Why?

 That was the question asked of me a couple of days ago by a long-time loyal reader. Why were Wife and I abandoning our travel patterns of the past to suddenly embark on the experiment to see if we could actually stay in one place for an extended period time? There are a couple of reasons.

First, we have been mulling in our head a desire to live somewhere outside of the U.S. for a variety of reasons. The pandemic put a big dent into the timing of that idea. But, it still has not gone away completely. So this upcoming 2-month stay in a single location is a test to see how that feels.

Second, travel the way we've been doing it has become very difficult physically. Our aging selves are having a harder and harder time with moving around, carrying things, being on our feet, etc. So this trip represents an experiment to see if we can develop a different pattern for experiencing a different place.

Third, the same issues that affect our style of travel are causing us to question whether we can stay in our big house. We love the house and truly make use of it. But, it requires a lot of regular maintenance that we no longer can do physically without exacerbating various ailments. We wonder if we can live in a smaller space...and not kill each other! So this is a test for that as well. 

So there you have them. We are off in 6 days.