Doing the math (already under the US influence....) and the sale of the house

The reality of whether or not we could do this came down to the usual issue - money.  The sums had to add up to make it worthwhile. I'm not going to go into the finer details but when the house was valued at more than either of us expected it finally became a reality that we might actually be able to do this.... but it all came down to selling the house.  We weren't in the position where we could keep the house and rent it out - we needed to release the equity from our home to finance the trip, whilst being sensible to not bankrupt ourselves completely for our return by keeping a nest egg in reserve.

We both loved our home but we had to look at it as just bricks and mortar and the contents as just 'stuff'; only material things that keep you tied to a location, not things you actually need the majority of the time.

By the way, I wanted to add in here that I am fully aware that these actions are not necessarily 'the norm'. I am by no means suggesting that this crazy idea would be up everyone's boulevard! In fact since we arrived in the US many people have told us they think we are mad which is somewhat unnerving. However, when the idea was first mooted in front of friends and family at home not a single person seemed to think it was a bad plan. There were some with reservations, those who liked the idea of us having secure jobs and a home, so why would we want to throw that all away etc? But when we explained we could have all that again and we were seizing the opportunity to do this now whilst we still have reasonable good health and age on our side - everyone could see this was something we were adamant on doing.  That became a topic of conversation in our relationship - What if one of us changed our minds?  It would be really hard for the other person to come to terms with letting the idea go, but it had to be both of us in head-long or we must cancel the whole thing.  It has not passed me by how lucky I am to be with someone who is willing to take a chance on us - breaking away from normality, saying goodbye to all our friends, family and colleagues for an indefinite amount of time to spend the vast majority of that time just with each other.  Surely a major test of any solid relationship?! We have had fantastic times together on mini excursions but this would be taking it to an entirely new level.  But I guess we'll see how that goes later in this very blog, reader, read on!

So, the house went on the market on 9th May 2016.  Very few people knew about this but within 2 weeks we had a bidding war and a buyer at £5k over the asking price- result! The fact that we were both so excited by this was a reliable sign to me that we were both into this idea and it was starting to become a reality.

It was time to consider telling work and how much notice we would have to give.  I had no idea that there was a career break scheme within our Police force up to this point. I expected we were just going to quit and worry about whether we wanted to try and get back into our old jobs on our return.  How long did we expect to be able to afford to go off and travel? Would we have to work our way around the world to make the finances work? Everything was a leap into the unknown. But I had always wanted to do some hands on volunteer work with some kind of marine/ environmental project. Ever since a friend at uni told me about doing a project measuring diversity on a reef in Belize I've always wanted a wildlife conservation adventure somewhere and, yes it sounds cheesy, but to make a difference in some way. We started researching on the internet- there's a plethora of things you can do, but most cost a fortune and are probably aimed at gap-yearers who are being funded by the bank of Mum & Dad (which, in a strange way I suppose is what I'm doing really?!). But there also seemed opportunities for taking a more managerial-type role which would also pay in experience and a natty-looking CV on our return.

I think it was Simon's Dad who suggested looking into the career break scheme - maybe not wanting his son to be a dependant again when we came back, hey Ray?! Turned out you have to give 3 months notice for a career break. We had plans all over the summer and a break to Oslo planned at the end of September but then we were thinking it would be a good time of year to disappear, with the English winter looming.
We fancied some time out after finishing work so planned to leave work at the end of August. That would mean applying for a career break by the end of May..... or 5 days after securing a buyer to the house to be precise! No use messing about if we were going to do this - it was time to come clean with our colleagues and management. I found this quite daunting but was pleasantly surprised by how supportive everyone was in my immediate team. In fact, everyone was really happy for us, apart from the fact that we would be missed by our respective colleagues, which is always nice to hear. I had no expectation on being granted a career break, in fact having read the regulations I was cautious about some of the conditions, like being called back from the other side of the world for court! However, everyone close to me expressed how it would obviously be a benefit to the organisation to keep hold of Simon and I - so why wouldn't it happen? I let it go to the back of mind whilst we planned the rest of our summer.

There was a 'blip' when our initial buyers fell through due to one of them being made redundant, but thankfully for us, the other couple who had been involved in the bidding war were still trying to find a place and were overjoyed to have another chance at buying our house. When someone else wants your house that much it really makes you question your actions yet again - why am I trying to get rid of something that someone else wants so badly?! They tried to go in under the asking price which we thought was a bit cheeky. We were defiant after how quickly the house sold initially- if they couldn't meet the asking price we would put it back on the market. Luckily, they really wanted the house as they agreed to stretch themselves to meet the cost and the sale was on again as of 14th June.

The change of buyer turned out to be a blessing in disguise when it came to discussing contents of the house.  Our buyers, David and Louisa, were first time buyers, in rented accommodation.  When they came round for a chat and another viewing it turned out they had hardly any furniture or white goods. A massive bonus for us trying to get rid of..... almost everything! We basically said 'if you see something you like or need, make us an offer'.  Within the evening we had agreed a basic price that both couples were happy with - for them to have a good deal on items that would otherwise have cost a fortune at a very expensive time and for us, a chance to make the move a whole lot easier whilst recouping some of the costs from the initial set up of our home.  You know, when we chose furniture that was sturdy and expensive to 'last a lifetime'....about 5 years previously!

Then came the house selling abyss.... everyone says it should only take 6-8 weeks with just two parties involved to sell/buy a house.  But then the searches came. Don't ask me what they're searching for all that time - a way to make more money? To give people the opportunity to change their minds? To see how long I can be bothered to chase Solicitors up asking them what in fact they are doing with their time and our money??! It got very frustrating, especially with everyone now knowing our plans being very kind and interested so constantly asking 'when are you going?' 'Have you booked the flights?' 'Where are you starting off?' All fair questions, from lovely people. But it almost got to the point I wanted to shout 'We can't do anything or book anything till this bloody house has sold!!!' I started feeling like a fraud, guessing people were probably starting to think, 'yeah, it was a brave idea but they don't actually have the guts to go through with it, such a shame'. For once in my life I started having trouble sleeping - partially through excitement of what the future may hold but mostly from the hundreds of ideas and things I had to do swimming around my head plus the daily fear that our buyers would pull out and we'd be back to square one.

I needed help, guidance.... I needed 'the book', my ultimate companion of 'to-do list' after 'to-do list' sorted in a sensible, preferably colour-coded fashion in a friendly lined tome with a funky frontage. My equivalent, in Hitch-hikers' Guide terms, to having a towel with 'Don't panic' written on it in large, friendly letters. At any time, day or night, as long as I had 'the book' with me, it would be okay because I could just right down my thoughts and they would never be forgotten again.  Needless to say, 'the book' deserves its very own section of this blog and that is what is happening right now, reader.

(I am disappointed with how 'wordy' this section of the blog is. I promise that, should you persevere, the next section will be adorned with much more to treat the eye than this. I will improve.)