Like most everyone, I grew up with certain expectations, certain basics of life.
- I would do well in school
- I would go to college
- I would have a career
- One day, I would own my own home (more than likely with a spouse)
- I would have a solid if not better standard of living
- I would travel
- Nothing super-bad would ever happen to me
- I would certainly never run afoul of the law
- I would work hard and be rewarded for my work
- I would excel in whatever I ended up doing
I’m sure there’s more, but that’s a pretty good start.
And, one by one, every one of those things happened. Some of them took years, and some of them took decades.
Bill and I build 3 homes, and bought 6 more. We never rented except for a few very short times when we were prepping for a big move – like when Bill got out of the Air Force.
We began feeling things shift underneath us a year or so ago. We’d done all the things – built our dream home on the lake, gut-renovated 3 homes. We know what it is to be a successful home owner.
We were in Europe last fall in Nice. We were looking at all the apartments along the Mediterranean, and we started talking about how most of the people in the world either owned much smaller places (apartments) or leased a home. Not many people in the world live in a 2 or 3,000 square foot home that they own.
We realized we could challenge our assumptions. We didn’t have to have a large home. We didn’t have to keep ourselves busy with the many constant tasks of home ownership. We shouldn’t feel we weren’t successful just because we were renters, not owners. We could be very happy and live with less square footage, less furniture, less kitchen, smaller closets.
It took us about 6 months to realize we really didn’t care if we owned our own home anymore. As we kicked around the idea of selling our home, our long-held basic of “being home owners” changed.
Eventually, a few months ago, we sold our beloved home and moved a short distance away to a gated all-rental community that has every amenity we could ever need: big pool, social life, classes. The ability to travel at the drop of a hat. No outside maintenance.
I’m finding that when one challenges one basic, like “we should always own our own home,” suddenly one begins to challenge more.
The question becomes “at this stage of life, with the vast changes in the world and the US culture, the uncertainty of the economic times, and what would make us happy, how should we be living? What basic assumptions should we be changing?”
The world we grew up in is gone. While I might prefer it, I sense that we are beyond the option of going back. Our “basics” are fundamentally changed.
We find that every time we travel, getting away from the daily, we end up with these new thoughts and the time to talk them over. Travel really does change life, ha!
I challenge you to think about your basics. Are they still even are available to you? Do they support you, or do you support them? Do they really serve you? We held to the home ownership thing like it was the North Star. And suddenly, that basic just no longer made sense for us.
What basic no longer makes sense for you?
Want a long weekend away to think about this for yourself? Reach out, and we’ll get that planned and booked for you. Reach me at Sue@TravelChangesLife.com.
Read more: When Everything is Shifting This Grounds You.
Share This Article