Tech Win

My Mom and elder brother were in town for the weekend. Brother for research for his next book, Mom for her birthday. Darling and I bought her cake (after a brief baking mishap) and cider and had two home-cooked dinners with family. I made lunch on Sunday and spent the evening with friends.

I've been hanging out, off and on, with a certain group of people for over ten years now. We've been "on again" quite successfully recently, and the chemistry is so great that I admit that leaving them is the most difficult aspect of this trip. That and, you know, packing. Anyway, yesterday two of those friends were out of town and actually used Skype to participate with us. It took a while to get used to, but I was amazed by the end result: we'd had almost as much fun as if all of us were in the same room.

I don't think that skype will be possible for us while on the bike ride, and I know it won't be possible on the following two weeks of intensive off-grid living program, but otherwise it looks like technology could really keep us together and that makes me really happy :)

Now all I have to do is get the laptop repaired before leaving town.

Also on the list of repair/buy before hitting the road:

* Contacts (for emergencies, I'll be wearing my glasses, but if something were to happen to them I'd be helplessly blind)

* My Bike (somethings wrong with the pedal deelie, and since it's very definitely a street bike I'd like to see if I can get thicker tires for the gravel-country roads we'll be riding down)

*Darling's bike, a general tune up

*Patch kits and spare tubes, allen keys

* Helmets and new bike lights, set up for panniers, bike gloves

* Small tent and sleeping pad

* Get a cell phone that holds a charge for more than six minutes

I've rented a truck tomorrow to get donations moving out of the room, help me run errands, and also help another friend move. Everything is going smoothly.

The Good And The Bad

The chicken I was convinced had a broken neck yesterday morning is now fit as a fiddle (assuming that fiddles are healthy and pooping all over my living room) and ready to join her sisters and mate back in the pen. Today I slept well, had breakfast, gave a tour of the co-op, and spent two hours on the bus to spend one hour with my mom and brother. Besides my Dad, everyone of consequence now knows about my trip to Michigan.

This morning started out great with an e-mail response to my Craigslist rideshare ad. Not only is someone else driving to Michigan in early August, but he just happens to have an available bike rack, and his car is a prius! So our tranpsortation cost is going to be half of what we were expecting, with all the benefits we could have hoped for!

A while later I interviewed a very promising candidate for the co-op, which is good news because the house has agreed that if Darling and I can find someone to take our room by September, we won't be obligated to pay that last month of rent. And THEN I found my wallet, which I'd pretty much given up on. Yay for not having to replace my license and debit card ten days before crossing the country!

Things went downhill once I was with my wonderful family. My mom wants me to pay for the truck repair before I go. Having a vehicle was a glorious boon, a fabulous gift from my loving mother who only ever wants to help and promote the pursuit of my dreams. It was also a trap. I'll never forgive myself for getting into a fender bender that sleepy Monday morning, but it happened and it still needs paying for.

It's just bodywork, but automobiles are the most vampire of inventions and this will pretty much bleed me dry. I don't mean to suggest that this is unfair in the slightest, it's just overwhelming. Especially since I've gotten used to thinking in terms of my upcoming homelessness travels. I set myself up to have enough cash to get north, hang with the heroes for at least four weeks, travel south and east at my leisure, and maybe eek out a limited living back in Texas in early 2013 before heading west next spring.

Paying for bodywork, however, could easily cost as much as I planned to spend for the entire trip. Read: the rest of the goddamn YEAR. I know my Mom didn't mean to, but she basically said, "you want to leave town? Great! But first, why don't you write me a check for all the money you'll have in the foreseeable future?"

Oh well, at least I can cross one more debt off the list, which will leave me, yet again, with student loans alone.

Hen Happenings

Came home in a daze this morning from my overnight shift at work, during which I turned in my two week-ish notice (I could only give thirteen days notice, but picked up a couple of shifts in the meantime to make up for it). I poured myself a mug of coffee and resolved to at least think through the next couple of days...and woke up an hour later to the sound of J calling my name.

I knew something was very wrong very quickly, and was sure enough led to a heartbreaking sight: our little americana hen, flopped over in the dirt, head twisted at an awkward angle, breathing heavily. My first thought was that of a farm girl rather than a vegetarian woman, "God, I have to put it down. I have to put it down so it doesn't suffer, and I have to do it quickly and quietly so my housemates don't suffer."

