Tony’s Notes
Well, after making the decision together, we put in our two week notices on July 20th. Our last day of employment was July 31st. It felt good to walk away and prepare for this extended journey toward something new in our lives.
After having five children before I had turned 23 years of age, my focus had always been to work hard and do whatever job would pay me the most amount of money. It was never about what I wanted to do but about what I had to do to earn a living. So, working every week and always averaging 50 hours a week from, for the most part, 1979 to 2009, I had only taken paid vacation in one week increments. Honestly, I never really took a real vacation until the mid-1990’s, when I was in my 30’s. I remember that we had free airfare and we flew round trip to San Francisco. We stayed at Carolina’s brother’s house, used their car, and they paid for a hotel for us to stay in Monterey. It was a great vacation. We had rode bicycles over the Golden Gate Bridge into Sausalito and also played at Fisherman’s Wharf, eating lots of free samples of Clam Chowder. We also had time to drive into Napa Valley and go wine tasting at many vineyards. That was a great time. I think the next real vacation we had was when we took a southern Caribbean cruise with Celebrity cruise line. That was in February of 2001. It was a fantastic trip. However, again, they were only one week vacations few and far between.
We did have many three day and four day weekends. We always enjoyed bike riding together, and when we bought our Tandem bicycle in 2001 or 2002, we started bike riding everywhere. This was also when our son Tony came home from college for the summer and had become a Vegan. We started cooking Vegan style vegetarian meals, and all of a sudden both Carolina and I started losing weight and feeling great. This was also when I bought the book, “Body for Life” by Bill Philips. Carolina and I started the Body for Life program by Lifting weights together, three days a week after work. It was convenient because we both worked in Southfield and could carpool together most of the time. We typically got home at the same time from work, whether we carpooled or not, so weight lifting after work was ideal back then. We were also bike riding twenty plus miles a days, everyday, just for fun. On the days we did not weight lift, we would get a twenty minute cardio workout. Once a week, usually on Friday after work, we would have a Yoga class together. It was only an hour Yoga class, but directly from work on a Friday it was a very relaxing workout that left you calm and ready for a good weekend off of work, yet the next day I would always wake up with sore muscles from Yoga; it was great. That year, we both lost more than 40 pounds of body weight and were both in good physical condition.
Up through 2003, we maintained this healthy lifestyle. We typically ate very healthy six days a week, and one day a week was considered our free day to eat whatever we wanted. This free day was usually on Sunday, and we usually felt ill on Monday from eating too much high fat crap. Somewhere in late 2003, life got busy. We no longer both worked in Southfield, so we no longer had the ability to car pool. Carolina had said that we had become very un-social with family and friends between 2001 and 2003 and that we needed to be more involved with our family, our grown children and their families. I think she was correct, and that we needed to be more involved with our families. However, our best years as a couple were those physically fit, healthy years in 2001 through 2003.
Like I said, life got busy. We were busy with taking care of our Mom’s, our Kids, our Grandkids, our Jobs; we were not eating at home very often anymore. After each stopping at our mothers’ after work to check on them or do for them, we were usually getting home from work after 7pm. We ate out regularly and by 2005 I was even going out for burgers and a beer. The alcohol was something I had not had for several years. In the 1990’s I probably drank beer every single day; along with smoking. I quit smoking in December of 1999, and Carolina quit in January of 2001. I did not want the empty calories from alcohol, but it slowly became something I consumed once again. However, let me point out that it was not very often, maybe once every couple of weeks.
From late 2004 to now, mid-2009, I have gained weight and have very solid belly fat. I have went from a comfortable 160lb’s to an un-comfortable, weighed down 180lbs. Being a 48 yr old man, and almost reaching mid-life, I really want to drop down to a healthy 150lbs. and be very active.
Now, I have digressed years back and need to get back to current day. The day came, July 31st. We were both voluntarily unemployed. I had written a 21 page decision document about this decision and we have taken a huge leap of faith. We were both miserable getting up everyday and going to work. I was not happy in my work, and therefore put forth half-ass effort for a somewhat high-salary; not really fair to my employer. Carolina would call crying everyday because she hated the traffic and daily grind. So, here we are, unemployed and ready for an extended vacation. The only thing was it is not supposed to be a vacation, but a sabbatical. The thought and plan was to get physically healthy in Body, Mind, and Spirit; let’s face it, it is all a matter of ‘thought’.
