Delightfully unemployed!

Wow, what a ride it’s been for the last few weeks! After spending months negotiating with my employee to buy my business, with the negotiations centered around establishing value and then the make up of the earn-out in which I would provide 100% financing, she made me a cash offer. Not as much as I think the business is worth, or what I wanted, but it allows me to pay off some massive credit card debt and have a bit of working capital and walk-around money. Most importantly, I don't have to worry about the state of the economy and how she's doing, other than hoping she does well for her own sake. We closed last Friday, 12/5, she moved what she wanted to her new location, and I’ve spent three days sorting, tossing, packing and moving what was left. It is a great relief to be unemployed!

As a side issue this fall I’ve been getting rid of “stuff”. I’ve done this each time I’ve gotten divorced, but each time have held onto things like yearbooks, as well as lots of books generally, and a 1000 record collection, and numerous collections of one to 10 objects. Now that the end is in sight I am being ruthless in getting rid of things I don’t want, because my intention is to load whatever I want to keep into my truck and boat, and take them to Belize.

Saw a movie recently that included a statement I liked – that a life well lived is one that has lots of interesting stories. The “stuff’ loses importance. So this adventure I am embarking on will certainly generate its share of stories, and hopefully I won’t accumulate more “stuff”.

Background for this tale...

I’m creating this blog for myself, as a chronicle of my experience in becoming an ex-pat, and for the many friends, acquaintances and relatives who have expressed an interest in this great adventure. I have never been much of a letter writer, and don’t expect that to change, so think perhaps this blog is a way to communicate what I’m up to.

The name, Salty Dog Tales, is derived from the name I gave the sailboat I bought last spring, and have spent the summer reconditioning. More about it later (probably much more!), but here is a picture of it on the hard, as they say. (That's not the mast there - that's a telephone pole!)

The name I gave the boat is from two sources: a drink made from grapefruit juice and gin, and a bluegrass song that is a particular favorite. I haven’t had a drink in nearly 25 years, or a Salty Dog in nearly 40, but still enjoy the song when it pops into my consciousness.

I bought the boat because I am moving to Belize, Central America, where I will be on the coast, and there is a 12 month boating season. (More about Belize, with photos and links, to come.) But first I want to frame the reasons for the move.

I’m 63, and in the last year have seen increasing references to the causes of aging, or more specifically, a downward trend in cognitive ability that begins some time between ages 40 and 50. It’s as though life had three phases: growth and development for 20 or so years, followed by cruising for another 20 or so, and then a slow decline. Avoiding or breaking from this pattern requires a person to challenge oneself, to learn new skills, to work the brain. As I look back, that’s what I’ve been doing, without being conscious of the benefits.

My education was in resource based regional planning, which I then did for about ten years. I followed that with a 14 year business distributing Har-Tru tennis court surfacing in New England, which ended when the supplier lost its source of supply. It was good that happened, because I had gotten really bored with it, and needed an external reason to stop doing it because the money was good. After several years of looking for my next opportunity (while working at LL Bean), I started a Proforma franchise, selling printing and promotional products. That was in 1997, and I thought at the time that it would be my last business prior to retirement. Alas, I’ve been ready for a change for the last year or two, and am now selling the business to my employee so I can move on.

Which takes us back to Belize. My stepson, Bradley Rinehart, has been there for 12+ years, and currently has a Century 21 real estate office, a property development company, a butane (the local form of propane) distributorship, and interest in a building supply company. (http://www.placenciaproperties.com, http://www.century21belize.com/) He needs some back office accounting support, which I will provide. Toward that end, this summer I’ve become a Certified Bookkeeper by the American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers, and have become a Quickbooks Pro-Advisor.

In addition, I will be a distributor of a building technology called Logix Insulated Concrete Forms (http://www.logixicf.com/), hope to do some destination wedding photography, and whatever else comes my way that interests me.

For personal entertainment and growth I hope to do a lot of sailing in Salty Dog, I want to become proficient playing my dobro and electric bass, and am taking up oil painting again after putting it down 42 years ago! Finally, I am taking with me a lot of books I’ve acquired over the past 10 or so years that I still want to read. Couple that with on-line versions of the New York Times, Washington Post and New Yorker magazine, I expect I’ll still be short of time to do all I aspire to do!

The adventure will start when I leave my dooryard in early January. I’ll be driving my truck (a '92 Ford F150), and pulling the trailer with the boat. The plan is to drive the 3600 miles from Portland, through Mexico and into Belize. If all goes according to plan, I’ll be stopping at motels that have internet service so I can update this blog as I go.

Once there, I’ll continue this blog to let interested folks know what it is like to become an expat in paradise. Of course, feel free to visit – which you can do at minimal cost if you win the raffle for a two week vacation being sponsored by the Rotary Club of Placencia! Check it out at http://www.rotaryclubofplacencia.org/. A great prize, and the proceeds will have great benefit there.

And so it begins...

If you're at this blog as a result of a conversation with me, you know I am planning to move to Belize, Central America, within the next 6 to 8 weeks. This blog will record this adventure, starting with the events leading to the decision, and what I've done to prepare. I'll try to report my trip, as I plan to drive my 16 year old truck, towing a trailer with my 21' sailboat, Salty Dog, through Mexico to Belize. But for now, I've established a footprint here, much more to come!