When you hit a nerve, you can feel it.
Are you letting cobwebs grow over your dreams?
Recently I wrote about a serendipitous kind of day where we made fantastic circular connections and celebrated all that is good about the kind life we have chosen. The day was the result of following our “ideal life strategy” - though this was the first time we had ever used that phrase for it.
Other bloggers felt inspired to write about it. Readers emailed and commented citing examples from their own lives or asking questions about creating their own ideal life strategy.
Our message hasn’t changed, but it appears we have a new name for it.
What is an ideal life strategy?
If you’ve been with us for a while, you know that these are just new words for the same message we’ve been writing about for almost 3 years. If you are new, I can summarize hundreds of blogs posts like this:
You know that dream life you have in your head? Make it real.
Okay, that’s a little simplistic, but it really does boil it down to the essence:
In order to have the life of your dreams, you have to take action to create it in large and small ways every single day.
If you want to change careers, you start training for your next job long before you get it. If you want to write a book, you must first write every day. If you want to be healthy, you put good foods into your body and exercise every day.
You get the idea.
Your ideal life strategy starts by
- Deciding what you want
- Creating the daily actions that will move you closer to that goal
- Being open to the new opportunities that arise from these actions
There is no linear path, fast track, or step-by-step plan to happily ever after. There is only general movement in the direction of your dreams and taking advantage of the opportunities that come your way. In fact, you may decide halfway through that your goal has changed because of a new opportunity that has arisen from your actions.
We sure did.
Getting from there to here
As many of you know, our trip around the world began several years ago with an almost divorce-making moment of “why are we doing this?!”
We were commuting in opposite directions, traveling apart for business every single week, and living in a house that was too big to enjoy in a suburb where we didn’t have time to even make many friends.
We started with one basic question:
What can we do today to make our lives happier?
That question led to a new job search with lifestyle the main focus instead of money or title. We thought by creating this criteria we’d have to settle, but we ended up getting all three. Funny how things work out when you have your head on straight.
We continued asking this same question: What can we do today to make our lives happier?
We moved to Seattle, where we purposefully bought a house 1/3 the size of our old one. We downsized substantially, and the freedom we felt was exhilarating. We paid off our debt. We learned to use public transportation and walk instead of being stuck in a car on a commute, and we got rid of one car. We used our free time to make friends, go out, explore the world, and see what we had been missing.
The beauty of this method? It never ends.
We continued asking ourselves: What can we do today to make our lives happier?
We sought out friends who had qualities we admired, people who challenged us to ‘up our game’ in every way and who were doing great things with their lives. They supported our efforts to change, grow, and evolve.
Over time, we decided to start our own small consulting business, which gave us a new creative outlet and introduced us to more great people. We had dinner together every single night and enjoyed an active social life with our new friends. I joined a book club and took up running, and Warren pursued photography and web design.
When the moment came with the idea to travel full time, we were already in a very good place to make it happen. What would have been almost inconceivable a few years before became a very real possibility. Because of our experience in making small and large changes in our lives over the course of several years, we knew we could do it.
And it took only a second for us to realize it.
The ideal life strategy is simply this: Remove the obstacles in your life. Replace them with the things you want. It can be as big as a job change or move or as small as cleaning out a closet.
We took away long commutes, business travel, over-consumption, and debt to create a lifestyle of minimal possessions and maximum experience.
And now that we are here - the ‘happily ever after’ - what do we do every day? We continue to ask the question, make changes in our lives, and move forward to the next level of happiness. The rewards keep coming as long as you put in the effort every single day.
Your ideal life may seem like it is a long way from the life you are currently living. When you look at the end goal it always does. But by focusing on this simple question you can take a giant leap forward every day single day:
What can you do today to make your life happier?
About Betsy
Thank you Betsy! That’s exactly what I needed to read today.
“And now that we are here – the ‘happily ever after’ – what do we do every day? We continue to ask the question, make changes in our lives, and move forward to the next level of happiness. The rewards keep coming as long as you put in the effort every single day.”
That’s just perfect. I’ve finally attained my goal of coming to Europe. Now, I’m going to continue focusing on being happy and enjoying every moment.
Brenda, I love your attitude of gratitude. Cherishing the moment and appreciating what you have accomplished not only makes it sweeter, it also gives us the motivation to continue working toward bigger dreams.
Enjoy your time in Europe!
