Pages

4.01.2024

Slow Travel: Week One

I hope everyone had a great Easter weekend and maybe even are out doing something fun with the kiddos this week! I am feeling much more motivated and organized than I did last week! A quick update before I jump in, just to let people know how everything is going; it is going well. I have started the grand depart for the Bikepacking USA and Canada Adventure and am currently spending some time with some friends in Oregon. But I don't want to just talk about all of my bicycling woes all the time (although I did used to do that a lot with running!) so I will probably put out a bike centric post every few weeks or once a month. 

Currently here

Also, I am rounding up questions for future posts, and I need your help. If you don't mind, can you please go here and ask a few? I will sing your praises in all future posts if you do!

Now onto the beef. My first week of retirement was spent at my parents' house. So basically, I am living with my parents again. Yup. In a van, down by the river. The fun thing is that my brother also showed up to help my Dad with a job and so it was actually the whole family there at the same time. We all lived under one roof for several days and did not even kill each other even though maybe we wanted to sometimes

So long sucka!

Seriously though, it was so "real life." You know how sometimes when you are with family or friends for a special occasion, or only one or two days, you feel the need to behave, aka hang out and entertain and do the things you may not want to do? Well this was just regular days, with each of us flitting in and out on our own timelines, while still spending time to eat breakfast and dinner together most days. It's those low pressure visits that are really more my style. I love being able to read my book even though other people are in the room and not feel rude, like I am using up precious time. My Mom would nap, and I would read, or go for a walk, or go and play with my bike, or pick my nose. It was great. 

Spring has sprung!

I also accomplished a few things. Thanks to all of you, I got out of my reading rut! I did not mention these books on my last post as I was not finished with them yet, but I can also add A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking (4.5 stars), Then She Was Gone (4 stars), The Cover Story (3.5 stars) and Die With Zero (3 stars) to my March reads and none of them sucked! In case you think 3 stars means I did not like it, that is not true; it means I thought it was good but not great, which is what I would say a 4 is. 

I also now have some great songs for my Pick Me Up playlist! Thanks to all of you for contributing! There were some great adds, such as System of a Down from my friend E, who likes bands with names like Dead Fetus, so this was actually a very tame suggestion from him (I also added some White Zombie, Deftones and Korn, which all remind me of a certain time in my life, although I do not listen them as often any more.) I know many of you (including my parents) are cringing right now, but never fear, I also added Maneater, both the Hall and Oates (thanks Nicole!) and the Nelly Furtado versions, and of course a little bit of Pitbull. It was so fun hearing all of the different suggestions and so many of them were so different. I have stopped in my tracks several times over the last few days to check my phone to see what the song was. 

Case in point, the song Rasputin by Boney M. was suggested to me by my brother. I was on a run and I wanted to run on my tiptoes when the song came on and so I stopped running to see who it was. Turns out, this band is from the 70s and when I just now went to YouTube to get the link, I saw the video, and they are so groovy! You cannot help but want to dance. Also, if you listen to the lyrics, it talks about how the Russian Rasputin was feared by all but apparently was a great womanizer! It made me giggle. 

He ruled the Russian land and never mind the Czar
But the kazachok he danced really wunderbar
In all affairs of state he was the man to please
But he was real great when he had a girl to squeeze

Other than collecting books and songs, I knocked a bunch of things off of my list. Due to working in the finance industry, we were required to keep any investment accounts with our company, so the first thing I did was open new accounts and have my accounts transferred over. I also rolled over my 401k, redid all the paperwork (transfer on death designations, beneficiaries, etc.) and had to reinvest some of the accounts due to items not transferring over. I had to change my address on a buttload of things, even though most of my stuff is paper, and this of course caused issues with opening the new accounts because not only am I now not working, but what IS my mailing address? It turned out to be easier to just put my old address on the application and then call them to tell them that I need to change my mailing address. However, I had already forwarded my mail by then so I really did not want anything going to my old address!

 I also opened a new credit card that I will use to pay the contractor who is working on the house so I can get some points out of the deal (yay!), even though the points value will be a slight fraction of what I will be spending (boo!). I also sold my car, which was fairly easy, except the dudes showed up about three and a half hours later than the 6:00 pm appointment, which as you know, is way past my bedtime. Luckily the family stayed up with me and played Quirkle with me to try to keep me awake. I even finished my taxes and did lots of fiddling with Bob (wow, that sounds kind of kinky, but it's just #bobthebluebike)! 🚲

Bob is raring to go.

