Well That Escalated Quickly
By: Jenn Lopez
When big ideas get nurtured and germinate, things get real…fast. There’s only so much planning you can do with a thing, no matter what it is. Eventually action has to be taken. It was time. Final decisions had to be made if this crazy plan of ours was to come to fruition.
The whole thing became stressful for me, with everything that was requiring no-going-back decisions. To add to the lingering stress, my wonderful hubby was looking at the research I had done and was ready to move up the date based on it. “This is great. Well done Jenn!!” he’d say. Which normally I’d be happy about but I felt that maybe I had missed something. I mean we’re uprooting our lives based on the information I’ve found and now he wanted to move up our dates?
Everytime I’d realize I had forgotten something, I’d go into panic mode and research like a fiend. I’d run off to tell Edgar… “guess what I forgot?!?” Instead of him being hesitant that I was forgetting what I considered important aspects of this trip, he was pleased as punch that I had thought of them. “Is the trip still going to work? Yes? Great!”
Not the most confidence building for me in those months. I mean, to me, it was a risk. I either had it all figured out, or I was potentially putting us in a horrible spot. He didn’t see it that way and before long the trip went from 6 months to 9 months. 9 Freaking Months!!
The timeframe of the trip escalated so quickly I finally started saying “NO! 9 Months is the limit!!” We needed time to get ready, to get rid of the big items, to take action on things. I had an ever growing list of things I was thinking/planning about and things I had to research or get done. Everything was escalating; excitement, timelines, and stress.
It wasn’t long before “To Donate,” “To Sell,” “To Pack,” and “Maybe” piles were in each room of the house. The “Maybe” piles were a saving grace for our little one who was also getting stressed over decision making. She didn’t know what she wanted to keep or give away. She explained that what’s important to her right now may not be next year, and what she didn’t care about now and gave away might be right up her alley when we got back. Smart kid. It was a fair concern. So we came up with “Maybe” piles to aid with the decision making. If she didn’t play or show any interest in something in the maybe pile for over a month, it went to the donate pile, and she was ok with that.
Everything felt so crazy because we were uprooting our lives like we had never done before. We had always moved from province to province, so we could bring our things with us. Or we at least knew what items were available in other provinces. We had started booking homes in other countries, booking flights, closing out accounts, thinking of different scenarios we’d need to be prepared for. It was a lot. So much had happened from one crazy idea.
Stress and discomfort was at an all time high. We were learning as much as we could about the different climates we’d be in, things to do in these countries, etc. All the while, Edgar was still working, Nora still had activities, and life was seemingly normal, or at least from the outside.
We spent our free time searching through homes to rent, for activities, or the best and safest areas to stay in whatever country. Things were busy, different, uncomfortable, but somehow there was a light at the end of the tunnel. There was an end in sight. We’d be actually doing these things we were planning soon.
There’s a crazy thing that happens when you’re outside your comfort zone. You have an opportunity to see what comforts you’re willing to do without and which you are not. It’s room for growth and learning about yourself and others.
I cannot remember a time when our family had ever gone through something this intense. I mean it was rough, but we knew it wouldn’t be forever. Even the kid knew we were working towards something and that we were working towards that something together, as a family. Team Lopez for the win right?