Carolina’s Notes
Well the day finally was here and Tony & I were leaving for our sabbatical. I had been packing for 2 days while Tony had been packing/planning for a month and a half. I felt everything was moving along considering we weren’t on a time crunch or so Tony remarked. I was packing and asking for Tony’s input into my packing for two reasons; one he had been packing for a month and two –he had a better idea of the essentials to take. Let’s face it I am a women and I tend to over pack just for our weekend get-a-ways. Then when we didn’t depart on schedule Tony became upset. His time came and we weren’t on the road yet this just wasn’t what he had envisioned and he told me just how he felt.
I was crushed and I almost didn’t leave with him. All the annoying, frustrating things I did/do just came rushing out of his mouth. I felt like I had been bambusseled. Tony told me originally that we’d leave Labor Day then he said he wanted to leave before Labor Day due to missing snow in WA, CA, etc. Mentally I planned for Labor Day and in reality I planned a day at a time. However, I was communicating to Tony that I had to take it one day at a time because of my figuring out how to get over the ‘Fear of Heights.’ Tony reassured me that no pressure so I took it one day at a time and followed his lead.
Well I did leave with Tony and I was so angry all I could see was red. Not the way to start this type of journey. We bickered and then finally I was quiet. I didn’t really speak to him for 3 days. We drove to Holland, MI speaking only when necessary.
We arrived in Holland late and pulled into a Meijer store’s parking lot to sleep. We parked there because next door was Panera Bread and this store had invited us to stay there next time we were in town so we did. I was going to sleep on one of the other couches but Tony insisted that we sleep in the master room together. I did and hoped tomorrow would be better. I was at the farthest point of bed away from him as possible. I did finally sleep praying tomorrow would be better.
Tony’s Notes
August was difficult. We had so much preparation to get accomplished before being able to truly ‘hit the road’. One thing that Carolina and I had always wanted to do if we had any extended time off of work was to declutter the house, yard, and garage. So, we spent much needed time cleaning out closets, corners of the basement, and so forth. We had a yard sale and collected over $552 selling stuff that had sat around the house un-used for years. We got rid of too many clothes that had not been worn, and donated much of it to charity.
Also during this month of August, we had to move finances around, rollover our 401k dollars into individual IRAs’ and annuities’, buy affordable health insurance, and life insurance. Overall, be prepared for a potential life of independence from any reliance from any employers benefits. Things came together well, but it did cause a certain amount of stress and anxiety. However, now we have self-funded Life & Health insurance, and are ready for a life of entrepreneurial focus.
Finally, at the end of August, we were ready. We had outsourced many services to have our mail forward to us weekly or bi-weekly to whatever location we happened to find ourselves. We also had setup services to have Carolina’s mother taken care of with at least two visits per week. We shut down our house by turning off and draining the hot water heater, and having cable TV shut off and those types of things. Our house was clean and decluttered; the refrigerator was empty, off, clean, and open. We covered certain furniture, and should be able to come home to a house that was clean and free of dust.
We had had family members wondering if we would have someone stay at the house, rent it out, or something like that, but I wanted to be sure I could come home to my home whenever I wanted, whether in a mother or six months did not matter. My home is mine, and I did not want someone staying there even if it was family.
So, like Carolina stated above, we finally hit the road and headed for Lake Michigan. We loved spending time around Lake Michigan, and loved being in the Holland area. We took off on August 27th; it was a Thursday evening and we left a little later in the day as planned. We slept our first night in a parking lot at Meijer’s in Grand Rapids, next to Panera Bread. It was nice the next day to get up and walk over to Panera to do some work on the laptops, and do some planning. This past summer, we had not had a chance to spend some good quality time on Lake Michigan. Unfortunately, the weather was not very cooperative. So while at Panera we had to make some decisions surrounding our next events. We decided to spend the weekend along Lake Michigan in Holland.