But she exhibited no sign of physical violence, no cuts or abrasions. Just an entirely limp neck, listless body, barely twitching feathers. Her eyes were shut tight. She didn't seem to be in any pain, necessarily, so we packed her in a soft box and brought her into the living room to let nature take its course. I sat in the living room for a couple of hours, surprised to see her twitch and stir and flop on occasion, still entirely silent. We wet her beak in water and she surprised us by opening her eyes briefly. I finally went to catch a couple of hours of sleep, then went to lunch with my brother.

I was absolutely amazed to come home from lunch to find her standing. Holding up her head, supported on an apparently un-wrung neck. She lay back down after a couple of minutes, after I dribbled more water into her beak, and then she went back to sleep. It was as though she'd come back from the dead. I approached her later to stroke her feathers and she made a soft, guttural noise, the first I'd heard her make during the entire ordeal, and incredibly comforting.

Checked on the five other birds. She is the rooster's favorite, and it is hard to tell if he is sitting gloomily or possibly sick himself. These two have been together since week one, and tend to flip out when separated at all. The others scratch and peck. Feathers are glossy, eyes clear, beaks and feet brightly colored. Hard to say what could have struck down the little americana...but she is getting better.

...

I have obtained a free pannier, a very large, very pretty set up that I can't wait to pack and install on my future steed. It will provide the dimensions of my new life, define my capacity as an owner of stuff.

I have also lost my wallet. I remember very distinctly the shape and feel of it in my hand, and then the memory blurs and my next recollection is sitting in the dirt, cradling a limp bird three hours later. Hope it turns up.

Dinner with siblings tonight, this time we will actually get a picture together (at lunch Eb said, "we got a picture together last time...you just weren't there.") Tomorrow my Mom comes into town to make things interesting, Sunday I drive her back home and bring back the truck, at which point the purging begins for serious. Three days to downsize into a set of saddlebags.

Travel Plans

After a handful of hurried phone calls and excited conversations, Darling and I decided to join up with the bicycle superheroes for their ride across Michigan in August.

We have just enough time and cash to spare to wrap up our current projects, turn in my two week notice, and find some way to get up north in time for the orientation. The Bicycle Superheroes are a service-oriented group of people who like to dress up in amazingly silly costumes and do good deeds, and somehow have been getting away with this for over ten years.

From Michigan we plan on spending a couple of weeks off grid in Missouri to recuperate - I mean, take an intensive homestead/yoga/restorative justice course through the possibility alliance - and from there we will most likely beg/borrow/steal/bicycle our way to Virginia for the holidays. Then we will have a couple of months to cool our heels, work (I have quite a few employment opportunities in VA), hopefully play in the snow, and prepare for the next step, which I'm hoping to be the green building apprenticeship in Moab, Utah.

For anyone interested in the price of cross-country travel, I've discovered that an individual can travel from Austin, TX to Flint, Michigan for about $100. That's taking the Megabus to Ann Arbor and then a greyhound the rest of the way. The trip takes close to three days, you will have a few hours in both Memphis and Chicago, and you'll need a place to sleep one night in Michigan. You will also transfer about four times.

Taking a Greyhound costs about $150 and involves three transfers, but is the fastest route I found. 

For a little more than $200 you can take Amtrak. It also takes about three days, involves a transfer, and one of the trains does not check luggage. This can actually be a good thing, as I've found in the past, because you can have heavier luggage than technically allowed since no one but you handles it. This is also a bad thing because it sucks handling your own luggage, especially if you have a LOT of it and aren't expecting to haul it all across the Chicago train station, leading to a near breakdown of epic proportions. So, ah, be prepared.

I also put a post on Cragslist in hopes of a rideshare. I'll keep you posted on my luck :)

Garden Gumbo and Procrastinating

Yesterday I picked up an afternoon/evening shift and was so tired afterwards that I could barely get Darling to work before crashing out. I dried more tomatoes, some red chilies, and a sliced banana overnight. I investigated the garden first thing this morning and was amazed to find even more ripe cherry tomatoes and at least a half-pound of okra. Normally our garden is completely wiped out by now, so it's kind of amazing, and exhausting, to still have so much to do. Not that I can complain about the rain and beautiful weather and abundance of veggies (and promise of melons, yum!).

