Thursday is the 15th of July, which marks exactly 3 months from the date of our passport entry stamp and just over 1 year since we sold most everything and took up a nomadic lifestyle.  Causes pause for reflection, which we’ve been doing a lot of—talking, dreaming, reminiscing, scheming—during various excursions to beach towns in search of an Oceanside rental which we were thinking we’d make our next one-month home in Nicaragua. 

We haven’t found Fred’s dream house (though we did see some great ones), but we have found some clarity.  We are aware that our very use of the word “plan” is an oxymoron but have yet to come up with a more succinct alternative: what IS a single word that means the intention to act upon a spontaneous idea for whatever length of time that idea produces a pleasurable result?

Anyway, living in Nicaragua has made us clear that this lifestyle is for us.  We enjoy how the small, daily challenges of living abroad prevent an auto-pilot state of mind.  We love the laid-back atmosphere, the non-consumer attitude, and the overall feeling of safety and freedom.  We’ve experienced how we can live an amazing quality of life for a fraction of the cost of typical U.S. living. 

We’re also clear, that to do so, leisurely, we can’t have any American-style obligations lingering.  Without loose ends such as car ownership, a sprint contract, that one last credit card (none of which a plummeted real estate market have helped) it would be truly easy living down here.

And we haven’t forgotten all the ways life in the states is amazing.  So, we are returning for awhile!  Don’t even ask, because we don’t know where, what, why, how, or for how long, but after a final beach vacation in Las Penitas (of course!) we’ll land on the good old farm in Ohio and figure out some things until our next foreign voyage, keeping in mind that life, in any location, is an adventure. 

Here are some things we do know:

We won’t miss: beans; cold showers; rude bus riders; firecrackers (at all hours of everyday and night); roving trucks with concert speakers blaring advertisements; old, lumpy pillows; scrawny, feral dogs; and trying to express ourselves in Spanish.

We will miss: markets; fruit; our Nica family; the beach; $150/month rent; the lack of crime; year-round warmth; lush countryside; cheap, easy nationwide transportation; the creative re-using of just about everything; 50 cent cab rides; and trying to express ourselves in Spanish.

We are looking forward to: soft, fitted sheets; a frost-free freezer; an espresso maker; water flowing from the faucet anytime we turn it on; consistent power that doesn’t shut-down inexplicably; being able to ask for exactly what it is we are looking for; and, most of all, seeing our family and friends!