Trip Overseas

Well I'm really excited that I will be leaving in a week for Hong Kong, Macau, Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Taipei! Should be a great trip. We have a wedding to attend in HK so that will be interesting. We are really looking forward to Chiang Mai because we haven't been there before. Actually we may be speculating on some real estate on our visit. Hope everything works out on that front. We've also never been to Taipei, Taiwan. That should be a great visit too. Many places to see there and all the great food of course.
It will be good to get away from my job for 3 weeks. Only a few more years and I will be able to travel at will, rather than whenever I can get off work. The job is stressful and any time off is great!
More news later...

Coming Back for More

Wow!
I haven't posted for a longggg time and I've only got 955 days left until my retirement. Well even that number may be a bit higher than what actually happens. My current job is quite demanding and I may just decide to retire early if the job pushes me "over the edge". I've got a good pension and a decidedly decreased cost of living once I leave my job thanks to the things I won't be seeing taken out of my paycheck!
A lot has happened since I last posted. While the US Economic Downturn had wrecked the estimated worth of my home, the latest real estate upswing has really made our equity situation improve greatly. That of course adds to the bottom line of retirement. We don't plan on keeping our US home once I retire, instead choosing to rent until we leave the US for other lands and opportunities.
Much more research has expanded our options down the road. We are looking at traveling for a while, but at the same time thinking of financial diversity by purchasing real estate for rental purposes. It would be nice to have assets outside the US that can bring in extra income.
One country we are looking at is Thailand, probably Chiang Mai, but other areas are nice too. My wife has family in Bangkok which is nice also. Ecuador is another possibility for investment. Cuenca has shown to be an expanding market for retirees and tourists. Between now and when retirement happens, I'm sure a few other opportunities will present themselves so I welcome other ideas!

In the meantime for all who are interested, here is some good information about exactly what I'm interested in:

Live and Invest Overseas website

You won't be disappointed if you sign up for their free email newsletter.
Well more to come. Enough for tonight!

Jammin'

We made up a couple huge batches of jam this weekend. Some plum jam from the plums off our tree and some apricot-pineapple jam, which is an old family favorite. It didn't take that long really because we already had the plums processed and frozen from a few weeks back. The apricots we found at a fruit stand and just used canned pineapple for convenience. We figure that you might as well make a lot in one session because you have to use so much energy to heat up all that water for the canning bath anyway!
We also found that if you use plenty of Fruit Fresh or ascorbic acid in the mix, the fruit retains the nice bright color in the jar for as long as you store it.

Uruguay

I've been following some folks' blogs who live in Uruguay and I must say it looks like an interesting place for one of my "home bases". It seems very stable and is close to many countries I wish to visit. Definitely a good jumping off point and with the seasons opposite, I have some flexibility on when to be there versus northern hemisphere destinations.
I only wish the US dollar was stronger in Uruguay. The stupid things we've been doing in the States have decimated the dollar's value so much, so we have to keep an eye on that for a few more years.

Seems too long until retirement!

Well I think about retirement every day. Where to go...where to live...where to journey... Not sure if my wife and I really want to stay in any one place, but are looking at various options. The world is a very big place and all is so interesting to visit. There are so many blogs out there that help immensely with informative stories. I will keep reading and enjoying. ":-)

Missed the Big Moon

We completely missed the big moon event last night because of the overcast skies here. Guess we will have to try again in the next 19 to 20 years :(

Meanwhile, it won't be too long until Spring has sprung and we get to start on our outdoor projects. Can't wait for that!
The fence on the east side is in poor shape and we need to get that redone and garden area is a mess with weeds and it will be good to get that replanted.
We have a plan to get rid of the grass in our backyard, but yet to have gotten that fleshed out. Grass is such a water hog and there are many drought resistant plants out there we are looking into.

Still watching world events and really hope things calm down and the economies get better soon.
Lots of folks hurting out there right now.

Looking for a way to get to where I'm going

We've been kicking around the idea that if we want to see the world, we have to be willing to move around. Vacations are nice, but to really experience a location and its surroundings, you have to live there a while. Becoming part of the community is also important, rather than just having a Disneyland-type experience.
Example: If you establish yourself somewhere in Europe, you only have to hop a train to get to anywhere you wish to be. This is much cheaper and more flexible than if you have to take a plane from the USA every time you wish to get away.
My wife and I look forward to the day when we are able to do this.