I made a vegetarian gumbo to use up some of that okra and the larger tomatoes and it turned out amazingly well. A lot of people probably would resent my use of the word gumbo to describe something that does not include sausage or seafood, but it was a spicy dish with rice, okra, and tomatoes and that's good enough for me.

I got a call back from the community Darling and I are most excited about, and tonight one of the green builders we're interested in apprenticing with is giving a free-talk and we're going to go and introduce ourselves. Darling has applied for two positions, one of which I am also applying for, so I need to catch up with him. Which means, um, procrastinating less.

Night Shift

Since Darling is due at work at three in the morning these days, I've given into my night-shift schedule entirely. Fortunately, putting in my notice with the house has relieved us of some our obligations, at least psychologically. I still attended the board meeting on Sunday, said my piece, and acted as secretary, but I slept through today's regular house meeting on accident.

My house business is on the back-burner because my social calendar is seriously over-burdened. Yet again I wonder how anyone is actually able to squeeze life around a full-time job. Friday I spent time down south working on Darling's not-so-secret-but-kind-of-a-surprise birthday present. Saturday I cancelled my normal weekend plans to attend a family party, and Sunday was the board meeting.

Today I was looking forward to some time for myself. This morning I was enjoying a cup of coffee and watching the chickens eradicate stink bugs from what's left of our squash plants when Bo asked if I had "a minute." Before I knew what was happening the two of us were building the chicken run. I'd long since passed this chore to other housemates, having completely exhausted my patience on building the coop itself. Bu two hours later the girls (and the rogue rooster, and the girl I'm pretty sure is actually a boy but is still keeping mum) were happily pecking about their new and improved coop-enclosed yard.


I put some goals up on my left sidebar to correlate with my 3-hours a day of productivity. I need to make another list of things I have completed, but, besides the run, can't say I've done much that's measurable. Maybe I'll star recording jars of dried tomatoes, or numbers of trips to Goodwill to make deliveries.

Solidarity, Not Charity

I went to Treasure City Thrift's 25 cent sale on Saturday, and it was CROWDED. I don't know why I imagined a quiet, dusty little sale populated by a handful of hippies and punks commenting on each other's cute finds and pleasant dispositions, but obviously I am delusional. There were definitely hippies, punks, pleasant comments, and dust, but there were also countless other people jam-packed, hunching over boxes, strewing clothing all over the floor, and slipping in and out of a line that wrapped around the racks and right back out the door.

I picked up a decent shoulder bag and stuffed it with everything that caught my eye. No time to try anything on, no space to think. I picked up one shirt for $3, which seemed incalculably expensive compared to the rest of my swag. For a little over $6 I brought home that shirt, the shoulder bag for Darling, an incredibly cute black hat, three shirts that I plan to keep, and three shirts and a pair of pants that didn't quite fit and will be donated back to the shop. I would have paid six dollars for the hat alone, so I'm calling this a success. I still need new jeans.

Why?

This is my ideal location <3

Why travel? Why hit the road? Because the world is full of AWESOME, and the best stuff isn't slapped straight into my face from cellphones, television, and product labels.

Here is a list of AWESOME that Darling and I are hoping to tap in to:

 The Possibility Alliance, a Missouri-based petroleum-free homestead that offers a gift-economy permaculture course to visitors and a restring ground for...

The Bicycle Superheroes! Who are exactly as amazing as you could possibly imagine them to be, which I know from calling them up and hearing their voice mail ("leave a message at the goat.")

The Possibility Alliance has also inspired the Be The Change Project, a similar undertaking in Reno, Nevada, which is related to Cobitat For Humanity, the website for which has recently vanished :(

All of these groups are interrelated in one way or another, it seems, with Missouri communities such as Red Earth Farms and Dancing Rabbit. Both of which remind me of my original dream communities in Virginia: the Classic Twin Oaks and the smaller Acorn. Most of these are members of the Federation of Egalitarian Communities.

While I'd like to visit all these groups (actually, I have a dozen communities in Missouri alone that I'd like to check out), Darling and I are hampered by the fact that we don't actually want to join a community. We're in it for the learning opportunities more than the nesting potential. Which brings us to green building apprenticeships and internships...

