Tomorrow morning my family I and will get up around 4:30am to load up all this stuff into our rental van and hotel shuttle:
It's going to be pretty crazy.
We're moving to Puerto Rico (US territory, uses US currency), so that currency exchange note is about a bunch of currencies I've had lying around that I didn't want to bother taking with us (you can see some of those currencies in this video). Unfortunately, banks won't exchange for you unless you have more than $300 per currency and even then, they won't take coins. Silly banks and governments with their pieces of paper with pictures of dead people on them. Heheh.
We're staying at a hotel tonight as our Nashville home we've lived in for over 12 years is now completely empty. We borrowed some camping gear (air mattresses and sleeping bags) from some neighbors last night. Today we finalized the packing, sent another bunch of boxes off through USPS, and did a last bit of purging as we gave more stuff away and sold whatever left we could.
I loaded up the rental van (we shipped our main car off last week, and I already sold my car) today and unloaded it at the hotel.
I had a hunch it would take long than expected to unload, so I timed it.
Yeah, much longer than expected. Three trips worth and that's not even all of it. Tomorrow is going to be really, really interesting. With Corinne and I working together, I hope we can get it done qickly.
For our final meal in Nashville, we hit up a family favorite our kids love, the Hibachi Grill and Supreme Buffett.
We're ready for an adventure, though the kids (ages 9, 7, and 5) ore pretty sad about leaving their friends. I think it's hitting my oldest, Devon, the worst. We had some tough conversations tonight about how we'll meet new friends, but he said he doesn't want to do that because he's worried he'll start to forget about his friends here in Nashville. I'm hoping the warm weather, the pool, and the ocean will cheer him up. Maybe that and some Discord/Roblox/Fortnite with his friends once we get settled.
Many people have told us how excited they are for our move and how they too wish they could do something like this. Often I hear it's just too scary or they are too comfortable with what they already know. I think many of us long for adventure and success, but we're held back by fear and uncertainty.
Ultimately, we'll get what we choose and put in front of ourselves. We can play it "safe" all the time and live a mediocre life until we die or we can see life as an opportunity for adventure and make the most of it. Sometimes playing it "safe" is actually dangerous. It means you get bored, complacent, lackadaisical, or even worse, depressed.
Don't live like that. Life is too short.
Fear and uncertainty remind you what it feels like to be alive. Trying something and winning only works because you're willing to try and fail also.
Thanks to all my family, friends, and acquaintances who have been so encouraging during this time. It's a after 10:30pm right now, Corinne and I are still getting over a little head cold, and tomorrow morning will be here soon. I'll try to post again once we get settled in our AinBnB in Caguas, Puerto Rico. We have an opportunity for a rental in the exact neighborhood we're interested in, so hopefully that will all work out as well. Corinne's actually at the hotel business center getting the rental agreement filled out and signed right now. :)
Wish us luck.
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