What did we need to do to prepare for this next phase? Nothing short of the most complicated project I have ever managed. It involved a giant dry erase whiteboard calendar, several spreadsheets, a handful of cross-state trips, and more patience and foresight than I initially thought. To try and capture it here will also be a bigger project than originally thought, so it will probably need a couple posts.

We started planning in 2022, when we knew the lease for our Covid Palace was due for renewal. It was then that we started exploring what our next phase would look like. If we were following the typical path, we would have started planning to find a new house or condo. But this was our chance to try something very different. To be very different. To try living with a travel-forward mindset. To have more mobility. We wanted to create our own shape of nomad living. It was going to be tricky and unusual and hard.

Larry and I did a lot of brainstorming, dreaming, talking, manifesting. Over coffee in the living room country club. Over wine on the patio. In bed before sleeping. In car rides on the way to the airport. We decided we would try traveling 1-3 months at a time in different locations, with some 1-2 week excursions sprinkled in for vacations, family obligations, work requirements, and other side quests. The plan started to take form.

It was a funnel-shaped puzzle, with an upside-down decision tree within. The complexities branched out as we moved through the funnel. The further down the spout we moved, the finer the splicing of details became, the tighter the needle eye we were attempting to thread. Tricky. But doable, if we had the guts to try.

February 2023 – Tackling the Memories. Long winter nights seemed the right time to take first steps in sorting through all the memory bins, and photo bins that we stored in the basement. These are the piles of sentimental items that we’ve accumulated over our lifetime. The basement apartment was a perfect space to spread out and methodically sort and thin. And remember. And smile. And laugh. And wonder. In some cases, wonder who the heck these people in the picture are. (spoiler: still trying to figure that mystery out.)

April 2023 – Started sorting items we knew we would be selling/donating. The Basement apartment became the collection point. Having an area out of sight of the regular day to day living allowed me to stay sane. It also allowed Meredith and I a way to go “thrift” each other’s discarded clothing. Hilarity ensued when we each appeared in the other’s clothes.

The plan also took more concrete – albeit still generalized – form. We would move some of our items to our house in Florida. We would move some of our items to New Hampshire. We would move Meredith’s items to her university. We would pare down and put a two-bedroom condo’s worth of our possessions in local Boston long term storage. We would gather a carload worth of material items we would want with us while traveling. We would jettison the rest with an estate sale and a free-cycle sale. Devil in the details.

May 2023 – Preparations for Meredith’s graduation celebration. Our youngest was graduating, and we were definitely going to celebrate with all her “parents”: us, her grandparents, her god(less) parents. The last big group gathering in the Brookline home also meant I had to hold off completely dismantling the house until after they left. But there were several closets, drawers, cubbies, and cabinets that I was able to methodically sort through. This let me be productive while still outwardly appearing to idle. Smooth surface, but paddling like hell underwater. I purchased the bare minimum of flowers and herbs to make the patio beautiful, but knew that gardening for me was done for a while.

June 2023 – Once the party was over, I shifted gears on the move. Things got more focused and intense. But even then, I tried very hard to keep our primary living space functional and comfortable throughout. It meant sometimes touching items more than once or twice, but it was important to me that the house stay homey for as long as possible. I designated areas in the home for certain items destined for specific places. We refined the spreadsheets and the calendar. I created the moving labels that would allow a more granular inventory and tracking. Larry booked moving vans, movers, pods, and people.

Larry, Merrie, and I traveled to Florida, established residency, registered to vote, registered the car, and unpacked the items into our home. Larry flew for work. Meredith flew to spend time with friends. I went to Universal Studios by myself for a day of pure joy. Then I drove the car alone back to Massachusetts to enter the final, complex stages. (TBC)