I'd LOVE to apprentice with Clay Sand Straw, their homes are beautiful and you can tell they work for love. Another top pick would be Community Rebuilds. It would be SO amazing to build straw bale homes from start to finish in beautiful Moab, Utah. This is pretty much exactly what Darling and I discussed doing with our lives the first few months of our marriage. I also approve of the suggestion that participants also volunteer with organic gardeners and at thrift stores, and require interns to bring an automobile or bike. That means this gorgeous desert town has organic gardens and thrift stores, two of my favorite things, and bike transportation is a possibility, which is pretty rare in many rural environments. And they pay a little. I mean, just an itty bit, but so many places want you to pay to volunteer...

Speaking of pay, Darling will be applying for the single nonprofit solar job we've been able to hunt down. I'm not leaving the link because I'm greedy and I don't want anyone else to have it...Okay, no, I'll do it. How cool does Grid Alternatives look? Affordable solar power for the people who really need it? I'm there.

We'd rather stick with solar and green building work - even if it's for room and board alone - but I've wanted to live and work at Innisfree almost before I even knew about it. I guess if we find ourselves on the East Coast...

There are lots of opportunities out there, but I'm almost tempted to visit a place just for the sake of it. Davies, California, which I've been in love with since reading Beanie's description. Which I now am too lazy to find (why is your search function limited, Bean?). Just read her entire blog from start to finish, like I did, and you will see that and many other wonderful posts. And the state of Colorado is basically the solar employment capitol of the world. That's about as north as I'll get Darling for the time being...

Most of these links are to groups I have a personal connection with one way or another, but I'll also do a quick shout out to the brand new Food Not Bombs Free Skool. Arroyo Seco is pretty close to Taos, New Mexico, home of the Earthship architecture. Darling and I will stop by to drop off some seeds and tools, at the very least.

Fortunately, Darling's bosses are paying him to be rambling man. Our leave-by date was set to conform to their schedule, not ours. Depending on our savings come October, we might head to North Carolina instead of west, swinging north to spend holidays with family, and moving on from there. Depending on the responses received from the 10,000 letters of inquiry we'll be sending out, we may or may not stick with Darling's job (don't worry, commercial solar isn't going anywhere, the jobs will be waiting for us the moment we want back into mainstream).

What do you think? Are there any great collectives, communities, or companies we should check out in your town?

Where?

Eleven weeks and counting before Darling and I commence on what I have begun to think of our "new life." We have yet to come up with a plan more definite than the embracing the concept of "new," and perhaps spending the next 77 days bickering constantly. Yeah. The Softly Household is not reaching new heights on the Summer Fun Chart.

I spend every waking moment a little time every day completely freaking out contemplating the future.

Darling wishes to go westward, a dream he's nurtured since he was an adorable little kid in short pants wading across the muddy Island of his lineage. We are therefore investigating New Mexico, Arizona,  and Nevada. Because we recently met a long lost second-cousin of mine who has been living with her partner on a petroleum-free eco-village dedicated to gift-economy ideals, Missouri has now been added to our list of "maybe places." Because Colorado has the highest per capita number of solar jobs of any state in the country, it has earned a place on the list. And, of course, there's California. Because...yeah, it's California. How could it not be on any hippie's wish list?


The internet has been a tool of questionable value in my research. On the one hand, instant info is pretty awesome. Whenever I consider a new location, I can check out the craigslist page and learn a lot about the surrounding area. On the other hand, up-to-date information on legitimate community endeavors is hard to come by. It doesn't help that Google Search has become ridiculously slated. I search the same term on my house computer and work computer and get completely different results. So if I search for, say, "Reno Nevada Cooperative," I don't know if there is honestly nothing to find, or if Google thinks there are 700 things I'd rather see. I do use quotations, '+' and '-' signs, and the whole nine yards in that respect, with little appreciable benefit.

In the meantime, I know from my own experience in a settled co-op that many communities aren't falling over themselves to drum up interest online. We'll throw up basic websites and forget about them. Many of us also check our phone messages once a month, or only when we're looking for new members. Many established communities spend more time working on group dynamics of the established membership than on expansion. It's not because we're mean or cold or necessarily inclusive. It's just that many communities, and all great communities, operate and live as a family. Bringing in new residents is family planning. Few parents want that to be as simple as opening the front door and letting just anyone walk in.

That's my round about way of saying that contacting the sort of groups Darling and I want to visit is more challenging than dropping a line or simply calling from the bus station in their town. Fortunately, we've been involved in the scene long enough to have some leads.

