Selling a house is not fun. I will be the first to say that when you buy a house and live in it for a long time you accumulate an amazing quantity of things you just don’t need and will never use again. We had lived in that house since 2006. There were boxes we had in the shop that had never been unpacked. There were kids’ clothes, stuffed animals, sheets, blankets, knick-knacks, books, and so much more. I loaded it all up and took it to the local donation center for some other kids to enjoy. Why did I keep all that stuff? What was the point? We never even opened the boxes to look at the stuff. It was just taking up space and serving no purpose.
Getting ready for this new adventure has been good for a lot of purging. I don’t own much now. It is more than I can carry in my backpack, but not by much. I am sure there are things that I will miss – although, I can’t name anything material that I regret having to part with, yet – and there are going to be things I wish I had, but it is a very good feeling not to be tied to things. It was really easy to let go of these tchotchkes. It was not the gut-punch I thought it was going to be. It was just stuff. The cute schoolwork my daughters did as little kids, the sports trophies they all got for playing – we are in the age of everybody getting a trophy, so there were a lot of trophies – and the piles of pictures from when you actually printed out pictures were just sitting in boxes. I wasn’t keeping the stuff, I was just storing boxes. I took pictures of the things I wanted to remember and then tossed everything in one of the three piles – sell, donate, garbage.
So, why the continued reminiscing on the house? Well, I’ll tell you why. The buyers asked for an extension to the closing date. We signed the closing documents Thursday. They were supposed to sign theirs Friday. It did not happen. They needed some document from their accountant that was not there. Then, the call from the real estate agent came in. They needed an extension. Ok, fine. Now we wait some more. Just when we thought everything was done, we get a huge surprise out of the blue and we are not done. I am pretty sure this is a test of my patience. There seems to be no end in sight but there must be, right?
Their agent contacts our agent. Our agent calls us. Our agent calls their agent. Their agent calls them. Their agent calls our agent. Our agent calls us again. It is done. The new closing date is the 22nd. We are done on our end, but they will sign on the 22nd and we will be done. That should be it. It should be the last time this gets postponed. This is it. I am sure this is the end. Does it sound like I have some doubt? Hmmmm. Feeling a little like this game has played itself out.
I am just going to make like this is the end and all our plans can continue, so now a rundown of where we are in the travel process. We have our tickets to Panama for December 6th. We will fly out of Portland on a quick hop to Seattle. Normally, I would not go up there to fly out, but we came across a pretty incredible deal. We got roundtrip tickets from SEA to PTY for $330 after taxes and fees. Even with the tickets to Seattle from Portland, we saved about $100 each. The flight is overnight, which is not unusual. We will arrive in Panama City around 2pm on December 7th.
From there, we have rooms reserved at the AirB&B I stayed in last year. I didn’t want to start a 5-hour bus ride to Santa Fe directly off the plane. We will stay the night close to the bus terminal then catch the bus on the 8th. Our hotel reservation is from December 8th through January 5th. Including the fees from AirB&B, our hotel – which is one room, two beds, kitchen access – was $464. There was a 40% discount for staying a month. It is 1 km from the center of town and very close to several hiking trails. It looks clean, has good reviews, and it’s only a month. I believe it will be just great!
Month 2 will be down the mountain. We are working our way east – back toward Panama City. I am not completely sure where this one is other than it is about halfway back from Santa Fe toward the airport. This stay is two rooms in a small annex off a house. It has its own entrance, kitchen, sitting area, and – thanks to the owners – a new air conditioner. It even has a turtle sanctuary! How cool is that? I have not completed the reservation for this one, yet, but have made arrangements with the owner for January 5 through February 3. The owners are very involved in helping the community, so we are going to see if we can help out. The monthly price for this one, after a discount, is $386.
The last stay will be close to the Canal and the Soberania rainforest. This is a small apartment attached to a house. It has a kitchen, or at least a fridge and something to cook on, two beds, a small garden area, and is right next to the National Park. This one is a little more expensive at $675 for the month, but it is very close to the rainforest and canal so we can do a little exploring both in nature and through history.
Since this is our first foray, we have no expectations of the spaces. The requirements for each were Wifi all the time, two beds in two rooms if possible, and kitchen access. Everything else is kind of open. We are using this as a test to see what we really need to have for all future trips. I was hoping to keep each month at $500 for lodging. The total for the three months will be $1525. That’s pretty close.
After we get there I will get a much better idea of what food, transportation, and incidentals will cost. We will probably find things we want to splurge on and things we want to avoid. It is the perfect spot for testing our budget and our housing needs. There are a lot of things to do for free and tons of things to explore. We should be able to meet new people, too, and share some of this journey with them.
Now, it would be spectacular if we could just get it going already! My nephew thinks so, too.
20K and a Year Away 