“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

I’ve been alluding to it in my past few posts but now is the time to come clean.  Today is Sunday and on Wednesday I am driving by myself from Connecticut to Charlotte, North Carolina.  I’m hoping this trip will be the beginning of my new life. 

The research has been done and I have talked to many people and I think the Charlotte area might be a good place for me to start my next chapter.  The cost of living is lower, there appears to be many jobs available and the weather is certainly better than CT!  I have distant cousins living in Charlotte and another one thinking of moving there.  Additionally, it’s centrally located in the south east and will make for convenient long weekends to visit other states.

There is a great progressive church in Charlotte that appears to be very active in their community.  I had the opportunity to speak with the minister of this church earlier this week and have made arrangements to meet with her as well as attend their church service while I am there. I’m looking forward to meeting the members of this congregation and hope that I feel at home among them.  The way I figure it, finding a church community will really help me acclimate to the area.  Church members can recommend doctors, the best place to shop and good Italian restaurants. They may be realtors, work for employment agencies or share my interests in genealogy and photography.  It’s a win-win in my eyes.

I’ve started looking at apartments on-line and have found many choices.  Most of the apartments are in “communities” and they all seem to have many amenities to offer; pools, fitness centers, laundry facilities, hiking trails and 24/7 maintenance.  While I am not old enough for the over 55 communities, I hope to find an apartment where there are people closer to my age rather than young families with children.  As this stage in my life, I figure I deserve to be selfish. I would prefer not to live next to a playground or elementary school.  Adults only would be just fine!

So, the journey starts on Wednesday. I’m going to take my time and spread the 11 hour trip down over two days. If I see something interesting, I will stop. If I’m tired or hungry or just feel like stretching, I can stop and take a break.  The thing about traveling solo is that you are beholden only to yourself! My time is my own so I figure to be gone about a week or so.

 If I like the area, like the church and find an apartment, then I am planning on moving down at the end of March.  There is no point in me staying in CT any longer.  I might as well stop paying the high rent and make the move as soon as possible. 

I’m very hopeful about this trip and I’m looking forward to wherever the road takes me…..

Cleaning My House

There's a luggage limit to every passenger on a flight. The same rules apply to your life. You must eliminate some baggage before you can fly.  - Rosalind Johnson

When I returned from Ireland last October, I looked around my 2 bedroom duplex with full basement and said to myself, “You have way too much stuff!”  So, I began to clean!

I’ve discovered clothes in the back of my closet that I’ve owned for over twenty years.  Yes, I know – but seriously, they were in excellent condition.  Oh, come on - how many of you still have that favorite dress in your closet that you just can’t part with because you just know that a) you will fit into it as soon as you lose a few pounds, b) it’s a classic, it will come back into style or c) you wore it for that special occasion you will never forget.  I really got serious and got rid of tons of clothes.  Let’s face it, by the time I lose those 20 pounds, the pants from 2009 will be the last thing I want to put on!!

And the books!  I swear I could open my own library. It was hard to part with many of them but it had to be done. Really, how many cookbooks does one person need?  I haven’t entertained on a large scale basis in almost ten years; I think I can get rids of those appetizer books!   Besides, they weigh a ton to move!!  Fortunately, my local library collects books for their annual book sale so I was able to donate books, old VHS tapes (Disney variety) and CD’s.  I’m sure I have another box or two for them.

My neighbor and I rented a dumpster and cleaned out our basements and the shed we share.  I left a spare tire and an old gas grill on the street with a “free” sign.  They were both gone within a day.

In the past three months, I have donated bags to Goodwill, dropped of clothes at local consignment shops, dropped off household items at another consignment shop and sold things on Ebay. You know the stuff – the prom dresses from five years ago, the Rachel Ray cookware never used, the Christmas chatskis that have been boxed since 2001, and those shoes that made your legs look taller but hurt like hell to walk in for more than five minutes.  I’ve made almost $700. It was worth it.

The interesting thing is that as I have divested myself of “stuff”, I actually feel lighter.  As I throw or give away things from my past, I am letting go of that past.  The weight of who I was is going away and the freedom of who I am now is becoming more apparent.  I’m starting this new phase in my life and I’m only taking the “things” that really matter to me “now”!  

The way I see it – I’m moving to a new town, in a new state and I’m leaving ALL my baggage behind! It truly is very liberating!