We’ve Landed!

So, to say we have “landed” in a new land is an extreme understatement. Yes, I was expecting it to be different. AND . . .

Before we traveled to Southeast Asia (principally Vietnam) in October 2019 I used to say I could (and probably would) live anywhere in the world. I learned that just isn’t the case for me. It was “too” different. AND it really emphasized a need in me, at this stage in my life, to really push myself out of my comfort. So, for me, that was a big part of choosing Brooklyn.

And boy does it appear that we hit the target. I’ve never lived in this urban a setting. I’ve never lived in this level of diversity. I’ve never lived where a vehicle wasn’t my chief mode of transportation. I’ve never “lived” outside of California. From 6 to 19 I lived in a town of 200, yes 200.

This is going to be everything I had hoped for, AND MORE!!

So, here we go!!

JDT aka Joyce

We’ve been talking about doing this for years. We were planning on doing this last Fall 2020 – needless to say that didn’t work out. Now that it’s here…Can we? Will we? Can we learn to live the urban life? Will we get out and explore and try new things and live differently. Join us as we figure it out…one day, one experience, one meal at a time. Brooklyn brownstone (or gray stone as the case may be)…here we come! Yes. Ready or not!

Packing – Hmmm?

As I approached our impending three months in Brooklyn, I found myself avoiding packing. I’ve traveled extensively for business over the years. I’ve become really good at packing for one or even two weeks on the road, even when that included climates as different as South Texas and Western New York in the middle of winter. So, I figured it wasn’t about the “packing”. So, it must be about what I am packing??

JDT and I traveled to Vietnam / Singapore in October 2019. Our travel involved six or seven flights from San Francisco to Tokyo to Singapore to Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City to Da Nang to Ho Chi Minh City to Tokyo to San Francisco. A lot of up/downs mostly on airlines that we were not familiar. We made the decision that the safest thing was to travel with a carry on we could put in the overhead and our individual daypacks. The consequence was we would need to do laundry twice during the three weeks. Side story – I love the immersive aspect of doing laundry in foreign countries. THIS WORKED OUT PERFECTLY!!

Back to the travel at hand. Please recall that one of our goals is to live a life centered on experiences, not stuff. This got me to thinking. They have stores in Brooklyn, right? Our “budget” has enough “room” to buy stuff, right? And how does one put everything one would need for three months in a mid-size SUV? Hmmmm?

Have I said how excited I am to experience and learn from what is around this wonderfully exciting bend in our lives?

I will let keep you posted on how this goes.

Introduction – GAT

Hi, this is Glen. Joyce (JDT in future reference) and I are trying to do this together as we head off on the next stage of our lives.

These are my words, Joyce will have her own.

Simply put, after years of living in the Bay Area we are venturing to live wherever we want whenever we want. The lives we built for ourselves focused on our kids, our careers and ourselves. AND while we love each other we evolved into living mostly separate lives.

I’ve discovered in the last several years that while away from the Bay Area our lives are much more “us” focused.

So, primary among the many objectives (a life built on experiences not stuff, etc.) of the future is us.

I look forward to building new habits that support us.

Part of us is our wonderful friend network. Our friends touch our lives and are and will be a big part of our lives built on experiences.

The last time I blogged was in that 2008 / 2009 time frame. AND while the circumstances surrounding those blogs and these blogs are fundamentally different, I am hopeful that they will be equally impactful.

So, we are off on Wednesday and I am filled with great anticipation.

Bye for now.