Round and Round We Go...

Up and down like a see-saw…

Round and round like a merry-go-round…

Back and forth like a ping-pong ball…

Do you get the picture? No? Me neither. Indecisiveness is the name of the game at the moment. I’m not typically an indecisive person, but when it comes to this 5 Year Plan, I can decide which end is up.

Those of you that have been around long enough know the story. Before we decided to put the 5 year plan in motion, we had always talked about “wouldn’t it be nice to win the lottery and move to Bonaire”. Then when we heard about how economically one could live in Ecuador, we realized we wouldn’t need to win the lottery to make our dreams come true, but instead we would just need to focus our energy into paying off our debts within the next 5 years and with that “The 5 Year Plan” was born.

When started looking into Ecuador in greater detail, we were excited about all of the opportunities that would be available to us like cheap real estate, cheap cost of living, good healthcare, better quality of life and then something happened. Doubt crept into the picture and we started to second guess that decision. We became concerned that our hearts have belonged to Bonaire for so long and that perhaps Ecuador wasn’t the place for us. There were a lot of other factors that lead to our angst – like having to learn a new language for example, the talk of increasing real estate prices in Ecuador, crime levels, etc., etc. The reasons were simply excuses brought on by fear of the unknown.

It was with that turn of events, we refocused our energy on Bonaire. It was certainly a comfort thing – we knew the place, we love the place, English is widely spoken, so why not make it our home? In no time, we were into full investigative mode. We talked for hours about our dream life on that tiny island. It was a wonderful, elaborate dream and then like any dream, reality slowly creeps back in and you wake up with a jolt.

And that is where we are - reality has sunk in. As ideal as Bonaire would be, it’s expensive and it’s not a day-to-day lifestyle we could sustain long term without both having to work full-time at our “hobbies” in order to make enough money to make ends meet, which would be in addition to some form of rental income required just to be able to enjoy those extras in life. Nope. It wasn’t going to happen. I realize working in paradise is different than working in “real life”, but it’s not something we are prepared for. Our whole goal all along is to work less, enjoy life more and we just couldn’t see that happening on Bonaire. Sad, really – reality is harsh.

Today, we are back on the Ecuador bandwagon. Are you getting dizzy yet? I am.

There are things we want, that Bonaire just couldn’t give us long term. There are things that Ecuador might not be able to provide for us either, but at this point, the pros of Ecuador outweigh the pros of Bonaire.

We aren’t looking at it as settling any longer. We are looking at it as a realignment of our life goals. I’m sure I’ll have many more days of indecision, fear and regret before the process is over, but for now, I feel good.

Have a great day!