Sicilian Trip Reflections - The Traditional Navel-Gazing Post

So we are back in the homeland, Albuquerque, New Mexico after our ordeal of getting back. An we've started the next part of our test...how would we feel about being back after this extended time living in a different country, with an entirely different lifestyle and life pattern. Well the initial reaction on both our parts has been, we are ready to move on. So let's go into this in greater detail.

We Don't Want To Deal With A House

I think this is a big one. During the time we were building the tower, it was all about creating a space which gave us joy. AND IT DID! It is a magnificent place. It has so much beauty associated with it. BUT, it also requires a LOT of maintenance. Just the regular maintenance of cleaning it, washing windows, having the yard maintained is extremely time-consuming. Is that what we really want to be doing with our lives? And then there is the upcoming age of property related maintenance one can expect. There is tons. None will be inexpensive. And it will take a great effort to find and oversee those to do the work. Is that what we really want to be doing with our lives. Both Wife and I seem to be at a point where the answer is no.

The Attraction Of Time Zone Change

I am going to be as explicit as possible. My involvement with Theodora Africa is going to go on for as long as I humanly can do it. I have never, NEVER been involved with something that both is doing so much good and has so much potential. And as we continue to evolve, my work becomes less and less of what I don't like and more and more of what I do like. What does this have to do with the physical location of where I live? A lot

When I am in New Mexico, I am six or seven hours behind Ghana. If I get up a 4am, it is 10 or 11am in Ghana. If there are things that need my attention, I am going to be doing them during my early hours. I can work three hours in the morning before anyone here is ready to even think about starting their day. What did we find in Sicily. I was two hours ahead of Ghana. If I came to work at 3pm, it was 1pm in Ghana, plenty of time to work on their important stuff. That left almost a half a day where Wife and I could just interact. That leads to...

A Different Life Pattern

 It means that I essentially have hours and hours of time in the morning and early afternoon to myself. I applied these to reinventing our daily lifestyle and refocusing my energy and attention on Wife. I went for walks virtually every day. I shopped and cooked daily. We ate breakfast together daily. Instead of working 10 hours +,  My work day was maybe 6 to 7 hours. It was wonderful. 

We Want To Do More, Not Less - Elder Adventurers

Wife and I are simply not ready to pack it in. I don't care what our age is. All those crazy driving experiences? We feel it is great that we can deal with them. We want to keep seeing and doing new things. Staying in Albuquerque and in our house is not going to give us that. At some point, our physical/mental capabilities will collapse and we will have to pack it in. But we are not going to facilitate it by staying in our long-term home that has (honestly) become a rut.

I Want To Live In Another Country 

Living a year in France as a college student was one of the most profound and enjoyable experiences of my life. Early on I had hoped to work in another country, but that was not to be. Fast forward, when we started traveling, I had hoped to capture that long ago feeling. But nothing we did was like that. It was fun. But it was not living in a country. Partly it was a result of our desire to want to see and experience so much. But as age has reduced our ability runaround, the attractiveness of being in one place has grown. Our two months living in a single location, a town, a community, brought all this back. I LOVED just walking around, enjoying daily life, imbibing the total difference of sights, sounds and energy of this different environment. I am ready for this again!

So Wife and I are now in deep discussion and research on how we make our desire a reality. Stay Tuned.