That's what we know in terms of "where?" "How?" is another matter entirely, and don't get started on "why?.."

Wardrobe Change

The jeans I'm wearing in this picture pretty much sum up the situation.

A little over two years ago I purchased several new-to-me pairs of blue jeans. I promptly lost about fifteen pounds (note to self - don't purchase clothing right after holiday feasts), and am now down to about five pairs of ripped, faded, baggy pants.

Considering the fact that the jeans I like only cost about $5 a pair, AND I am the only person I know whose waistline is smaller than it was in high school, you'd think shopping would be, I don't know, enjoyable? Something I would look forward to and indulge in more often than once every 28 months? But no. Paying $2,000 a month in debt is significantly easier for me than spending $20 on my wardrobe.

For the first time in a while, though, it looks like are finances are only going to get tighter in the coming months. So I grit my teeth and headed down to St. Vincents to restock.

I've been to malls in the past few years, and they are strange and funny things. I can't imagine seriously shopping for clothing in the harshly lit rows of near-identical "styles." I'm amazed anyone can stand it. The last time I was at a store, I found that "florescent" is an acceptable shade. Which is fine, but for an entire store? Or pink, there is a store in the mall that only sells pink!

At a thrift store, one's options are not defined by a single designer's ill-advised "mood," or even a particular season. You have more choice than color variation. One can find different cuts, styles, and fabrics. I remember having a problem with this freedom at one point, when I was nineteen and had some illusion of fitting in at school, but that seems as silly to me today as my childish dislike of vegetables and my desire to own a car.

That said, I could not find a pair of jeans that made me happy. Frustrated, I decided to have a little fun in the dressing room. I chose some of the flounciest, shortest, brightest skirts off the rack. I then picked out the most ruffled, see-through, floral blouses. One great thing about St. Vincent's is that, as long as you don't make a mess, you can take as many things into the dressing rooms as you want. So I hauled about 20 items into the booth and spent about two hours playing dress up!

In the end, I purchased nothing besides a $4 sleeping bag (not sure that was a good choice). I wanted some time to reflect on how the shopping trip made me feel. I'd never felt so good in a dressing room. So does that mean I should reconsider my somewhat conservative style of jeans and brown, gray, and black t-shirts? I know it sounds dour, but my nature is ultimately utilitarian. My jobs often take place outside, or involve cleaning with bleach, and lately require a certain authoritarian stance. None of this bodes well for ruffles or silk.

Not only that, but I'm a couple of months away from a cross country trip that may very well be bicycle-powered. In the winter. Hopefully to building sites. This is clear enough evidence that I am not smart, but am I really going to push that by experimenting with cutesy clothing now?!

I don't buy anything on impulse (I've been looking for a sleeping bag), which is why I walked away empty-handed to reflect on the experience. But my need to restock my wardrobe is almost as pressing as the tightness of my budget. I need to either buy jeans whether or not they make me happy or feel good, or I need to risk catering to what might be a passing whim.

The solution, as usual, was obvious and somewhat serendipitous. It turns out that a Treasure City Thrift is having a 25 cent sale this Saturday! I could re-stock my entire wardrobe with my standard attire (jeans, t-shirts) AND fulfill my craving for girly goods for FIVE DOLLARS. Even if my needs can't be met within the confines of the sale, regularly priced items are only $2-4, so I can fill the gaps without breaking my limited bank.

Tell me again why anyone would ever go to the mall?

p.s. In order to assuage my "can I look cute on a bike" fears, I googled "cute bike outfits" and found this blog. I am now fearless!

Why I Pay

I've never gotten to spend an appreciable amount of time with my elder brother's wife, but I know we would be great friends given half a chance. We're both obsessed with books and I suspect her of having a deep sympathy for social justice, feminism, and economic equality. The fact that I develop this suspicion having had, at most, six minutes of one-on-one conversation with her only bolsters my belief.

Over a pizza dinner at a family-favorite restaurant, we discuss student loan debt. I divulge the devastating amount of debt I accrued within four semesters. Her eyebrows rise and she says, indignantly, "Well, I hope you walked away from it."

Stifle your snorts, friends, because get this: both she and my brother are college professors. And she's one of about six college professors who have had that exact same reaction. In fact, I kind of feel dumb for my devoted abolition of my debt.

