LLF - Family Motto

Our last day in San Miguel de Allende. It’s been two months since we crossed the border into Mexico and today is a day of cleaning, gathering and reflecting. I have scrubbed the floors, washed the laundry, gathered staples like lentils, oats, rice and vegetables. We have re-packed and organized the toy closet and secured a new stroller for Casey. It feels time to go.
Our last two months have been very surprising for Steve and I but then our whole life has been unexpected in many ways. I never thought twenty years after my first trip out into the world alone, I would still be flying by the seat of my pants living day to day as we choose. Somehow we have managed to buy a house, have a career, birth three kids in between and still live life to the fullest.
Seventeen months ago, Steve left his job in Portland to follow a more adventurous path in his career and life. At the time, the stock market was crashing and people around us were fearing for their futures. I remember very clearly having a conversation with Steve about the fact that somehow there was a way to take full advantage of this scene. He flew off to Louisiana for Hurricane Ike and I rented out our house to a nice couple remodeling their own home down the street. Having no job to return to after Ike, we took off for Mexico and Guatemala knowing the cost of living would be much cheaper.
Here we are now, a year after that trip, living in Mexico, flying by the seat of our pants, still. It’s not always easy as we have a very limited budget. Fortunately for us, we also have three kids that would keep our lives limited in destination and adventure to a minimum anyway. I cook almost all of our food and cheaply. We don’t buy packaged food from big markets and we don’t eat out too often. This requires constant cooking. Most of the time I don’t mind as I enjoy shopping in the markets and learning new foods like cactus with nuts and chiles but on the days that I do, we hit a BBQ chicken stand and drop eight bucks on a huge dinner. Still our food budget per day is twice what a construction worker makes. It’s an interesting thing to think about.
The best thing about our life is our kids, for sure. They are the most resilient, resourceful, easy going and adventurous kids I have ever met. They do not complain unless they’re hungry and they continue to surprise me in their ability to find fun around every corner and learn new cultures and practices as if it is their own. They truly are the reason we can do this – that and the gift of resourcefulness our own parents instilled in us. So when people write me and ask how we can do this, it is not an easy answer. The only thing I can say is you must think outside the box.
This concept is probably the hardest for people. I have heard many a friends over the years say they cannot get by on their middle incomes. They say that it simply isn’t possible. I say it is possible and then some. We all make choices everyday on how to spend our money. We choose how we dress, what car we drive and think entirely too much about how the world perceives us. We worry endlessly about our health, our future and the personalities of our children. We spend accordingly. It isn’t luck that gets my family here, it’s our ability to let go and live with less fear. If you didn’t fear losing your house because of your health, you wouldn’t spend so much on health care. If you didn’t fear the scowls you’d receive for shopping at the wrong store, you could probably save thousands of dollars each year at a different grocery store. These are all choices and you have them daily to make. So for those of you wanting to spend time in Mexico with your family, I say only this… think outside of the box you have put yourself into. It’s not bad to put yourself in a box if you are completely happy and satisified with that box. If you’re not and as we all are approaching middle age, I believe many around me are not as happy in their boxes, then re-invent yourself. Try a new career, live in a smaller house (or school bus), spend no money for a year, go car free, buy a rental house, buy and sell on e-bay, get lost in Mexico for a year, read the book Your Money or Your Life, live a life of trade commerce. It’s possible. It’s all possible.
My mother taught me that experiences are always better than ownership. Everyone of us can remember moments we have loved about our lives. Camping on an island, hunting trips with fathers and uncles, summer days planning tree houses with friends and picnics with fresh strawberry pie. This is what life is. Living Life Free. Free yourselves and your mind and see what happens. We might just pull up next to you in a forty foot school bus!

*Specific shout outs to South Tabor Work Crew and the D-day club for all of their love and support as well as showing us the good, bad and ugly of Living Life Free.