The journey begins...

As I got older (I turn 56 this December) my wife and I had talked frequently about what retirement would look like and where it would take place.  Andrea was Australian and spent the first eight years of her life growing up in Melbourne.  She spent the next six years in the Philippines (Manila) before moving to the United States, followed by studies in Spain and Peru.  I, on the other hand, had traveled little outside of American borders before meeting Andrea and had never lived anywhere but the good ol' US of A.

Although we were fortunate to have traveled in many parts of the world before she died, we both had wanted to see and experience more.   We agreed that retiring "elsewhere" would give us the opportunity to continue exploring and get to know more people, places and cultures -- we didn't want life to become a downward spiral with the delivery of the first Social Security check.

After Andrea passed away on May 19 of this year, I became more determined than ever to make our dream happen.  I admit that this is now a pursuit of my passion, and not really for "us."  This is an admission that brings me to tears on a regular basis.

So, between now and retirement, my mission is to find the right place to call my new home.  There are so many questions to answer and with every day there seem to be increasingly more questions and a paucity of answers.  Where do I go?  Central America, Asia... or maybe Africa?  Buy or rent?  Will I have enough money?  What about health care, insurance costs and taxes?  How will I stay in touch with my family?  How often will I come back to see them?  And, most importantly, how will I do this without Andrea to push and cajole me along the way?

The questions are endless and I hope to use my ruminating as a way to catalog my thoughts while making my plans.  I anticipate making my first exploratory trips to Belize and Mexico next year, and have set a goal of moving “elsewhere” within the next six or seven years.  Some of my friends openly (and, I’m sure, family secretly) think I’m nuts.  That’s fine; at least I will entertain them as I look for Brian’s New Home.