(I hesitated using the word "abolition," btw, but googled the definition and decided that it's actually quite a fitting use. Much more appropriate than the terms "btw" or "googled." Also, is "college professor" redundant?)

It took me about seven years to pay $20,000 in debt. With only 10% of that left, it's way too late to rethink my fantasy of freedom, it would be ridiculous to step back now. However, I can't help but consider the implications of that $20,000. That's a down payment. It's a car. It's a year of not working. It's several years of rent. It's a community college degree or a trade certification. I had, over the course of my adult life, an accumulated excess of $20,000. It could have purchased me total dental health, regardlesss of my insurance status. And I have very little to show for it.

Don't get me wrong, that was an awesome couple of years in college. I'm glad I didn't finish, I'm glad I met Darling, and I'm glad that need drove me to experiment with cooperative living, car freedom, and exploratory employment. I'm glad that accruing so much debt so quickly scared me away from the common indulgences of our age. But still...knowing then what I know now, would I have walked away from my debt? Knowing that I would never fit into the mainstream, knowing that I don't want anything to do with the status quo, knowing that the faster I pay my student loans, the worse my credit score looks...

Yeah. I would have paid back my debt. I would have paid it more quickly, would have postponed my a trip to England and avoided that Hellish Summer at my Mom's. Maybe. I wouldn't have walked away from my debt. If tomorrow the government announced that all student loans are forgiven, and scientists announced the invention of a time machine, I would not go back in time and do things differently.

Not because paying back the debt is the right thing to do. Anyone who believes that has a very stunted view of morality: the institutions that have made student debt what it is today are so completely twisted and screwy that I refuse to accept that ANYONE owes them ANYTHING - and I have many friends and family who depend on the college industry for work, so don't think I'm talking trash about the administrators and professors, here. I'm talking about the money movers. The people who "sell" my loans to each other every couple of years, which shows up as a negative mark (or five) on my credit report every single time. The "servicers" who do nothing but take over a week to process payments, deny my deferment applications, and collect interest. Yeah...there's nothing moral about feeding that particular machine.

I paid my student debt - and will continue to do so - for insurance purposes. Because tomorrow, the government is not going to say all student loans are forgiven, no matter how much it would help the overburdened Y Generation. I would much more likely have my paychecks garnished, my credit destroyed, and my friends and family hounded relentlessly by credit agencies. I could spend my life fighting the system, and in some ways I will. But I'd much rather exit the system first, so much as possible, and then face it on my own terms.

Victory!

I've been struggling to find time to breathe, much less sit at the computer to read, write, and tabulate. Over a week late, I finally recorded my earning and spending for June.

The numbers are grim. Darling and I spent so much money getting him to work, especially the those weeks he was wanted in Houston, that his Real Hourly Wage is less than 20% of his "official" hourly wage. And that's not even including all of the transportation costs, which took another sizable bite out of our bank account. In fact, we had very little left to spend in any other category.

Yet I claim victory! Why? Because Darling and I spent less than we earned. Even though we had almost no surplus, and there was some cash in the account, and we had to make some hard choices, and it's really agonizing working so hard for so long and not actually being able to enjoy the fruits of one's labor...we sucked it up and started July with some cash in our pockets! We actually made up for the large deficit we've been carrying around all year. Now, if we can just pull that off two months in a row...

Old News New News

It's been a long time since I've fallen this behind with my net worth. What can I say, it's been an eventful Summer. There's a LOT of catching up to do.

My July 2012 Net Worth is -$1,674.30. I didn't pay any debt. My financial choices revolved around working like crazy, spending a lot of money to support our inefficient work habit, enjoying surprise family time, and doing my level best to force our spending to come in below earning. Which I think we actually managed, but I haven't had time for my whole earning/spending tabulating frenzy. Maybe later tonight. But the simple fact that our net worth actually increased suggests that we must have been successful.

Monday night Darling and I announced to our co-op family that we are leaving as of October 1st. It was a strange moment, because not only did Darling and I know what was happening without really planning or talking about it, but so did everyone in the house. It was as though a page of our life suddenly turned too loudly for anyone to ignore. I mean, we've known and talked about a future on the road, a future beginning this year, for quite a while. We just hadn't quite made the commitment.

So we now have three months to wrap up our lives here, downsize our collection of possessions, work out our transportation situation, figure out the where we're going, and maybe even save some money for getting there.