Sunday, February 03, 2008

timing the two-step


From time to time, I am going to post my move timetable. Every entry is merely a reflection of how I feel on any given day. Last week I would have said I am willing to work for another three years. This week, my retirement date is on the horizon. However, I thought it might be interesting to track the Steveometer to just get a feel where the imagination is heading at any given time. It will be fun to look back on where circumstances take me.

As of today:

Planned retirement date: within 13 months

First rental area: La Manzanilla
Start: April 2009
Duration: 6 months

== return to Oregon, get FM3 visa ==

Second rental area: Pátzcuaro
Start: November 2009
Duration: 6 months

Third rental area: Barra de Navidad
Start: May 2009
Duration: 6 months

Purchase property: July 2010

Yes. Yes. I know I have it all backwards. I am scheduling myself to be on the coast in the heat of summer and in the mountains in the dead of winter. I want to see each area when it is unattractive. After all, if I am going to marry one of these towns, I need to see her warts along with her beauty marks.

6 comments:

Brenda Maas said...

Excellent idea to live in a place at the "worst" time of year. Some people come to a place for a 2 week holiday at the "best" times of the year and then move expecting the whole year to be like their holiday. Not going to happen. As you say you need to see the "warts" along with the good stuff. Six months in each place should give you a good idea of where you want to end up putting down roots. That is if you can ever manage to leave the first place lol. Some places just grow on you.

Steve Cotton said...

Brenda -- I know what you mean about the danger of falling for the first place you see. I have seen enough blogs where people have set up grand plans only to buy property on their first trip. And they all seem to be perfectly happy. That is why I want to keep my plan as flexible as possible.

Anonymous said...

Hi Steve, I've been following your blog for a while now, at the suggestion of your neighbors Bill and Donna. You write beautifully so it's a real pleasure to read. And, of course I laughed outloud at the comment about the "warts"!

Before my husband and I moved to Salem, we had considered relocating to Ellensburg, Washington - a place we had visited in June. Good thing we took a second look in January!

Long story of how we ended up in Salem, but it was the smartest move we ever made. I will continue to follow your quest as you pursue your plans to retire to the country that captured my heart many years ago. There's nowhere else like Mexico. Hay que ir a donde tu corazón te lleve. Alee' Robbins

Steve Cotton said...

Thanks, Alee'. Bill and Donna are great neighbors. Their trips to Mexico help keep alive my plan to move down permanently.

Jonna said...

I don't know about picking the worst time for each place, it has that 'glass half empty' sound to it. Why not fall in love with the most glorious time of the year somewhere, then you can check out the bad times too but you will have a memory of the glorious to see you through.

I want to love a place for the beauty and the silky touch of warm breezes, not the smokey fires and heat of spring when the fields are burning. Those I can live with if necessary but I can also go visiting elsewhere at those times and always miss them.

I really think that you should not lock yourself into 6 months in what you think will be the worst time of the year. Come on, if you are going to hate it you will know that in a few weeks, right? I'd move around a bit more, it's not like you are picking a place that you will be chained to for the rest of your life. Travel is cheap, rent is cheap, you will be able to move from the mountains to the beach whenever the mood or the weather strikes you. Try that and see how you like it.

Steve Cotton said...

Jonna -- The subtext of your comment is that you see right through me. And you are probably correct. I have produced a great timetable that would be loved by any German, but I truly do have an hispanic soul. Circumstances are going to blow me from shore to shore. But I like having a plan -- if only to bask in the light of mediocrity.

You asked: "Why not fall in love with the most glorious time of the year somewhere?" You ask this of a man with five ex-wives? (I made that up. But it may as well be true.)