Well, after making the decision together, we put in our two week notices on July 20th. Our last day of employment was July 31st. It felt good to walk away and prepare for this extended journey toward something new in our lives.
After having five children before I had turned 23 years of age, my focus had always been to work hard and do whatever job would pay me the most amount of money. It was never about what I wanted to do but about what I had to do to earn a living. So, working every week and always averaging 50 hours a week from, for the most part, 1979 to 2009, I had only taken paid vacation in one week increments. Honestly, I never really took a real vacation until the mid-1990’s, when I was in my 30’s. I remember that we had free airfare and we flew round trip to San Francisco. We stayed at Carolina’s brother’s house, used their car, and they paid for a hotel for us to stay in Monterey. It was a great vacation. We had rode bicycles over the Golden Gate Bridge into Sausalito and also played at Fisherman’s Wharf, eating lots of free samples of Clam Chowder. We also had time to drive into Napa Valley and go wine tasting at many vineyards. That was a great time. I think the next real vacation we had was when we took a southern Caribbean cruise with Celebrity cruise line. That was in February of 2001. It was a fantastic trip. However, again, they were only one week vacations few and far between.
We did have many three day and four day weekends. We always enjoyed bike riding together, and when we bought our Tandem bicycle in 2001 or 2002, we started bike riding everywhere. This was also when our son Tony came home from college for the summer and had become a Vegan. We started cooking Vegan style vegetarian meals, and all of a sudden both Carolina and I started losing weight and feeling great. This was also when I bought the book, “Body for Life” by Bill Philips. Carolina and I started the Body for Life program by Lifting weights together, three days a week after work. It was convenient because we both worked in Southfield and could carpool together most of the time. We typically got home at the same time from work, whether we carpooled or not, so weight lifting after work was ideal back then. We were also bike riding twenty plus miles a days, everyday, just for fun. On the days we did not weight lift, we would get a twenty minute cardio workout. Once a week, usually on Friday after work, we would have a Yoga class together. It was only an hour Yoga class, but directly from work on a Friday it was a very relaxing workout that left you calm and ready for a good weekend off of work, yet the next day I would always wake up with sore muscles from Yoga; it was great. That year, we both lost more than 40 pounds of body weight and were both in good physical condition.
Up through 2003, we maintained this healthy lifestyle. We typically ate very healthy six days a week, and one day a week was considered our free day to eat whatever we wanted. This free day was usually on Sunday, and we usually felt ill on Monday from eating too much high fat crap. Somewhere in late 2003, life got busy. We no longer both worked in Southfield, so we no longer had the ability to car pool. Carolina had said that we had become very un-social with family and friends between 2001 and 2003 and that we needed to be more involved with our family, our grown children and their families. I think she was correct, and that we needed to be more involved with our families. However, our best years as a couple were those physically fit, healthy years in 2001 through 2003.
Like I said, life got busy. We were busy with taking care of our Mom’s, our Kids, our Grandkids, our Jobs; we were not eating at home very often anymore. After each stopping at our mothers’ after work to check on them or do for them, we were usually getting home from work after 7pm. We ate out regularly and by 2005 I was even going out for burgers and a beer. The alcohol was something I had not had for several years. In the 1990’s I probably drank beer every single day; along with smoking. I quit smoking in December of 1999, and Carolina quit in January of 2001. I did not want the empty calories from alcohol, but it slowly became something I consumed once again. However, let me point out that it was not very often, maybe once every couple of weeks.
From late 2004 to now, mid-2009, I have gained weight and have very solid belly fat. I have went from a comfortable 160lb’s to an un-comfortable, weighed down 180lbs. Being a 48 yr old man, and almost reaching mid-life, I really want to drop down to a healthy 150lbs. and be very active.
Now, I have digressed years back and need to get back to current day. The day came, July 31st. We were both voluntarily unemployed. I had written a 21 page decision document about this decision and we have taken a huge leap of faith. We were both miserable getting up everyday and going to work. I was not happy in my work, and therefore put forth half-ass effort for a somewhat high-salary; not really fair to my employer. Carolina would call crying everyday because she hated the traffic and daily grind. So, here we are, unemployed and ready for an extended vacation. The only thing was it is not supposed to be a vacation, but a sabbatical. The thought and plan was to get physically healthy in Body, Mind, and Spirit; let’s face it, it is all a matter of ‘thought’.
