My youngest and her soon to be husband have been out there for about three weeks now. They have one of the townhouses almost completed painted and most of the carpeting is ripped up. Unfortunately, they need to return in a week and a half, so the laminate flooring and new cabinets in the kitchen and bath are on me when I get back out there. It is all good though, I will have plenty of time to focus on the task.
I will not be getting a non resident hunting permit this year but certainly will find time to do a lot of fishing. I am sure I will find some time to shoot the bow and sight in my 308 at 250 yards. Next season I will qualify for a resident tag and ready to go. Too bad I am not into the social media stuff. Imagine the vids I could make as a flatlander from Mass trying to figure out how to hunt the rugged mountains of Montana. Shoot an elk, then look at my wife and say "How the hell are we dragging this thing out?" I could become a youtube influencer :)
And as far as dragging it out, I'm confident that you'll invent a new way to do it hahaha
shadowtracker, I hear ya. I have so much going on though that I am not sure I can pull it off. My plan is to use the lost season to scout a fraction of the 27 million acres for elk and deer, and use the time to learn how to properly backpack and camp out there. Basically, a test run.
This has been a wild five months because the intent was not to do this for another three years. But all the craziness due to covid and the destructive political climate really put things into perspective for me and my family. I would be lying to you if I told you guys I was sleeping more than three or four hours a night. Two nights ago was an all nighter due to the stress of trying to square certain things away. I keep telling myself to push through because it is relatively short term. I am about two weeks away from seeing some light, finally. As long as I don't stroke out within the next thirty days, I should be in the clear.
It is only now starting to sink in where I am about to live. Mountains on four sides, over 27 million acres of public land and walking distance to the Yellowstone river. I am smack dab in the middle of some of the worlds greatest trout fishing waters! As long as the government does not completely screw up the market and economy, my wife I should never have to work another day in our lives, as long as we keep our spending in check. At age 54 I still have some elk hauling years left in me. I think.
We sighted in shotguns last weekend for turkey. Good to go! I can bring my Henry 22 silver eagle lever action. Thing is deadly at fifty yards. You will feel like Clint Eastwood from the Good the Bad and the Ugly.
I still need to connect you with my buddy Steve out there.
It has been an interesting ride. I am almost there. I need to write a book about our journey getting here, the trials and tribulations of working, sacrifice, saving, and balancing life. Book two would be about telling the corporate world to go F' themselves, and having the intestinal fortitude to give it all up to find a life of normalcy. I can't believe I have not stroked out yet.
Get ready to be bombed with pics from my days on the rivers and hiking in the backcountry.
Pete - congrats. I hope to be knocking at your door someday b
Then there are the logistics. Make a list, check it ten times, then start knocking things off your list. We are also retiring (although I was just approached by a local bank to provide remote consulting services for as many hours as I would be willing to give them). We started a spreadsheet of our monthly costs; what we are actually spending. We also created a proforma because certain costs will change. Make sure your numbers work. The only thing that can screw us up is government and their impact on the economy and markets, but I cannot control that one, other than to build in a buffer. We built in a buffer. Be honest with yourselves. Go on a test run while you are working and see if you can curb your purchasing habits and live simpler. Most people are hard pressed to live within 80% of their existing spending habits (that is a fact). Do not go out to eat twice a week, no spa visits, get off of amazon right now, you get it.
Take time to figure out where you want to end up. Go there often and during different times of the year. Get a real feel for the weather, seasonal changes in population, etc. Hit the local watering holes, shops, etc and get a feel for the people. Doing this will give you a very different perspective from your initial one. If you can, purchase a small place that will eventually work as a rental property. It will give you a temporary home when you are ready to move there, and income down the road. I was just not prepared to commit $750K on a place where I may or may not stay. The inexpensive townhouse purchase was the smartest impulse buy of my life. I know this is not for everyone, but it is a wise move. I own two of them now. Heck, we may never move from them. Instead of a fancy home, we just may buy more toys and have more fun :)
Start throwing crap out of your house now. I have been really good over the years of not storing too much shit. However, I still managed to fill a 30 yard dumpster and I will get another smaller one once I know the deal is going through. Just look around your yard and take note of what you would not take with you. It's a lot. It will take time to get rid of it all. And it is a lot of work.
