2017 was the start of BIG changes with tiny results.
“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo.” ~ Rob Siltanen
In 2016 we traded Baja for Charleston, SC so we can spend time with the boys.
The easy purchase was a ranch style house in West Ashley. Quickly withering from the normalness of suburban living, the sirens of historic downtown Charleston began to sing.
Our first visit to Charleston in 2010 had Bill pointing to an elegant and grand 7 story building on the edge of White Point Garden where the Ashley and Cooper Rivers merge to form the Atlantic Ocean and saying “I’m going to live there one day.”
Charleston – voted #1 top U.S. city 5th year running by Travel and Leisure (2016 best city in the world too) – comes at a price. A high price. Money equates to square footage. You get the picture.
Well I’ll be darned if Bill wasn’t right (those moments still catch me off guard). We are now fulfilling his prophecy. Downsizing by 75% and loving every 74, 014 square inches of it. (514 sq.ft.) It’s a 1 bedroom, 1 bath with a 60 sq.ft. balcony floating over the Holy City with expansive views of the water and breathtaking sunsets on most nights.
It came furnished so we had an estate sale and utilized Craigslist to unload all the furniture we had purchased just a year before. With 2 rugs and a painting in tow – we moved in. Heaven! We walk to everything. History and charm ooze from every corner. Horse drawn carriages clip clop through the streets and bar/restaurants are plentiful. Yoga is 2.5 miles away and allows us to kill 2 birds with one stone, walking to and fro. Two kids in a candy shop!
Sometimes you just have to jump off the cliff without knowing where you will land. ~ Zainab Salbi
And with that said – 30 days later we sold our primary residence in Northern Nevada and opted to go even tinier – 440 sq.ft. (63360 sq. inches).
When working and raising kids our home had 5 bedrooms, 5 baths, 5 fireplaces and a 5 car garage. After the kids moved out we downsized into a 2 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 fireplace, 2 car garage home. Now, we’re in a 0 bedroom, 0 fireplace, 0 garage and if wasn’t for the 1 bath…. Well – you get my point.
There was an abandoned tiny home on our commercial property in Nevada that we decided to turn into a rental. The county allowed us to dismantle the house and rebuild in the same place using the same footprint, roof and siding. It’s cute as heck and we thought what the heck. Now it’s our home.
Talk about freeing…
Living in hotel rooms more than 100 days a year over the past decade, and more recently carrying our clothes on our backs while walking two Caminos has helped condition us. You really don’t need all the peripheral crap. Happiness isn’t derived by having stuff.
However, the struggle is what to do with your STUFF.
What we learned: You give to your kids “now” all the stuff saved for them. Why wait until you’re dead? Sell and give away all non-essential stuff and pack the rest of the shit (stuff) up in a POD and send it to your 3rd home.
YUP… You read that correctly.
Why have 2 homes when you can have 3? Yes, as embarrassed as I am to write this.
Hi, our names are Bill and Paige and we are Crazy – it’s been 2 weeks since we were in our last home…
Today we are in Indian Wells, CA – right near vintage Palm Springs. This one was purchased 10 years ago as a rental.
Tenant moves out and we move in. What can we say? It’s warm here. Palm trees rule and golfing on pristine courses is intoxicating.
“One person’s craziness is another person’s reality.” ~ Tim Burton
So that’s us for now….
We have a big trip coming up in 2018. Stay tuned.