Mini Retirement Update: June and growing worries.

Hey there, if you’re new I am going to be publishing a monthly series where I document our journey to this years One Goal.  The goal: to take a Mini Retirement. Take 4 months off of work to travel internationally to Ecuador and El Salvador and permanently move to a new state, Michigan. The launch date of this adventure is October 1, 2017. This is our first time going through the process of planning a mini retirement. By the end of this series I hope to have a tried and true checklist to go by for all our future mini retirements. Wish  us luck and follow along on the journey.

As of today the count down clock say 11 weeks and 3 days. Only 3 months left!!!

June to do list:

Rolled over tasks.

• Research and apply  TSA precheck  Global Entry (not complete)

I’m going to be honest I think the cost on this is making us procrastinate. Have not made any headway. Also I have never experienced U.S. re-entry, I think this is a nice to have but I don’t have a negative previous experience motivating me. This is not a must, to having our trip. But I think we will be happier if we get it.

• Get rid of all unused items in kitchen (In Process)

I am addressing this by making us use up all our spices. We will not be transporting any food stuff from here to Michigan. We are forbidden from buying more spices and are trying to use up all stuff in our pantry and cupboards. But I am sure there are other items we could also purge.

• Research education replacement for Jr’s 4 months of school (In Process)

I’ve been learning a lot on this front. Legality, online schooling, home schooling, un-schooling…how many more times can I say schooling in this sentence. 🙂 But still no clear plan. Just jotting down ideas and resources.

New Task

• Finish getting a better idea of dream trip costs (in process)

I have a post on this but here is the gist. I have planned 3k of spending for each month. So we have 12K for 4 months. I think our actual costs will be much lower but that is our budget.

• Do a book give away for financial books. Or just donate them. (Complete)

I never finished my Finance book giveaway post. Boo. But at this point I just want to see more and more stuff leaving my home. So I am just going to donate them. Neighbor, Library, family. It doesn’t matter as long as it’s out of my home. If you want a finance book send me an email and I will let you know which titles I have available.

• Clear out patio (not Complete)
• Email travel blogger (specially people who have been to Ecuador or El Salvador) (In Process)

I sent out a few feelers but got no reply. Need to try again and also just find others to email.

• Open bank account with no international fees (Not Complete)

Just need to sit down with Mr. Roamer and get it done.

• Dentist & Eye check up (Complete for Kids)

I had this task in August but I am glad I pulled it in. Kids have had their dentist check ups and Eye check ups too. Mr. Roamer and I  got our eyes checked too but our dentist appointments are already scheduled for August.

I am not going to lie. I am starting to get really stressed out. Stuff is always coming in the house. June also had Jr’s last day of school and his teacher retired. I guess just like us, she didn’t know what to do with all the stuff in her room. Jr came home with a hand full of stuff. More games, more knick-knacks, more stuff. Keeping the influx of stuff at bay has proved challenging. I need. I need I NEED to have more stuff leaving the house than coming in.

That along with the fact that I have finished up my 2 year of capsule dressing and I barely got rid of any clothes. It looks like I am hitting a wall.

It’s funny, weird, wrong, I don’t know, unusual to think that emptying our house is still what is stressing me out most about this transition.

Our cars are not big and a road trip with a moving truck is just not feasible. And I don’t want to give up the road trip. But I know I need to stay flexible. Flexibility means less disappointment.

We will be traveling into new countries and the more I talk to some people the more nervous I get. They are freaked out and they are contagious. I want to be cautious of course. I am traveling with my small kids. But I don’t want to be paranoid. I don’t want to be scared. So I am starting to listen to more travel podcasts again.  To listen to people who have done what I want to do. To scoop up their experience and courage and their advice on when to be cautious.

That’s me right now. Not too stressed about the trip and very stressed about the move.

July to do list:

There are some rolled over tasks and items I need to keep an eye on to wrap them up.

• Clear out patio (not Complete)
• Email travel blogger (specially people who have been to Ecuador or El Salvador)
• Open bank account with no international fees (Not Complete)
• Apply to TSA precheck  Global Entry

New tasks

• Travel Insurance
• FinCon flight
• Buy extra storage box  for my car.
• Publish post of October road trip plan

So that’s what I am working on in July.  Have any tips, comments or questions let me know down below. If you want to check out the entire series just check out the mini retirement series.

Love it? Like it? Share it! use buttons below. And don’t forget to sign up to my email list to stay up to date. Also for email subscribers I share our monthly spending, which is another interesting part of this puzzle.