I do not use FB Marketplace, but my wife has an account. The things we have sold there is amazing. We started selling stuff a year ago. It has provided us with a lot of cash for future toys and has helped to clear out a lot of crap. So start selling! Today is the time to do it because everything everywhere is out of stock. So your used crap will go for what you paid for it ten years ago. It's nuts.
We are using a Uhaul. I got a quote for $12K to move from a transportation company. Everybody is moving, so movers charge whatever they want right now. I will get out west with a 26 foot Uhaul (gas included) for about $3,700. Moving is not cheap. Start packing early and use a bay in your garage as a staging area. It will give you a feel for how much truck you will need.
There are a thousand things I am probably not thinking of so just ask questions here or feel free to PM me anytime. For me the most difficult was the work piece. But I was self employed, involved in three companies with partners. Very stressful. As for work/making money. It never worries me. I know I can work anywhere because I am willing to do anything. I am happy to work in a supermarket if that is what is required to make it all work.
Oh one last thing. Do not buy a vacation home that you just visit. Make your primary home your vacation home. That is what we did. Every day I wake up will be a vacation, even if I am working because of where we will be situated. Minutes from the Yellowstone River, minutes to the mountains to hike, mountain bike fish and hunt. Skiing close by. The most famous rivers and views in the world, all within short driving distance. It is not about the house, it is about the place. Just think of how much money you will save because you do not have to fly all over the place to go on vacation!
Most importantly, just don't freak out. Relax, enjoy and give yourself plenty of time to take care of everything. You need at least six months to get a move going. And that is after you already locked down where you will end up.
The rest of the year will be busy as we will be renovating two townhouses. Free time will be spent fishing, hopefully quite a bit of it in the backcountry. I am hoping to go out for three days at a time to use the backcountry fishing trips as scouting trips as well. Everything I have read states that you should pick a location and just get to know it inside and out. Hunting lots of locations throughout the year is ineffective unless you know all the areas really well. Makes sense; do the same here. Seems to take me two years to figure out patterns here in Mass.
I think we will get a dog again before long. It will be a lab mix this time and I will train it to hunt. I have never bird hunted, but that is about to change. Lots options out there for birds.
Probably won't get a chance to post again until we settle down in Livingston Montana. Next post will have some pics. Chat later guys. Get out there and scout!
Let's go back to last Thursday, two days before my daughter's wedding. We were doing the whole wedding ourselves; me doing all the food prep on Friday and final cooking on Saturday between the pictures and stuff.
I wake up Thursday morning at 4am with horrible stomach pains. Try tums, going to the bathroom, nothing. It is excruciating. By 6am I am keeled over. I go upstairs grab my wife and tell her, "I think my appendix just shit the brick, you need to get me to the hospital". Off we go. She drops me off, I check in and sit down. After about an hour or so the pain goes to a whole new level. I am on the floor trying to get into a comfortable position as the appendix gods stab me on my right side with a knife over and over. Security guard comes over and asks if I can sit in a chair. He leaves after I tell him to pound sand. Finally, a nurse comes by and gives me some tylenol or something to help with the pain. It takes a couple hours but I am back to the pain level of 7 or 8; all good. Thirteen hours later I finally get in to see the doctor. They press on the right side of my stomach, I wince and he says "it's probably your appendix". The ultrasound confirms it, but they did a cat scan as well to be sure. Yup, it has to come out. I'm like, "you gotta do it quick and good because I need to be out of here to get ready for a wedding on Saturday and I need to do the cooking tomorrow". I stay overnight so they can get me in first thing. I tell the nurse to please let me go the minute I am no longer groggy. They were awesome. Fast surgery and the nurse got me out asap. My wife and kids got most of the food prep done. I rest for four hours, then off we go to the rehearsal. Get home at 9:30, go to bed, get up at 6am and back to the inlaws to set up the venue.
But wait, there's more! I have three prime ribs ready for a reverse sear at my house. Already in the smoker so my wife just has to put it on at 10:15. I get a call at 10:30 from her..... we lost power. We make calls and find that the power is out in the street and the utility company is on its way. In the meantime, I drive back home and grab the meat, figuring I will have to put it in the oven at my parents house in Worcester. As I go up my road the truck shows up. They tell me they should have it up in less than thirty. Well, they did. A damn squirrel got into the transformer. Problem solved. Still plenty of time to do the rib, just need a little more heat to do it. All good.
The wedding went off perfectly. Everyone had a ball. Food was devoured. Party went until 1am. And somehow I managed not to get a hernia; yet.
