I’ve been stressed to the tits about moving lately. There’s just non-stop headaches and shit all over the place — so many things to consider, remember, make decisions on, remember to make decisions on, mistakes that have been made that need to be problem solved, tons of stuff to be moved, yada yada. I hate it. I just want to fast forward about 6-8 weeks into the future when we’re done this phase and able to settle in to our new place and, with any luck, start to relax a bit.
A few weeks ago when Jenn and I took the dog for a walk, we talked about some of the things we are looking forward to once we are done this move, and that was nice. It was a good reminder of why we are doing this, and why I shouldn’t get bogged down by the shit that we have to deal with before we reach our goal. I’ve been meaning to write a comprehensive list of those things I’m looking forward to here, so here goes.
- Being mortgage free (this is a big one)
- A more chill work situation for me that will allow me better sleeps (this is doubly great)
- Working less, making more time for interests I want to prioritize
- Summers that don’t fill me with dread due to their insane heat
- No more 6-months-out-of-the-year water restrictions
- Finally having a hot tub we can relax in together (we both love hot tubs)
- Full chill 70’s vibes in the house
- Bigger property with way more privacy
- No more awful south island traffic
- Living in an area with lots of cool stuff and places we want to explore that aren’t swarming with other people
- Better living situations for the horses and chickens (the chickens will have a large fenced area so no more chicken shit and holes they have dug all over the yard)
- Jenn’s office will be in the barn which will give her space from me when she is working, and hopefully allow her to switch in and out of work mode easier
- Easier hay access for Jenn (no more death trap stairs and hay loft door)
- Heat pump means I don’t have to be a miser about baseboard heat or maintain a fire in the woodstove
- Standby generator means we will never be without power
- There are some things about our current house we hate and look forward to never dealing with again
That’s all I can think of right now. Might come up with some more later. Anyway, some of those are bigger deals than others — I’d say four or five of them are huge deals, and the rest range from ‘fairly significant’ to ‘merely nice.’ All of them combined though makes for a ‘this should be a really great move for us.’
Of course there are bummer aspects to the move — not seeing key friends as often and not having the trails of Cobble Hill mountain just outside our door are the biggest ones that come to mind for me — but I plan on coming down island regularly and hope to see good friends on those trips, plus over the years I’ve learned that many important friendships don’t require meeting in the flesh frequently to stay strong. Seeing pals is always nice of course and I want as much of it as I can get but I’m not concerned for my friendships like I would have been 10 years ago. And there are plenty of trails just outside our door up there too, I just don’t know them yet.
The moving stress sucks but overall I’m feeling pretty good about this move.
crimson highway 