I struggle with getting over the first hurdle, what is my ideal life? what do I really want to do?
Travel wasnt “it” for me. I dont really know what “it”is though.
But Rob, that’s the beauty of it. You don’t have to know! (in fact, it might be better if you don’t so you are open to the possibilities)
All you have to do is think about the steps you can take every day to make yourself happier in lots of different ways - work, health, relationships, art, etc. That brings you to your ideal life simply by default. We did not set out with a goal of traveling full-time. In fact, we started out with simply not wanting to spend all our time commuting/traveling for work!
Try asking yourself this question every day, and taking action on the answers, for a month and let us know if you feel better about the direction you are heading. My bet is that you will.
Absolutely Betsy! What held me back for the longest time is feeling like I had to have it all worked out up front — I had to have all the answers before I took action. I was so busy trying to make sure I wasn’t doing it “right” and not making any “mistakes”.
Once I realized that I couldn’t make a mistake and all I needed to do was take action and look at the outcome/results as “feed-back” and make adjustments from there (and stop attaching a bunch of emotion to the out-comes) then I could finally STOP being paralyzed by fear and analysis-paralysis.
Once you’re IN ACTION then suddenly the answers to “what’s my ideal life” start showing up-and they’re usually stuff you never would have considered or could have even conceived of in your “stuck” state.
Much like a sculptor about whom I once read who said “start with a block of stone, and chip away everything that doesn’t look like part of the statue”. It sounds glib, but it’s actually a good way to work on life. We’re inundated with things we ‘should’ do, that other people want us to do, things we “need” to buy, etc..
I’ve discovered that by removing things from my life as I try to minimize my “stuff”, what’s left is the desire for experiences and the fun of planning them.
Yes!
Well, today I’m not sure what else I can do better. It’s Saturday morning, I’m in bed reading wonderful blogs, drinking coffee and eating leftover cheesecake. Hello, my friend Happiness, so nice to see you!
But I’ve never really thought of it as you have presented it. I am miles away from where I was (actually and figuratively), and constantly say how much I love my life (which I never said, before about a year ago). How can I be happier, still? Tough one…some food for thought…
Dalene, I do like your version of happiness. Nice to see that your limited food options include cheesecake!
Happier still for me means accomplishing some of the things I want, like writing a book, completing some physical challenges like hiking the length Hadrian’s Wall, and working on my relationship skills to be a better wife, friend, daughter, and sister.
They may seem like much smaller challenges than the big one of creating a lifestyle of travel, but they really aren’t so different than where we started, and I’m equally curious to see where they will take me.
Once again . . . Wow!
Lately I’ve been digging in and writing a lot about this very topic (in relation to my “secret project”
) and you show up with this post. (Naturally you say in a few words what I take pages to express! Sheesh!)
I think it may be tougher for men (who apparently seem to have a difficult time getting in touch with their “feelings”) to come to grips with what is their “ideal life”. I’ve heard friends (guys) say that they have no idea what their “passionate” about or what their perfect life would be. (In fact, a lot of guys just think you’re a lame dumb-ass for bringing up the subject!) Usually men’s “vision” of a perfect life is some hazy idea about having a zillion dollars in the bank, a big boat, an Aston Martin . . . and possibly some anatomically enhanced “arm-candy”-maybe one on each arm.
I think that this “vision” is really a “default” game-plan that has been programmed into us by the media and guys adopt it because we really don’t have any idea what we want. (And of course since most guys don’t feel in a million years they’ll be able to achieve that . . . um . . . lofty(?) life-style they don’t even try. So it is a nice, simple “easy out” for not taking action at all.)
On the other hand, even if we DO have a solid idea of what we feel would be our ideal life, we often aren’t living it because we have faulty beliefs about what it is going to take to achieve it. “Sure I’d love to travel the world, but I don’t happen to have a million bucks rotting in a saving account to make that possible.”
Obviously-as been proven by you two and many others-that being independently wealthy is NOT a prerequisite for world travel.
It is usually these kinds of unexamined beliefs that stall us and prevent us from living the life we want. Often we have a lot of fear that keeps us stuck and the foundations of this fear are a lot of inaccurate beliefs and unexamined assumptions.
Unfortunately the question, “What can we do today to make our lives happier?” sometimes — maybe often — really can’t be answered from where and how we’re viewing the World at that point. We might simply have zero idea of how to answer it.
