Today is Thanksgiving Day, 2024 and life is so good.
Most importantly,
I'm thankful to have Jim, and we both have our health. We've been together for 31 years now and, for all but the first few, we've worked together as well. That's a LOT of togetherness! Sure, every once in a while we get on each other's nerves, but it's surprisingly rare. He keeps me grounded, I keep him looking to the future. We laugh a lot and we both make each other's dreams come true. I couldn't do the RVing, diving, travel without him and he couldn't do our business without me.
Speaking of our Business
I am so thankful to have something I love to do that other people appreciate. Teaching and technology is my passion and there is no end to the learning/teaching that can be done. Using technology for producing videos and live streaming shows is Jim's passion. Truly a match made in heaven! To love what you do and feel that it matters how could anything be more fun?Our business, Geeks on Tour, is what keeps us on our toes. We're always thinking about what to teach, how to teach it, and how to reach those who could benefit from it. It exercises our creative juices, keeps our brains active, and makes us a little bit of money too. Our business is also a community. We've become friends with many of our Geeks on Tour members. Several of them joined us on our Hawaii cruise for Jim's 70th birthday in January, and we see many of them on group, and private, zoom calls often.
Oh yeah - Zoom is also something I am SOO thankful for. We had been using Zoom meetings for Online Presenters Toastmasters meetings since about 2016. This meant that we were quite familiar with it by the time everyone needed it in 2020. When the pandemic shut down our Toastmasters meeting-place at Denny's, we told everyone to go home and get on their computers and we guided them thru using Zoom. It was so good that we have not gone back. Now our meetings have people from all over, not just those close enough to go to Denny's.
Speaking of Toastmasters
Many people join Toastmasters to gain skills and advance in their careers. Jim and I just like to have an outlet to tell our stories, and we love hearing other people's stories. Our Earlybird Toastmasters club is our weekly connection to a diverse group of people who we get to know quite intimately through the medium of speaking and storytelling. I am very thankful to have this group in my life. It keeps me challenged with putting together speeches and delivering them.
Living in this house in S Florida
When the pandemic shut everything down, we were so lucky to have a wonderful house - THANKS MOM! - We stopped fulltime RVing in 2017 and made this house our home. It is a townhouse in a gated community so we can travel whenever we want, just lock the door and go. I have an office upstairs, Jim has an office (and YouTube studio) downstairs. We have large glass sliding doors from the living room to a small backyard with a hot tub. It is SO delightful. We love the weather. Yes, it can get hot, but air conditioning works well. Hurricanes have spared us for several years now. We are spoiled.
Our backyard
I'm equally happy in my office in my other home
Financial Freedom
Both Jim and I have worked hard all our adult lives, but that's never made us much money. What we have made, we've invested well. Other than travel, we don't spend much. With the booming stock market, inheritances, this house, and now social security, we haven't had to worry about money for several years. The only fear I've ever experienced is the fear of not having any money. I am so thankful for having the freedom from that fear.
Sense of Adventure
When Jim and I first started dating, there were 3 things that got us together: 1-technology, 2-scuba diving and 3-travel. We both were passionate about all three ... and still are!! One of us suggested, in 2003, that we sell our house and live fulltime in an RV. The other said, Yes! Let's do that! And we did. When we settled down into this house and friends said, let's take a scuba diving trip to Indonesia and Bali, we said, "Let's go!" We've taken several such trips every year.
I am so glad for our sense of adventure, especially Jim's because he's the one that actually makes things happen. When I get cold feet, he forges ahead. (back to #1 thankful for Jim!) Although we actually enjoyed being home-bodies during the pandemic year of 2020, we had to have adventure in 2021. We packed the camper van and took off for nearly 3 months.
When you're so comfortable at home there's a force field that keeps you there. It's hard to break out of the force field, but once I do it's a euphoric feeling. Freedom from daily responsibilities, excitement over what you'll see around the next bend, love for the people you meet up with along the way.
Our Next Chapter: as we get older that force field keeping us home gets stronger, but our will to break free is also strong. We've traveled a lot these last few years, but it doesn't qualify as "The Next Chapter." I've been looking for the next chapter ever since we stopped fulltime RVing. Do you believe that life happens in 7-year segments? Well, it's been 7 years since we stopped fulltime RVing. Jim has been following Randy Cassingham's Residential Cruising blog and dreaming. He showed it to me and I immediately said, YES! that could be our next chapter. Living on a cruise ship and traveling the world! That's kind of like fulltime RVing except you don't have to drive. You also don't have to cook or clean! They have good Starlink Internet, so we could continue our work. In fact, we'd truly be Geeks on Tour again! Here is a map of the 3 year itinerary:
BUT, it's expensive. Very expensive. We'd have to sell the house in order to buy the cruise ship cabin. Then it's still $8,000/month for all living expenses. When you consider that it covers travel - that's similar to our current living expenses.
Do I have cold feet? Yes. See 'financial freedom!' But my sense of adventure is also strong and Jim's is stronger yet. As we get older, you gotta do things now! We have booked a one-week "try before you buy" cruise for next month. Stay tuned. Meanwhile, the thought of selling the house has us looking around and starting to get rid of clutter. That's a good thing!
12/7/24 Note: We booked a 1 week 'try-before-you-buy' cruise and we leave in 3 days. We'll pick up the ship in Jamaica, travel thru the Panama canal (again!) and leave in Panama city. Every day the pendulum swings as to whether we think buying a cabin on the Odyssey is a good idea or a bad idea. Every day Jim and I look at each other and give a 👍or a👎. It usually depends on how good we slept.
Slept good, feeling positive: yes, we want to travel the world and the cruise ship is by far the easiest way. $$ be damned, we can do anything as long as we're together. Our business will thrive when we are fulltime travelers again.
Slept poorly, feeling negative: no, are we crazy? We have this beautiful home, free and clear. We can travel anywhere now, it just takes work to plan, book, and pack. What if we sell the house, move aboard, and the ship goes bankrupt and we lose everything? We'll regret it then!
The only real problem is the money, it's clear that both Jim and I want to do it. I have said that I won't go on a cruise ship again unless I have a balcony. The balcony cabins are a LOT more expensive than the non-balcony cabins. BUT, it occurred to me (just yesterday) that if we want that lifestyle so bad, we could make do without a balcony if it meant being able to afford it. If all goes well, we could upgrade later. The screenshots below are from the Villa Vie website. The balcony cabin has a purchase price of $340K and a monthly expenses of $4k/month each. A smaller room, without a balcony, has purchase price of $169K and expenses of $2500 each.
At $169K we could afford that without selling the house. We could have 2 homes for, say, 1 year while we learn for sure whether we like living on the Odyssey. And, a big cost factor is the monthly fee. I don't understand why, but the monthly fee for the Balcony room is a lot higher than non-balcony. $8,000/mo for the 2 of us instead of $5,000. At that rate, we could move tomorrow and sleep easy at night.
This has me excited all over again. To have this exciting new chapter AND still have financial security. YES! (I slept good last night.)
Our cabin for the 1 week is #4036, just like the "Outside Window" shown above. So, we'll be able to experience the smaller, non-balcony room and see if we can live in it. One more factor that I haven't mentioned - you can also rent an office space on deck 5. I think that costs $500/mo. How cool is that to have an office with a view on a cruise ship?
