From the Beginning

When we started telling people we planned to quit our jobs, sell our house, find remote jobs, and move abroad, they had questions...When did you decide to do this? How will you make a living? What will you do with all your stuff? Will you ever move back home? The truth is I've had wanderlust since childhood. When I was five years old my father started leading trips as a chaperone for People-to-People International. Soon after, my mother joined him as a co-chaperone. Every summer they spent three weeks taking groups of high school students around the world as a bridge to build cross cultural connections. My sister and I stayed behind with family members during each trip, eagerly awaiting their return. When our parents got home, they would spread a large blanket on the living room floor, hiding an assortment of artifacts and souvenirs. One by one, they revealed a gift and explained its cultural significance or told a story about where they bought it. The post cards and stories they told of different customs, foods, and ways of life sparked my interest in travel.

It would be several years before our parents could afford to take us on a family trip abroad. I was about fourteen when we went to Mexico for the first time. Coming from the Pacific Northwest, I thought the heat and fresh produce was heavenly. The following year, they cashed in some long-time savings and took us to the British Isles, where I was so impressed with the deep and dynamic history. So you could say that my dream of living abroad started then.

Fast-forward fifteen years, many global trips, a wedding, twelve years of marriage, and two cats later; here we are. In February 2024 I saw an Instagram ad for the Move Abroad Escape Plan Bootcamp. It immediately sparked my interest, and I signed up the next day for a week-long survey course covering the basics of how to make this dream into a reality. After a week of 60-90 minute daily coaching series, I felt empowered. All of the big questions about how to move abroad had been answered, and I now had resources and options to explore.

Luckily my spouse Trevor was on board with the idea, and didn't require much convincing. His primary concern was how we would generate income, and I assured him we would figure it out along the way while we put our plan into motion. Six months after completing the Move Abroad Escape Plan course, we listed our house in Tacoma, WA for sale and it sold while we were on a scouting trip to Oaxaca, Mexico. While in Oaxaca, we found a house to rent that would accept pets!

Then the hard work of minimizing our belongings began. Our goal was for each of us to check one suitcase, plus one carryon, and a cat (which counts as a personal item). We don't have any children but have been living together for 14 years and had accumulated an average amount of stuff in that time to fill our 2,600 square foot house. It took about six weeks to sell nearly all of our things. The thought of starting the downsizing process was the hardest part. So when I saw a local college student post that she was looking for a personal assistant-type summer job, I had a lightbulb moment! I would hire her to sell our stuff online and pay her 40% of the profit in exchange for the time it took to measure, photograph, research prices, and -worst of all- communicate with potential buyers. It was a win-win, as she was incentivized to get a good price, and I didn't have to spend my time on those tedious tasks while working fulltime and planning our move. She gave us a good jump start and once we saw some rooms start to empty out, it felt like we were gaining momentum.

At the end of summer, when our sales-assistant went back to college, we had a moving sale. I've never had my own garage sale before but by all accounts, I would say it was very successful. We were happy with the profits we made, and I was tempted to have another sale a few weeks later but looking at the amount of stuff we had left, I just wasn't sure it was worth the effort. As Trevor said, "The Juice just wasn't worth the squeeze." So we scheduled a Habitat for Humanity donation (they will come to your house and take furniture and housewares in good condition for free if you schedule 1 week in advance!). As time ticked by, we broke down and decided to work with a junk removal company to take away the rest of the items. It felt so good to see a completely empty garage after about 1 hour of work on their part! It wasn't necessarily cheap, but in our minds it was worth it because our time and energy was sparse by that point. And what we couldn't part with, our family generously agreed to store for us. This amounted to a large carload of boxes, two bags of winter/professional clothes, some paintings, and one set of golf clubs.