And for people that want to have “all the answers” and have a clearly detailed 7-step blue-print to make sure they “get everything ‘right’” before they take any action-this is the place you really get stuck. (This is what kept me lodged in my former life for so long.)
Sometimes you just have to take action — ANY action — even if it only serves to help you to become very clear of what you don’t want to finally discover what you DO want. The important key here is to break free of the inertia of indecision and get into action! Then you can start making the adjustments “on the fly” that will get you to where you do want to be.
Make a mess! Its impossibly make a “mistake”- it is all just “feed-back!” (Uh, yeah I guess you can “make a mistake”; do nothing, stay stuck, grow old and sit around in a geriatric center moaning about all the stuff you shoulda done — my personal definition of Hell, btw Now THAT’S a mistake!).
Once you’re taking action and beginning to assess the “feed-back”, soon you will discover a Clarity of Vision developing about what you want for your life. This Clarity of Vision gives birth to Passion!
Living a Life of Passion . . . is orgasmically groovy-and a helluva lotta more fun! (Even when it hurts.)
I’m so intrigued by this secret project, Tranque!
Action is the right response. From it comes clarity you can only see when in motion, adjustment to the course, and all those things you can’t do while sitting still. (I’m dying to know your full story, Tranque. Do I at least get a sneak peek of this secret project?) You may be right about not knowing what action to take to be happier, but I think we can all agree it is easy to point out what’s not working. Maybe it is just as useful to have a “stop to do” list as it is a “to do” list on the path the happiness.
One book I’ve read recently (and actually have a blog post scheduled) is Do the Work by Steven Pressfield. It is a short ebook that is currently FREE on Amazon and something I think we can all benefit from reading. It is all about starting, acting, finishing - not just patting yourself on the back because you have a great idea. Good ideas are a dime a dozen - it is action on that idea that is the real accomplishment.
Thanks again for another insightful comment. I feel like we’re feeding a monster here, one that will soon overtake us on the path to spreading the message of living better. And I’m very, very happy about that. Go, Tranque! (and not just because you used the phrase “orgasmically groovy” in your comment, though that doesn’t hurt. In fact, I think we should all try to use that phrase in normal conversation this week to see what happens!)
Betsy:
I went looking for that free ebook, and I can’t find it. Do you have a link, perchance?
Thanks..
oh, no, Rob. I just checked and it is no longer free - it was still free as of a couple of days ago when I wrote my post! It is now $9.20 on the UK version of Amazon. I did a little digging and it appears it was free before through a sponsorship by GE. Now that the sponsorship has ended, the book is back to regular price.
http://www.thedominoproject.com/2011/03/changing-the-game-do-the-work-is-free-for-now.html
OK. Thanks. I may get it anyway. Or not, and put that $9 into the travel fund
lol!! That’s hilarious! I’ve been a sl-o-o-o-w learner at times. I definitely need the “STOP! Doing This” List.
I forgot to comment on the “stop doing” list. A fantastic idea. I think it would make the act of embracing minimalism easier. A lot easier. And lists are goals, so if the list is in a prominent place one will feel the pressure to achieve the goals…
I think I’ll try implementing a paired list. A “stop doing” list and a “start doing” list.
Rob, a “stop doing list” was one thing I implemented as a business owner and it made my life so much better. I began telling my clients about it, and after a double take many of them tried it, too. Have you ever seen the movie Office Space? I’m not necessarily advocating that track, but I do think it is healthy to refuse to continue preparing TSP reports that no one reads (and including the proper cover sheet!).
We always think we need to do more, but often we need to less (or more of the right things and less of the wrong ones, to be more accurate). Let us know how you do with your paired list experiment - I’m interested in seeing how this turns out for you.
@Betsy: As a consultant/contractor geek I don’t usually have to create TSP reports, or if I do I get paid to do it
Most of my “stop doing” stuff will involve the non-work portion of my life. This networked world in which we live provides innumerable opportunities to waste time. Facebook & twitter leap to mind when I type this, but they are only a part of, or perhaps a symptom of the ADHD, stimulation seeking world we’ve created for ourselves.
I think other candidates for a “stop doing” list might also be people who don’t contribute anything positive to your life, activities that are “downers” but you do just “because”. Etc…
As well there’s the “If I stop doing this thing that I actually like somewhat, I’ll be able to save money to do the thing I really really want to do.” category. Not spending $5/day on coffee but saving that $1000-$1500 as part of a travel fund. Ditto magazine subscriptions, etc.