The one thing I left for last was health insurance! I know waiting until the last minute is not a luxury that everyone can afford, but I am still dragging my feet. Most companies will honor your health insurance until the end of the month that you resigned. In our case, we actually get 20 days, which works out better as long as you quit after the 10th, which I did. So I basically have until April 4th to decide. My conundrum is this. Most USA insurance will not cover other countries, so you would need to get travel insurance for the period you would be out of the country. Most international (or nomad) insurance only covers the USA in case of extreme emergency or for a very short period, like 30 days. There are other options, but I am still looking into them. The bottom line is that any of these options are cheaper than Cobra, but the coverage is hit and miss. For example, for Cigna Global, they will only cover inpatient hospital visits, unless you tack on an extra $150 per month for outpatient. Anyway, I will probably leave it right until the last minute. Anybody have any input here? 

I am also still working on getting the house ready for sale, and could probably write an entire post about that, so I will save it for later! 

Have you ever played Quirkle? Anybody have any good postal service/mail snafu/moving stories? If you are married, and you changed your name, in how many different places did you have to update things? (I feel this would be way harder than just updating an address, but YOU TELL ME!) 

29 comments:

  1. I am so envious of your spring springing (she says as snowflakes float by the window). I also like to spend time with friends and family during "normal days." We mostly see family at special events like celebrations and holidays and the kids are excited and hepped up, which is LOVELY, but doesn't really tell me what their day to day lives are like. So I like that you are enjoying that time with family. And I can't wait to hear how it all shakes out!! Going over there to add questions!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, it is so nice to just "live" together for a bit. I am now in Oregon doing the same thing with some long time friends of mine. It's just dinners at the house and chats about nothing most of the time, but it's great.

      Delete
  2. Changing names is such a nuisance. I did change my name when I got married and it was fine, but not fun!

    Happy biking (and nose picking - haha).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey, everyone has a nose and sometimes it needs picking! I have never changed my name but I imagine a very long list of websites and accounts and things you would need to update. I am not a huge fan of that kind of administrative stuff so it makes me shudder a bit to think of it.

      Delete
  3. I lived with my cousin for a few months between moves, years ago, and it took us both a little adjusting that we didn't need to maximize every minute, we could relax, and live life, and I would still be there tomorrow.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Exactly, once you get over the novelty, it is definitely a lot less pressure and you can just relax and enjoy your time together. I also think you do get to know people better when you are together more as it is less honeymoon and more real life.

      Delete
  4. The health insurance stuff sounds confusing. I could not wing things/leave it to the last minute because of my health needs/extremely expensive meds! But I don't expect to retire for quite some time so will figure that out when the time comes. It helps that you are a very healthy person with no chronic conditions. I hope you find a great solution!

    I changed my name when I got married as you know. I was not sad to change my name as I didn't love my maiden name... it was very hard to spell and since the first syllable is "dot" it make it tricky to give my email address over the phone. I had to change my name in so many places but the worst was at work. It took forever to change it and then they misspelled my new name! There are still places where my old name is still used, like IT platforms.

    Your time at home at your parents kind of sounds like a typical visit to my parents' lake home. I do tend to stay up later than normal playing cards but otherwise I kind of keep up with my usual habits.

    I have not played Quirkle!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You have to try Quirkle; I think you would like it! Plus it is fun for the entire family after a certain point (maybe 8 and up?) My Mom and my Aunt get into fits trying to beat each other.

      I know I am lucky to be in good health and things may be a lot different later in life; also I know many non-group health plans really do not like pre-existing conditions. I am assuming that if you were not working you would have to do Obamacare or Cobra or pay a very high premium. Or maybe you should just move to a different country!

      I have some women coworkers who have gotten married and have not changed their email addresses on the system, as it would likely be confusing. However, some change it anyway! I think I would not change my name at this point but really I am not sure until it happens.

      Delete
  5. I guess I missed the post where you announced your amazing travel plans! I’ve read it now, and I’m blown away by your bravery and sense of adventure! To sell everything and go traveling across the country on a bike sounds so scary to me…but I look forward to reading about your adventures. I love reading about travel, especially humorious travel. I love Bill Bryson’s travel books. I’ll go follow your on Instagram!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I like Bill Bryson's books too, especially the ones about Australia! He wrote Life In The Woods, about the Appalachian trail, which was also kind of a funny rendition of a beginner not knowing what he was doing, which is how travel often is! I am totally a novice, and the funny thing is that I have no idea what I am in for, but that is part of the excitement! Everyone has been so supportive and amazed, and that is also part of the fun! I hope that I have some good (and funny) stories for you soon!

      Delete
  6. Yay for week one adventures! And also for getting the boring "adult" stuff settled.

    From what I can tell, there is no "perfect"' solution for insurance, but when I was looking into ACA there are good options where I live - as long as our income is low enough for the subsidies. I remember that Purple stacked ACA with a nomad plan, and that's as far as I went with looking into things. Needless to say I'll be taking notes when you decide what to do.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is an option - ACA + nomad - especially if your income is low. This year, since I worked for a few months and am selling my house, I don't think that is going to be the best (cheapest) option, but we shall see. I still have three more days to decide! Worse come to worse, I can do COBRA, but it is not the cheapest option either! I will keep you guys posted as I figure it out.

