided not to rent our home.
So we sold. In a way, I am glad it forced our hand. Because it gave us time to let go. And we let go of so much. A huge dumpster full. Many trips to the Goodwill. We gave away a ton. Bikes.(although we each kept one) Printer. Space heater. Hot tub. Propane tanks. Grill. We ended up choosing to close in 30 days to speed the process along.
And now we are on our first adjustment - living with less! It is still amazing to me how much crap we had, and how little of it we needed. That part is going well. As I wrote in Facebook, I did not realize how much of my time was spent managing our possessions. Now, I can clean the whole place in just an hour or two. The only thing we miss is the hot tub, and both the apartment building we are in, and the one we are hopefully moving to have one. We have absolutely everything we need and use at our fingertips. I feel more peace and less chaos. And to be honest, it has helped us change our mindset, letting go of things, and making room for experiences.
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