The possibilities are endless!
Rob, you and Ayngelina have it right - those people and things that suck the good energy out of your life are the things at that go the top of the “stop doing” list, like the coworker/friend/family member who only complains and never does anything to change their circumstances - but expects you to listen to their complaints every day anyway.
One thing that made a huge difference in our “stop doing” list was giving up television. We thought we were minimal television watchers until we had it taken away.
The challenge to this is you might replace it with DVD watching or more online time, so there are pitfalls, but if you do it right you’ll find hours in every day with which to pursue your goals (learn a language, write a book, exercise, visit your friends, etc.).
Good luck, Rob. I can’t wait to see how this goes for you!
Indeed. I threw a minor fit (at myself) last April (13 months ago) when I realized that I had just watched a program that (1) I didn’t like and (2) didn’t remember anyway. The next day cable TV service was canceled and the TV was out in the garage, and within 2 weeks the TV was sold. I don’t find that I replace that time with DVD watching or web time, since I’m already online all the time anyway. I can’t “recreate” online or in front of a computer after a day of working on it. I have gotten a lot of books read, though!
The difficulty with the “stop doing” list is, of course, that often we’re doing things because they give some pleasure or benefit. So, a subscription to an e-mail newsletter might be “nice” but may well not be worth $x/month if you look at it from the perspective of $x/month that isn’t going into your travel fund, house fund, or whatever fund. And it takes time from your day. And so on.
Rob, this is a subject I could talk about for hours. I agree that you have to draw a line between what is working for you and what is not. More importantly, you have to continually evaluate this. Baker over at Man vs. Debt talks about the problems with automating your finances via credit card - you set it up at the beginning of the service before you even know if you will like it and then you forget about it. Before long, you realize you’ve been paying $10/25/99 a month on a service that doesn’t fit you anymore (or maybe never did).
One of the best things I did as an entrepreneur was to learn to evaluate my banking/credit card statements from a perspective of “is this still serving my business” instead of “is this a legitimate charge.” Warren taught me that because he does the same thing with our personal finances. Small change, huge difference.
I’d like to chat more about your “stop doing” list efforts. In fact, I’d like to talk to anyone who is trying this for the first time or who has already done it and see if we can come up with some strategies to help other people do the same. I’ll email you privately, Rob. Anyone else can contact me at btalbot (at) marriedwithluggage (dot) com.
Hi you two…what a beautiful post that is perfectly pragmatic yet dreamily…mmm..dreamy! Seriously, I adore your story and love the simplicity of your question, ‘What can I do today to make my life happier?’ I am slowly realising that I have been making those daily changes, skill & knowledge acquisitions, connections, ect…and this ship is about to sail. Oh my goodness! Thanks for inspiring and being a part of my journey…
Denise
Denise, what I see as a common factor in people who live dream lives and accomplish big things is that they continually ask themselves some variation of this question. They just instinctively do more, demand more, and create more than the rest of us. It may not be instinctive to most of us like it is to them, but it is a habit we can easily form to mimic their success!
Love this post.
We’re sitting here plotting out the day and were just recollecting our decision, several years ago, to move from a house to a tiny townhouse. That decision – minimizing / simplifying – was a huge decision (action!) that has led to an entirely different way of thinking and living. We didn’t know, back then, that we’d be traveling the world and using our little townhouse in Seattle as a perfect home-base to recharge.
Today, to be happy, we’re going to go through our already-scaled-down possessions to see what else we can donate / get rid of. Who knows what it’ll lead to
Kent, YOU GUYS WERE IN SEATTLE THIS WHOLE TIME? I’m just gutted that we didn’t meet in person before we left. Or maybe we did and just didn’t know it?
It just goes to show, you don’t have to travel the world to find kindred spirits and fellow dreamers. They can be in your own backyard if you take the time to look.
You guys broke my heart and made my day all at the same time. I’m sure we’ll meet up in person eventually.
Hi Betsy,
This is my first time commenting, although I have visited your blog many times, and your blog link is on my blog
I really needed to read this post today AND the interesting/inspiring comments by everyone following. I’ve been literally working hard to get my house ready to sell as part of my action plan for a better life. I decided about two years ago to get rid of debt, downsize, get mobile and move away from my hometown. Possibly move overseas for a few years.
