Changes

I was torn between titling this "Changes" or "Moving on Up!." Bowie vs The Jeffersons.

When we moved to Richmond in Nov 2017 the plan was to sign an 18-month lease while we figured out our next move. We both thought that next move would be to the beach. 6+ years later we finally decided to stay in Richmond.

We actually had AirBnB reservations in 5 mid-Atlantic beach towns the summer of 2020. When the world shut down we pivoted and bought the camper I had always dreamed of but could never justify given the kids' weekend schedules. Their weekend schedules were no longer our problem, so we could reasonably expect to use a camper regularly. I was not confident my wife would go for the idea, and I certainly was not expecting her to take to camping like she did. We had tent camped with the kids occasionally as they grew up, but it was usually a me and the kids once a summer thing. We've camped about 140 nights since buying the camper in June 2020.

One thing we learned from the camper is that we really like the mountains, and we really like exploring new places. Pinning ourselves against the coast was now less appealing. I got the idea that we should move west, and spent about 2 years trying to convince both my wife and myself that Albuquerque was our future. Ultimately, with all our family in the east, and environmental concerns with annual wildfire issues and drought out west, along with access to healthcare issues as we are getting older, we decided to stay in RVA. We are 2 hours from the beach and 2 hours from the mountains here. It works well for our interests.

So that was a lot of words to get to the point. We bought a house last week, a newly constructed townhouse with a tiny yard that will leave us free to camp and travel on the weekends.

The move was mostly uneventful. I decided to do it myself and spread it over two weekends. In hindsight, that just ruined two weekends. However we did manage to get everything moved about 20 miles for about $400 in moving trucks, trailers,and boxes, so I saved about $800+. I didn't hurt myself in the process, and with the exception of my son's desk and one cheap bookcase, didn't do any permanent damage to our stuff either.

The plan is to stay here until I retire, so probably 10 or so years, then reassess. We'll probably go FT in an RV for a year or two as we do a grand tour of the lower 48 and Alaska, then maybe settle down again. Or not. It's a long ways off and a lot could (likely will) change by then.