      Delete
  7. Wait, you've never heard Rasputin before? How is that possible?
    Enjoy Oregon, I bet it's beautiful right now!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nope, first time! I did not really grow up in the disco era, and my parents were not disco fans. I was a child of the grunge era and loved Led Zeppelin and Crosby, Stills and Nash due to my parents, but the disco music was a bit of a gap (although I did have a friend who turned me onto Earth, Wind and Fire in the 90s, which I loved).

      Oregon is beautiful! It was actually in the 70s yesterday and today's high is 45 and it is supposed to snow tomorrow! It is still trying to decide what season it wants to be in, but I loved the nice weather yesterday!

      Delete
  8. So wait, is this meant to be true "retirement" or a temporary long break from working to travel? All of the logistics of something like that would really stress me out, to be honest!! But if anyone can sort it all out, it's definitely you! Glad you had a nice time with your parents- that sounds so relaxing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. YES! I mean it will be retirement until I get tired of it, which could be a year or could be fifty years. Right now is only the first month so I am not even going to guess how I will feel in a a year or two (or 50). The planning is not stressful, as it really doesn't matter what I do, so I don't really have a lot of skin in the game. Without a time crunch, the pressure kind of eases. Of course, I have a "want to do/want to see" list, and I would love to get some of these things done, but really it is just whatever happens happens! It's very freeing actually, and I am a type A planner, ISTJ!

      Delete
  9. Just found your blog (through Nance). Love hearing about your adventures (now and to come). My suggestion for your listen-to list is Indigo by Kim Namjoon. I'm betting it's different from others on your list (but I think you said somewhere you said you were open to all genres, so give it a try.)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello and welcome! Thank you for the suggestion. I do like all genres and am adding Indigo! It looks like it is an album; do you have a favorite song?

      Delete
    2. Love it all but probably Wild Flower.

      Delete
  10. Wow, your retirement is off to a great start! This is all very exciting. I love your description of the time spent with your family- it's nice to have an extended time so you could really relax. Although the number of things you had to deal with are mind-boggling. I'll be interested to hear what you do for insurance- it does sound complicated.
    I'm excited to follow along your new adventures!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's funny because all the things are a lot when you look back, but in the thick of it, you just do it and get it done.

      I got the insurance and will do an update about that at some point but I did wait until the last day!!

      Delete
  11. It sounds like you've spent a lovely time with your family. My siblings and I get together at my parents place most holidays and our days are a lot like you describe. A good mix of doing things together but also doing what you feel like. I really treasure these holidays now. I'm in Australia so can't help with insurance. It's been a long time sonce I was married but the name changing took a while - passport, licence, bank accounts, uni (I was in the middle of a PhD).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh man, I can't imagine changing my name in the middle of getting a PhD! I wonder what the most difficult one ended up being??

      Delete
  12. I love how you started off this adventure! Getting some good family time where everyone is relaxed and just doing their own things is the BEST.

    The health insurance thing sounds really overwhelming! I hope you're able to figure out a good option for your needs. Oof.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think that I am not too worried about it, despite being in strange places and doing active things where I may need a doctor's visit, as most plans have a deductible so unless a very bad thing happens, knock on wood, I will have to pay out of pocket for most smaller items no matter what. I did get it taken care of though!!

      Delete
  13. Oh, gosh. I haven't been to Oregon in decades, but I remember how lovely it was. One of my favourite states out West.

    It's tough to be back home again as an adult, I'm sure. The dynamic is still parent/child, but you're all adults. It can be awkward. But it sounds like you all managed pretty well.

    My daughter-in-law isn't changing her name when she marries my son this September. I don't blame her; it's a lot of work! And the tentacles of it are far-reaching. Sometimes, I still regret changing my name when I married, and that was a long, long time ago.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't think I would change my name, but who knows really. I think it is more accepted for women now not to change, but 40 years ago, it would have been more of a conflict. I kind of like the Latin way of keeping both names, but I know that it seems confusing to people in the US when it comes to IDs and stuff. I guess you could do a hyphened last name, but then both people would have to change!

      Delete
  14. I am glad you got to spend some precious time with your parents before hitting the road. I love these normal, low key days around family... I try to soak those up whenever I get to visit.

    I can only imagine what went into getting everything set up before your departure, so much to think about. I don't have any advice on insurance (unfortunately) because it seems to be such a mess to get insurance in this country. I don't envy you at all.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I did get insurance but I waited until the last possible day! It was a lot to set up, plus I am still working on selling my house so all of those things together were a lot of things. It was really nice to relax a little bit while with my parents.

      Delete

Thanks for commenting! I love to respond to comments, so please check back soon for my reply!