How Did We Get To This Point?

As we looked around the congestion of this big city, with essentially everything we now owned inside this vehicle we were driving, we had to reflect on how did we end up like this, in our rolling home in Canada's largest city?

It was just two years ago we owned two homes in the Okanagan, one a full time vacation rental and our little farmhouse that we were actively renovating, we had our silkscreen supplies business in Penticton and still own a business in Ontario, we had a garage full of tools, nine bicycles, and on and on, all the trappings of a busy life.

And really there were a couple of awakenings, a couple of "what are we doing all of this for?". When we weren't working in our business, we were renovating our farmhouse. Except every Saturday was changeover at the vacation rental so there was a full day of cleaning, garbage and meeting the new guests. And of course we were training for some big races so we had to fit in our morning and often afternoon workouts. At this stage of our lives did we want or need to be this busy. I remember saying to Linda "will there ever be a day when we wake up and read the paper, cut the lawn or wash the car and settle in for the afternoon with a good book?" I just couldn't see how we could ever get to that kind of existence with all of the "busy-ness" we had created in our lives.

We at the same time seemed to be constantly reminded of the very fragility of life. We watched friends, close family members, high end athletes we knew, all passing away unexpectedly. It seemed we were constantly getting messages; it was time to simplify our lives, it was time to start living, it was time to make a fundamental change and get to a place where we could just love each other, love our pets and live our lives. It was time to stop running and chasing "something" that really wasn't that important.

So we decided to start shedding some of the "busy-ness", the first step was to sell the vacation rental home, a beautiful property with the "million dollar view"

Although we had enjoyed many very happy years here, this home had become a drain on us as it became just another part of our work week and we were able to put it up for sale at a time when market values were peaking so this was a good first step for us.

We still had a lot of work to do to finish renovating our farmhouse, but the Penticton business was taking too much of my personal time, trying to hire the right person to manage the business had proved virtually impossible. So we gave it a deadline, if we couldn't find the right person by this date we were going to put the business up for sale, and by the end of 2018, we had it sold.

So we had taken some positive steps, but still we really didn't have a "next Chapter" Plan. What Lifestyle were we looking for, and where was the best place to do that?

The seed got firmly planted on a trip to Panama over Christmas of 2018. We had stopped into Toronto en route and had what I have described as a very mediocre dinner at a mediocre restaurant with mediocre wines, there were four couples there and we each ended up with a $300 (Can) bill. Literally three nights later 11 of us went out for dinner in Panama, had jugs of Sangria and beers, everyone had a full entre (mostly fresh fish) and at the end, the bill for the entire table was $235 (US). This really caused us to think hard and start looking at all the entire cost of living equation in Panama, and it really started to illustrate that every thing we looked at, showed us just how much we overpay for everything in Canada, especially in BC.

Then when we looked at the climate (no more winters), the beauty, the mountain hiking just 45 min away from beautiful ocean beaches, incredible golf course living at a fraction of what it would cost in Canada, a "friendly" residency program and seemingly very good and inexpensive health care, this all started to make sense. We spent a month here looking at various areas, lots of homes and condos and before long we had found the perfect property for us. We pulled the trigger quickly and our offer was accepted before we left.

But that is us, that is kind of how we roll. Linda had purchased our first home in the Okanagan on a bit of a whim, it was a "wouldn't it be great" kind of purchase. We didn't have a plan, we didn't know a soul out in the Okanagan, but we were drawn by the lifestyle, small town living, clean air, wonderful roads for cycling and trails for hiking / running. We made the move and it turned into a fantastic eight years where we made so many great friends.

But we were ready for something new, it was time to start another chapter. We both feel there still so much to see, so much to do in this world , we want to do it while we can, we want to do it together.

So having got to this point, we gave ourselves a few months to finish the farmhouse, get it ready for sale, and then ultimately get rid of anything that wouldn't fit in our SUV. We planned the "farewell Canada" road trip and if it didn't fit in our car, then it wasn't coming. There was something really compelling and cleansing about getting rid of all of our "stuff". It was very liberating

That is how we got here, and now in our short time in Toronto we need to start to assemble all of the documents we need to allow us to go to Panama and truly start the "Next Chapter"

The sun had now truly set on our Okanagan Chapter!