Where are We Going??? What are We Doing??? And Why????

Well, this may be a long blog or short and to the point, I'm not sure. I will try to be as complete as possible - but please, if I am unclear, ask. We will be happy to clarify.

First.... Where are we going....?
Let me start at the very begining. As many of you will remember - way back, when Chris and I started to talk about moving away. We spoke about Europe, in particular the Mediterranean. Spain, Portugal, Malta, Greece, Italy... all came to mind, and all for the same basic reasons. Heat. Sun. Sand. Surf. Slower pace of life. Well, after many months of research on the internet and in books, and too many hours to count emailing and calling realtors and business', we decided that our cost of living there would not give us the time to enjoy why we were going there in the first place.
So
We did more research, called more people, joined more expat forums, emailed new realtors, bought more books, and watched as many shows on different countries as possible. We still wanted the same things as before. Heat. Sun. Sand. Surf. Slower pace of life. But now we added Low cost of living. Bear in mind things like Schooling, Health Care, Safety and more were very high if not top on our list, I don't mention these because they were basic mandatory things we considered when doing our research. So after more research -as I mentioned- We came up with Central or Latin America. Once we had a good feeling about the general area, we started doing research on specific countries and their areas. (Yes more research, please quiz me! sometimes I feel as though I really have too much information about these countries inbedded in my head!) What sort of research did I do. Well for starters, I looked for expats, I wanted their opinion. I read through government websites on the country stats and politics, I visited the CIA website too many times looking at crime rates, death rates, safety, security, population, etc. I bought a subscription to International Living, a magazine that talks about living abroad, working abroad, real-estate, cost of living, expats, insider tips, real life stories, different ways to survive including jobs, real-estate, starting a business and more. There was a ton of information on their site, and most of it was very useful. I book-marked different on-line newspapers and read them weekly. I talked with people here, who knew people there and started emailing with them. I had many questions. This was important. This was not research for a vacation. This was for a new life.
So
Where did this research take me. A few countries have been flaged as potential places of paradise.

Costa Rica is one. Jungle and Surf. Spanish and howler Monkeys.

Belize is another. Jungle and Snorkelling. English and The Cayes.

Honduras and Nicaragua have our curiousity. Sea and Sand. Very simple lives, great real estate and cost of living.

And Dominica seems like a dream. Untouched land of wonder. Beauty and seclusion.

Mexico also has a place in our hearts. ( some of you are now worried - what about all the Canadians that have died there recently?..... Please don't worry. For one, we will not be fall over drunk buying drugs off people in the middle of the night in a tourist area. We will be living a simple life in a simple place, with simple people - We are smart).

Now... What are we doing???
This is a huge question. First, NO! we are not going to just sit on the beach and surf until our money runs out. Nor are we going to be pampered in hotels and all-inclusives until our money runs out. We have many many options that we have discussed over and over with eachother. Over and over. We want to be together as much as possible. The entire day, upon day if we can handle it. We have discussed it, and this is something that we will not budge on. The four of us are important to us, and spending as much time, if not all of our time together is a must. With that said, how will we make money, and what will we do to live. As I mentioned, this has been the source of 100's of hours of talking. We have many ideas, and we are very confident that put in the right situation in the right place, it will work. The research has been done, please trust me. Now, enough blabbering.... what are these ideas....

Eco Lodge / Bed and Breakfast / Hotel / Hostel / Restaurant / Bakery
These are all similar ideas. We would purchase an existing building or have a new building built and start it up ( I have done research on starting a company or business in all of these countries, found out about many tax incentives, etc). We would hire locals (I have done research on hiring in all of the above countries, including minimum wages, safety, health, etc). There is more to this obviously, but the basic idea is here.

Import / Export
Again, this would intail starting up a company. I already have a few people in Canada who would be willing to sell goods from a few of the above listed countries. We also think an Import would work aswell. There are more and more and more Gated Communities coming up in Latin America, full of retired, semi retired, or other Expats all from Britian, USA, and Canada. They crave North American items that you can not find in Latin America ( we are sure of this, from many that we have spoken and still speak to)

Copy Writting.
This is something that Chris has been doing research on, and has actually bought a course on. He has yet to find time to study at all (with all the work we've been doing), but see's this as a great part time thing, and hey, if he get's paid... all the better!!

2nd Home as a Rental
This would be ideal as well, and something that I am REALLY REALLY crossing my fingers for. Real Estate is cheap in Latin America. But vacationing and rentals are usually not. So, if we can, we will buy two homes, and live in whichever is not being rented out for that time. (we've also had people interested in joining us in this type of income) Maybe we would even have one on the Pacific and one on the Caribbena. (Family would not have to pay if your wondering mom :))
--- This brings up another point. Where are we thinking of living when we find our ideal country. Well, we have 2 options really. First we could buy in a gated community. Security, Expats, Ammenities, etc. Or we could buy in the city or village with locals (true living). We aren't sure. That is why we are going to explore. We want to find what is right for us, and we won't know until we get there are try it. This also depends on what we end up doing for income. But rest assured, research has also been done on this area.

On the side, I do want to mention. We do not have any sort of plans to move to a country and live off the land for free. What I mean is that we want to be involved with the community and the people. The environment and land, etc (whether in a gated community or not). We would love to be a part of helping build schools, Eco friendly anything, Conservation and Volunteering in the Rain forest / Jungle and Sea. These are all important to the 4 of us. We have also decided to bring many extra's with us on this trip like crayons, pencils, little toys, etc. Things that the boys can give out to children they meet and play with, as well as donating them to schools that we come across.

Ok, I hope that was satisfactory. Now for the last question. Why. Why would we want to leave all the wonderful things of Canada. Our home. Our family. Our Jobs and Friends. All these things that we truly love. Why oh Why.........

Well, quite simply and to the point is... a new way of life. We are GYPSIES. We are, didn't you know that. Haven't you guessed yet?
But Really. We don't want to be bambared with the rush rush of money money and the stress of feeling that we need all these things that we don't really need!!! Now wait. I know that there are places in Canada that we can achieve this, it's true. But we also want Heat. Sun. Sand. Surf. Slower pace of life. We want to wake up and enjoy each other. We want to learn new things. We want to be a part of something that we know nothing about! Be a family that is a family together. We don't want to wake up and rush off to a job that is mediocre, and be stuck in traffic when we could be together. We don't want a car. We don't want sweaters and mittens. We want fresh air, and fresh foods. Chris has been craving the Ocean ever since he left Australia. We want to walk everywhere. We want to live slowly. We want to say hello to people walking by.

We want to feel that by having eachother and a few simple things, that we have everything.

I know that some of you wont understand this. I know some of you that think this, that we, are crazy. I want you to know that we know what we have - and we feel lucky to have it. And whether you think we're wrong, crazy, brave, stupid, or somewhere in between, we just want more by having less. We need to try this. This is something that Chris and I have been talking about since we met. Yes, over 5 years now we have been talking about it. It's not something sudden (although it may seem that way to some), and it's not something that one of us has convinced the other into. This is something that we both had in mind, and when it was shared, a new adventure started in our minds that has now, it seems come to be.

I hope you enjoy this overly long post. Sorry about the lenght. Please ask us if you have any questions. We love you all, and will miss you so much. But as I said, we are part Gypsie, and I'm sure we'll be back soon (at least for a visit!)

All our love, The Lukies