Women Riders Now article

Women Riders Now article by Penny Devlin







http://www.womenridersnow.com/PublicFiles/DepartmentViewer.asp?DepartmentID=14&ArticleID=249

Movin' on out...

We've moved probably about 90% of our stuff to where we'll be living for the next year. The amazing thing is, I don't even miss it. I'm able to function with the remaining 10% of the stuff we haven't moved yet. I haven't needed to run out to the apartment to look for something because I miss it, or "need" it. I think it's amazing that we accumulate so much "stuff" and think we need to have it, but when it's boxed up and out of sight, we forget we even have it.

If I was really brave, I'd leave a lot of stuff in boxes and after several months simply toss the entire box without ever opening it to see what's inside. I know that won't happen, though.

posted on March 22, 2006 4:03 PM (PST)

SOLD, to the highest bidder

Actually, sold to the first bidder. We sold the house. We signed papers today and the buyer signs tomorrow. Yippee!! We are in the process of moving a little bit of stuff each day, plus getting ready to have a moving sale. Maybe someone else wants our junk? Never hurts to try.

We're moving from a nearly 3,000 square foot house to an under 1,000 square foot apartment built in a barn. Needless to say, we're getting rid of a lot of stuff. Our goal is to get rid of enough stuff that we don't have to get a storage unit.

Our dog loves it where we're going. The people we are renting from have 1 black lab and a chocolate lab. Our dog is a black lab mix. She thinks she's gone to doggy heaven. She'll have more than enough space to run around in. She's a fairly old dog but I think being around these dogs will add a few more years to her life.

posted on March 14, 2006 4:20 PM (PST)

Cleaning up

Cleaning Up

In preparation for selling our house we've been going through all of our junk. Wow!! How much stuff can two people accumulate in a few short years? A lot!

We've managed to clean out two bedrooms completely - giving away the beds and other stuff to people we knew could use it. We've thrown away a couple of garbage cans of junk, and taken a couple more loads to the Salvation Army. I'm hoping we can get rid of enough stuff that we won't have to have a yard sale.

We're going to try to sell the house ourselves. That might be interesting! At least I work at a mortgage company so I have somewhat of an idea of what needs to be done.

We already have a place to live once the house sells. It's out in the country so we can keep our dog. We've had her for 11 years, so I was hoping we wouldn't have to give her away. I have a friend who said she'd take her if we needed her to, but I'd rather keep her as long as we can.

The place we'll be living in until we head out on our travels is a nice apartment that a local rancher built in his shop. It's only a one bedroom, which is fine. That forces us to get rid of more stuff before we move in. We'll be allowed to park our vehicles in part of the shop while we're living there, so we'll have a place for the bikes and cars.

We're still moving ahead with our plan.

posted on February 14, 2006 9:28 AM (PST)

The "no plan, plan"

My husband and I ride motorcycles. He rides a 2000 Honda VFR and I ride a 2002 VFR. About two years ago we came up with this crazy plan to quit our jobs and ride our bikes for a year. It was a "no plan, plan." Our "plan" was to just ride - no specific destination in mind, just hit the road and follow wherever the front tire led.

It started out with a 5 year plan- we were going to slowly work up to taking off. We'd sell our house, sell what we didn't need and store the rest, quit our jobs, and take off. After a year, we had to add another year to the plan. The first year, we just talked about it between the two of us. The next year we started telling a few select people. Then we actually started planning in earnest.

Once the planning stage really started, we realized we wouldn't be able to take off an entire year. Our finances wouldn't allow for it, so the plan was modified to 3 or 4 months, or until the money ran out.

This month, January, 2006, we both gave notices at our jobs. Due to our positions we felt we needed to give quite advance notice. We'll take off in April or May of 2007. My boss was great, accepted my notice graciously, and thanked me for giving him such advance notice. My husband's boss is trying to work out a deal with my husband for him to take a leave of absence rather than quitting.

Once we know for sure what we're going to do, the planning will move ahead full force.