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Thread: Selling house, Quitting Jobs, Simplifying and Moving to Rural Vermont

  1. #11
    Senior Member Gardenarian's Avatar
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    How exciting!
    Vermont is so beautiful. I look forward to hearing your story unfold!

    Are you in a mobile home park, or on a lot?

  2. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by ctg492 View Post
    For us what we should have done is closed everything up and tried it for a year.
    Oh I sooooo agree with this. I have moved a huge amount in my life (military dad, me in the military, ex-dh in the military) and I have been to many places I love...for awhile :-)! But many of those places, while great, were not places I would want to live forever. I know most people can't financially afford to do just lock up the house and rent in a new place for a year to see how they like it, but often going there several times a year in different seasons can help. In Chaudogs cases I think he/she spent time there before and it sounds like they know the area well and know what to expect, so probably will be good. And if not, having an exit strategy is always good. I know I though I'd like mountain ski resort life, and I do, but a small village (no matter how lively in ski or summer season) in a hard to get to area wasn't ideal for me. I was able to sell my place and move so no biggie. However, if I were going to move to a new area I "thought" I might like, I'd rent for a year before making any big commitment.

  3. #13
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    What a great idea!

    I live in MA and have spent a lot of time in VT and all I can say is GREAT idea! Life seems much simpler "up north". I wish you the best of luck and visit all of the state parks in VT (especially Elmore State Park, my favorite!).

  4. #14
    Senior Member catherine's Avatar
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    I'm jealous! I just got back from visiting my kids who live in Vermont (they fell in love with it after we spent many years vacationing there as a family). They were giving DH and us the hard sell on getting rid of our house here in NJ and moving up near them.. I have to admit, I am very, very tempted.

    Looking forward to hearing your experiences!
    "Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it--every, every minute?" Emily Webb, Our Town
    www.silententry.wordpress.com

  5. #15
    Senior Member Selah's Avatar
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    Nice to meet you and good luck! I am almost 48 and my husband just turned 60. Three years ago, we sold our house and auctioned off nearly all our possessions. We moved from rural Nevada to Boca Raton, Florida for a year, and stayed in an apartment for a year. We then moved to Israel, and are still renting and are using our landlord's lovely furniture. We have new jobs, new friends, and a completely different lifestyle. We miss some of the things we left behind, but we do not in any way, shape, or form regret the choice we made.

  6. #16
    Junior Member chauddog's Avatar
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    It has been a while since I checked in because life has been going a little crazy! I just want to say I really appreciate all the comments and feedback people supplied! You all are so great! Thought I would provide an update and provide answers to some folks questions/comments. Our house was put on the market last week. We had one showing and got two offers that day for what we thought was a fair price. We are just waiting on the closing at the end of April (barring any surprises) so our journey is starting to unfold! We have now registered our cars in VT, got our drivers licenses and registered to vote. In regards to peoples' comments about how familiar we are with the small rural town (< 1000 people) we are moving to. We have owned the property for two years and have spent probably about 75% of our weekends there as well as vacation weeks in all seasons. We love the winter as well as the summer there and enjoy being outdoors in all seasons. Our mobile home has a full basement and sits on 10.5 acres of a mostly wooded lot surrounded by hundreds of acres of rural farmland. Over the past two years, we have started to integrate into the community and have done volunteer work and attended lots of community events. We have made friends there also and have a very close friend who lives close by whom we have know for many years. We have also gotten to become quite close with all of our neighbors up there (although they are a distance away.) Everyone has been so welcoming and although it may not have been clear in the prior posting, we are a gay couple. That concerned us a bit being in such a small rural community but we have experienced very little negativity around that fact and really have felt completely welcome even by the old Vermonters who have been there for many generations although we will always be "flatlanders." We are on the edge the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont and although it is quite rural, it is less than a half hour to stores in nearby NH and Barre, VT when we do need provisions and is close to a lot of state and national parklands. As some of you expressed, we are realistic that in the end this all may not work out...so we have been careful to sock some money away over the years to provide us a cushion. In addition, the proceeds from the sale of our house will help to keep us afloat as we find ourselves. My partner has spent much of his free time since leaving his job over a month ago fixing up our house for sale and helping to get our Vermont house ready. Although still a little nervous, we still feel really good about our decision. With two friends of mine in their 40's just having experienced a stroke and another in our age bracket suffering a heart attack, we feel further validated that our downscaling is the right path. Although my job has been a little stressful as of late, it continue to provide the work at home flexibility which is making our transition easier. I will probably make a change in employment by summer but we first need to make sure we can obtain health insurance at a reasonable rate. I will provide another update after we make the final transition but at this point things are going according to schedule! Thanks again for all your comments and advice!

  7. #17
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    Sounds wonderful - best of luck to you both!

  8. #18
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    I love how Obama care is allowing some people to follow their dreams independent from their employment situation.

  9. #19
    Senior Member gimmethesimplelife's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tammy View Post
    I love how Obama care is allowing some people to follow their dreams independent from their employment situation.
    I know what you mean, Tammy. Just having insurance makes me feel more brave and willing to take on some risk. My truth is that I need to find some niche in which to be self employed and having insurance detached from employment sure makes this a lot more possible. I know I have been down on a lot of things for awhile but this development here really is incredibly liberating for some of us. I feel like I'm obligated to make the most of it. Rob

  10. #20
    Junior Member chauddog's Avatar
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    We did look on the government health care site but it still seemed quite expensive. We'll probably eventually go with a high deductible plan but for now we still have health care through my employer. Also, Vermont is planning on moving to a single payer plan which is exciting. If it goes through as they expect, it will be the first state to have health care access for all Vermont residents paid for through taxes. Very exciting...but I think still at least a couple of years away.

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