Carolina’s Notes
Well the day finally was here and Tony & I were leaving for our sabbatical. I had been packing for 2 days while Tony had been packing/planning for a month and a half. I felt everything was moving along considering we weren’t on a time crunch or so Tony remarked. I was packing and asking for Tony’s input into my packing for two reasons; one he had been packing for a month and two –he had a better idea of the essentials to take. Let’s face it I am a women and I tend to over pack just for our weekend get-a-ways. Then when we didn’t depart on schedule Tony became upset. His time came and we weren’t on the road yet this just wasn’t what he had envisioned and he told me just how he felt.
I was crushed and I almost didn’t leave with him. All the annoying, frustrating things I did/do just came rushing out of his mouth. I felt like I had been bambusseled. Tony told me originally that we’d leave Labor Day then he said he wanted to leave before Labor Day due to missing snow in WA, CA, etc. Mentally I planned for Labor Day and in reality I planned a day at a time. However, I was communicating to Tony that I had to take it one day at a time because of my figuring out how to get over the ‘Fear of Heights.’ Tony reassured me that no pressure so I took it one day at a time and followed his lead.
Well I did leave with Tony and I was so angry all I could see was red. Not the way to start this type of journey. We bickered and then finally I was quiet. I didn’t really speak to him for 3 days. We drove to Holland, MI speaking only when necessary.
We arrived in Holland late and pulled into a Meijer store’s parking lot to sleep. We parked there because next door was Panera Bread and this store had invited us to stay there next time we were in town so we did. I was going to sleep on one of the other couches but Tony insisted that we sleep in the master room together. I did and hoped tomorrow would be better. I was at the farthest point of bed away from him as possible. I did finally sleep praying tomorrow would be better.
Tony’s Notes
August was difficult. We had so much preparation to get accomplished before being able to truly ‘hit the road’. One thing that Carolina and I had always wanted to do if we had any extended time off of work was to declutter the house, yard, and garage. So, we spent much needed time cleaning out closets, corners of the basement, and so forth. We had a yard sale and collected over $552 selling stuff that had sat around the house un-used for years. We got rid of too many clothes that had not been worn, and donated much of it to charity.
Also during this month of August, we had to move finances around, rollover our 401k dollars into individual IRAs’ and annuities’, buy affordable health insurance, and life insurance. Overall, be prepared for a potential life of independence from any reliance from any employers benefits. Things came together well, but it did cause a certain amount of stress and anxiety. However, now we have self-funded Life & Health insurance, and are ready for a life of entrepreneurial focus.
Finally, at the end of August, we were ready. We had outsourced many services to have our mail forward to us weekly or bi-weekly to whatever location we happened to find ourselves. We also had setup services to have Carolina’s mother taken care of with at least two visits per week. We shut down our house by turning off and draining the hot water heater, and having cable TV shut off and those types of things. Our house was clean and decluttered; the refrigerator was empty, off, clean, and open. We covered certain furniture, and should be able to come home to a house that was clean and free of dust.
We had had family members wondering if we would have someone stay at the house, rent it out, or something like that, but I wanted to be sure I could come home to my home whenever I wanted, whether in a mother or six months did not matter. My home is mine, and I did not want someone staying there even if it was family.
So, like Carolina stated above, we finally hit the road and headed for Lake Michigan. We loved spending time around Lake Michigan, and loved being in the Holland area. We took off on August 27th; it was a Thursday evening and we left a little later in the day as planned. We slept our first night in a parking lot at Meijer’s in Grand Rapids, next to Panera Bread. It was nice the next day to get up and walk over to Panera to do some work on the laptops, and do some planning. This past summer, we had not had a chance to spend some good quality time on Lake Michigan. Unfortunately, the weather was not very cooperative. So while at Panera we had to make some decisions surrounding our next events. We decided to spend the weekend along Lake Michigan in Holland.
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