I have no debt and only pay for basic living expenses. I have an on-line business I can take anywhere to supplement my income. I saved up for my first laptop and got it last month, so now I’m mobile. I make very little money, really, a pittance to most, but I’m not wanting anything.
Interviewing is ongoing for work overseas and cramming my time with purging as much as possible. That’s where I’m having the downer’s lately, as there is so much more stuff than I ever thought I had. It overwhelms me. And I thought I was living lean. Goes to show I must have shifted internally further along the path of minimalism. Moving overseas is within sight, and adds to the stress of being ready for it!
So, I guess I’m saying in a round about way…THANK YOU for your post and for giving me a clear question I can use to refocus my perspective when the going gets tough.
I am sending this post to my daughter, newly relocated to Seattle (her dream!).
I am so excited for you! What a big moment in your life - you must be full of butterflies and anticipation right about now. You’ve also revealed a big secret about this blog - a LOT of the good stuff comes about in the comments, so I’m glad you threw your hat into the ring and added yours. People are always jazzed to read about someone really DOING IT! I know I am.
You’ve learned the key to mobile living. It is not the money you make, because you can always stop somewhere and make a few bucks. It is in not owing anyone else or owning anything else - the fact that you are mobile, lean, and have very few needs. It makes acquiring your “wants” much easier when the necessities are cheap.
Please keep in touch with us - either in the comments or via email if you need a little boost. It sounds like you are 85% down the path already, and we are privileged to watch you go that last 15%. Hurray for all your hard work. Your dream is just around the corner. Be careful what you ask for - I have a feeling it will be even more amazing than you think.
Much love and luck to you on your journey.
Thanks, Betsy, for being such a great cheerleader!
Yes, there are butterflies. I’m nervously excited. I have a plan “B”, if the overseas plan falls through, so either way I’m moving toward more of what I want for my life and putting myself in opportunities path.
I’ll be glad to check in again! Cheers
What a wonderful post! You always know how to convey exactly what I’m feeling. Jim & I do know what our ideal life is and we’re working towards it but I must tell you it’s very energizing to read a post such as this to keep up the motivation and keep us moving in the right direction. You both are truly inspiring to all of us out there who are still working on the process. Keep up the great posts!
Rhonda, do you think we might be twins separated at birth?
People so often think life change is about doing big things, but it really comes down to the tiny little decisions you make everyday - where you spend your money, time, and attention - that lay the groundwork for the big transitions. Look at the end goal and it will always seem a long way off. Think about the feeling you want in your dream life every day and you will naturally gravitate toward your dream life through all those little decisions.
After all, we shouldn’t have to wait until X date to be happy, should we? We should be getting there in little ways every single day, compounding our happiness with our continued movement in the right direction. You and Jim are on the right track!
Amen sister!! I just can’t wait until we’re on the road and meet up with you guys somewhere along the way (because you know we will!!!) I just can’t believe we never met with you in Seattle and us in Portland. I think living life fully EVERY day is the way to go and until we actually get on the road again we’re simply focusing on making the decisions that will affect our future AND appreciating all the beauty in the world we live in.
I love this. It is so, so, so, so SO freaking true. I always tell people that I am constantly working towards my goal (or ideal life, it’s the same thing). Every decision I make leads me in that direction and sometimes (many times) I am the only one that can tell I’m on that path. But I’m on it and it feels great. You guys are such an inspiration and fabulous writers to boot.
Kim, that’s the beauty of traveling your own path - it doesn’t have to work for anyone else but you, and no one but you needs to know the route!
I love this analogy.
Love this!
I’d like to post this on my blog if that’s okay?
~Aloha
We’re always happy to have you link to our posts, Kate.
Love this strategy. Being on the road has helped me let go of things that were negative in my life - both things and people. Life is too short to spend energy on things that do not add to your life.
You are so right, Ayngelina. It isn’t until those things/people are out of your life that you realize what a drain they can be. Enjoy your time in Buenos Aires!
Hi betsy, thank you so much for this amazingly timed post. It’s really made me think! I’ve followed your blog for a long time and love what you two are doing!
As a person that has already made the big decision, I was wondering if you could help us go through similar process.
