Triptik

Since this blog is about the journey "from here to there", I'm going to start a little triptik, Lorraine-style.  Back in 1995, when, upon return from my last long stay in Mexico, I announced to my family that I would be moving to Washington State, my parents got on the horn with AAA and had a triptik made for me, which was a trip planner complete with an updated road map from Minnesota to Washington.  Never mind that the directions can be summed up in two words: Go West.  They felt I needed to be aware of all of the possible turns, bumps, and detours, as well as the highlights of all of the possible cities and tourist stops along the way.  It was not a bad idea, as it turned out, because we did get stranded with car trouble for a night in Montana, and the information on the triptik came in very handy.  Yay for worry-wart parents!

So, hey, why not start some planning for our big move and try to avoid some of the figurative potholes in our path?  For starters, we don't even want to start our engines until we have done a little housecleaning, so to speak.  When newly inspired Mr. Husband came back from Mexico last month and announced that yes, he does want us to move there, the wheels started turning.  Egad!  We would have to:

1)  Get the house problem figured out, once and for all.  Our loan is still in limbo due to hitting foreclosure proceedings last year. Filing for bankruptcy last fall bought us some more time to figure things out, but we don't know how much time.  We've actually been trying to reinstate the loan, but with plans to move to Mexico we are floundering around, considering our options.  Should we keep our house and rent it out to someone, sell it before we go, or just let it go and fly the coop the week of the sheriff sale, which could very well be sometime by the end of this year?

2)  We will need to have a big sale and get rid of the majority of our belongings.  That would best be done in warmer temps, so, once again, we need to decide when we're leaving.

3)  I want to pay off the rest of my school loans so that we are not burdened with that problem when we're trying to start fresh.

4)  We need to find a moving company!  Mr. Husband says he should just drive, and someone could ride with him.  My thoughts on that are "HELL NO" because I don't want him driving through bullet-dodging country, ie the northern border of Mexico.  This discussion has not gone very far because we are butting heads on the issue.

5)  Health topics, such as dental work, optometry appointments, and general physicals should be all taken care of before we go so that we can avoid any extra surprises during our first 6 months or so.

6)  Translation of documents such as college transcriptions and immunization records, etc.

7)  My visa for Mexico.  No, I don't need a visa to visit Mexico, but I DO need a visa to be there on a more permanent basis (6 months or more, I believe?) and work there.

8)  I want to get a TESL (teach English as a Second Language) certificate so that I may get work when we get there.

9)  Save, save, save.  Oh, and SAVE.  We'll want to have a few bucks in our pockets to fund the start of our new life.

10)  I feel like there should be a number 10 but I just can't think of anything at the moment.

So, there you have it.  I think the big question of the month is going to be "WHEN?".  I mean, we need to consider the housing issue (here) and the fact that our son is starting kindergarten in the fall and I really don't want to pull him from his school in the middle of the year.  I've been having lots of mixed feelings about the whole thing.  We'll talk about the "What If's" in my next post.  Until then, thanks for riding along as we begin this process............