Hurrying Up to Slow Down

So, we've been on the road for three days now. Notice the dearth of blog entries? That's because we've been freaking insanely busy!

Quick synopsis:

Left Portland on Monday noon, after indulging in our first "Happily Homeless" kiss in the driveway immediately upon surrendering the keys to our (former) home. Ravenous, we made it a whopping 20 miles down the road before we stopped to eat lunch at a fabulous, authentic Chinese restaurant. Okay, Location Independent Living cannot mean that we eat like this every day, or I will weigh 400 pounds.

Three hours later, we arrived at the home of the folks for whom we will be housesitting from late June til mid August. Loved the couple, loved the dogs, loved the house and loved the area. Also loved the elderly mom, who will be staying in her own wing of the house while we are there and upon whom we will look in on from time to time. Delightful lady! I can't wait to hear her stories. (I'll probably drive her crazy!) Homeowners took us our for dinner. Mexican. More great food. Note to self: yogurt and salad tomorrow.

Said couple not only fed us, but gave us the use of their cozy apartment (about 45 minutes away from their house). Not two minutes into our stay, I managed to crash the lovely old suitcase stand that was there--you know, the ones that fold up and have three straps to hold the suitcase? Yeah, we'll those three straps are now toast, thanks to the weight of my carry on bag. Oh dear! Homeowners were gracious to a fault when I admitted my...ummm...clumsiness? negligence? stupidity?

After arriving at the apartment, and having been on the road or packing up the house for much of the day, we buckled down to manage our business. (Oh yeah--that!)  We finish work around 10:30 PM.

Tuesday morning, we headed for Reno, after rejecting the Grand Tetons (too cold) and Vegas (too far out of the way). Ride was boring, boring, boring. Who knew there were so many effing trees between Oregon and Nevada? Eight hours of driving and I was ready to pull my hair out. On a more positive note, we figured out how to use the Ipod in the car, so did have some Bill Bryson to listen to for the last three hours.

Tuesday evening: crash at the Reno Day's Inn. Clean, quiet and a fridge and microwave in the room. free Wifi. all for $50 a night. I love Reno! We immediately set up Lyssabeth's World Headquarters and worked until 11 PM.

Wednesday: All hell breaks out in the wedding world. Brides decide they must book us. Now. We keep our noses to our respective grindstones in order to get all the contracts done. At noon, we step outside. It is sunny. We are not in Portland anymore, Dorothy. We slather on sunscreen and head for the casinos. Later, Jeremy goes for a walk and Maureen stays at the casino. Maureen loses money. Maureen now hates Reno.

They took all my money!

And here it is Wednesday evening and tomorrow we are bound for Salt Lake City, then for Hotchkiss, CO, where we will get to spend some time with wedding officiant extraordinaire Sunshine Knight, show serves our Western Slope couples. Then, on to Denver to visit the kids and squeeze the grandchildren.

So, ummmm...when does the slow life start?


Maureen Thomson and Jeremy Myers are a husband and wife team offering professional housesitting services worldwide. Visit our HouseSitting Couple website for more information.

The Housesitting Adventure Begins!

It is February 21, 20011. President's Day. I don't know what the President is doing today, but I think it can't be as exciting, tumultuous, scary and invigorating as what Jeremy and I are contemplating. A feuding Congress, an unbalanced federal budget and war in the middle east pale in comparison to the monumental lifestyle change that Jeremy and I are about to undertake.

My tendency toward melodrama notwithstanding, this is a significant lifestyle change and not one that has come about without some heavy weighing of the pros and cons.

Some background

Jeremy and I met--as they say in romance novels--in the autumn of our lives circa 2005. Each of us empty-nesters, we found that we shared a passion for travel, meeting new people and having out of the ordinary experiences. I, for one, have always tried as much as possible to sidestep anything resembling a beige life. Jeremy does not abhor beige as much as I do, although it's still not high on his list. He might, however-- if presented with another marital partner and a different set of circumstances--have inadvertently meandered unnoticed into a beige lifestyle. But that was not Jeremy's lot in life and so, having reconciled himself to the fact that he has coupled himself--for better or for worse--to a woman whose wanderlust appears unquenchable, he has embraced our lifestyle with a vigor and enthusiasm that often outshines my own. It's the stuff that dreams are made of.

But I digress. Our five years together has been filled with happy, albeit restless wandering while we have tried to figure out where we want to permanently land. Because our home based business can be run from anywhere there is a decent Internet connection (we own a wedding officiating business), that gives us a lot of choice. Yeah....that whole choice thing is vastly overrated.

Wanderlust

We got off to a great start. Our first venture into the alternative housing game came with a house swap with a delightful British gentleman in Nerja Spain. Stuart spent six weeks in our snow-capped Victorian home in Denver, CO while we plopped out butts on the shores of the Mediterranean. Two years later, after exploring--and ultimately rejecting--Ecuador and Mexico as alternative places to live, we sold our Denver Victorian along with all of our furniture, and moved to the Oregon coast. Ah...bliss...only five blocks to the ocean in a peacefully quiet small town. We rented a smallish furnished home and settled in. What could be better?

Well, problem was it was a dreadfully quiet small town. Great for visiting for a few months, horribly stifling to live in for any length of time. Still, though, we loved Oregon climate and people so we moved 90 miles down the road to Portland. Ah....bliss... an eco-friendly, bike-lovin' walkable city with interesting architecture, coffee shops and quirky people. We loved it...and we still do...

...except...

You know those stories you hear of couples that go on a vacation and end up loving the place so much that they move there, set down roots and live a stable and happily ever after life? Yeah, well...that's not us. Turns out that as much as we love Portland, staying put in any one place for more than six months at a time makes us antsy. Wanderlust is in our blood, at least for now.

Which Brings Us To Now

We've finally listened to our inner whisper (the one that keeps repeating "no fixed address" over and over) and decided to embrace this part of us as opposed to fighting it. So, we've embarked on a house-sitting and travel adventure. Yep--we're choosing to be happily homeless. Pretty much minimalists to the core, neither Jeremy nor I can see the purpose of keeping and paying for a full time house simply to use it as a stopover place to flop between adventures. It seems wasteful. Plus, it ties us down. Oh great. I realize in typing this that we've become housing commitaphobes. Is there a 12-step program for that?

Alas, over the couple of years since we sold the Victorian, we've amassed yet another houseful of furniture. While our home is certainly not cluttered and we do use everything we own, nonetheless, we're living in a 2,000 square foot, 3-bedroom, 1 family room, 2 office, 1 dining room, 2 bath (you get the picture) home and every room in it is fully furnished. Oh yeah, with brand new (not inexpensive) furniture. Sigh...how did all this stuff find it way into our lives?

Okay, no time for an analysis of the behavior patterns of the modern American Empty Nester. Onward! This blog will journal our story as we progress through our transition and live the life of the happily homeless.

Stay tuned. As Jeremy would say, "This is about to get really interesting!"