We really want to go travelling for six weeks this summer. We can afford to pay for it, and have the time, but there are three things that are stopping us, and we really don’t know what to do. Here are the three issues.
cats - we adore our cats, so we were thinking of hiring a professional housesitter/petsitter.
my thesis - the holiday plan is to sit between submitting my PhD thesis and my viva. Unfortunately, they won’t tell you when the viva is likely, so I don’t actually know for sure! However, everyone I’ve spoken to say that if you submit in the summer, you won’t get examined till late september…. however, I am weary of betting on this!
Finally, is the job prospect. Being in academia, potential for them giving me a job come September is shakey. I am wondering if being not visible at work all summer would be a bad thing.
On the flip side, the viva could be late september/october, I might not get a job anyway, in which case I would be kicking myself for not going on a trip of a life time.
We’re totally frozen in this situation and we really don’t know what to do next, or get out of this corner. Do you have any advice on what we could be doing to get our selves out?
Hi, Maria. Six weeks of travel sounds fantastic, especially after all the hard work you’ve done. I don’t have any experience in being a PhD or getting a job in academia, so I’m no help there (readers?), but I can tell you that a housesitter is an easy way to go for your cats. We are members of a couple of housesitting websites and it is pretty easy for a homeowner to find someone to sit for free depending on where you live (we even got one gig through friends of friends on Facebook, but generally you have to know people really flexible like us to do that).
My advice is always to do the thing you have the least odds of being able to do at another time - like a long trip. You have the rest of your life to work, and depending on the type of job you are looking for, the extended travel might be a bonus for your resume/CV - something the other candidates won’t have.
I’m throwing this one out to our readers to see if anyone has another perspective.
PS - I see from your blog that you are headed to Scotland for a short trip this week - we just arrived in Edinburgh today. If you are close by message us and we’ll find a way to get together and discuss in person.
Something to keep in mind every day. Well said.
Know what? I’m going to bookmark this and re-read it whenever I need a reminder of why I’m doing the things I am. This is perfect. So glad I made the jump over from Think Traffic today!
Hey, Amber. Nice to have you here! It is easy to get caught up in the work and forget the reason, especially when you get tired or people start questioning your lifestyle. Keeping it top of mind as a part of your daily life makes it easier to stay on track.
Can you tell us what kinds of things you are working on? We love hearing about other people chasing the ideal life (since it looks different for all of us, it is never boring).
I have a deep passion for this kind of thing. I believe people like us share a single title explore. I have been around the world as a soldier. We live in such a great time with the web now, all can explore. I look forward to your books and web site. Soon i will start the strangest had maybe the hardest exploration known to human kind.
Keep up the rhythms
Darcy
I am SO happy I stumbled upon your site. You have done an incredible job, and I have a ton of reading ahead of me! Expect quite a few trackbacks from my blog!!
The article that you both wrote for LearnVest last year (I think?) knocked my socks off and inspired me to no end. I was saving to go to France with my mom on vacation (and to run the Marathon du Medoc in Bordeaux) and it really helped me focus and save. I have just started saving again for another trip that she and I will take together next spring to Champagne & Normandy and needed a little extra reminder- so I searched for the article and read it again. And then, I saw it- there was your website link! Hooray!
I am so inspired by your story. Like many readers above, I am still trying to figure out exactly what it is I want to do. I’ve had an inkling for a couple of years now about a path for myself, so have been working on laying the foundation for that to happen. Wine Education. That’s what I think I want to do. So, I work in the wine business in California, and have been taking classes for the last year and a half with a well-known international wine education program. I am currently a Diploma student. I know for certain that I do have a fear which is partially blocking the road- I would like to have a little business doing independent wine education, but I have no idea how to go about doing the legal parts of the job. I don’t know how to set up a business. I never wanted to have my own business, for fear of liability, etc, and when alcohol is involved it’s a big deal. Plus I have no idea what the legal requirements are for being a wine educator in terms of bringing wine to an educational class or party type setting. I’m not really sure how to find out. Ultimately, I would love it if this is what I got to do for money, fulltime. I would love to create a program for the place I work, but I’m not certain the climate it right. Plus I want to be able to own all of my material.
I also want to be able to travel to the south of France and stay for a few weeks at a time in farmhouses, travel to Italy ,and other countries on my list! Live large!
Any advice or thoughts from anyone out there is the blog-o-sphere would be fabulous, regarding any of that!
Cheers!