Tag: Moving

Onwards

We sold our house and left San Jose, CA on October 22, 2022 to pursue my nearly lifelong dream of cruising on a sailboat in the Caribbean. I get bored with the same-old and we’ve been living in California for nearly 18 years but now it was time for something new. Something to push us out of our comfort zone. Something that was going to introduce us to new people and places.

For months prior to October, we spent our time packing and planning. Packing a house of 3500 sq. feet and things we and our three kids have acquired over 18 years was much more challenging than I had imagined. We finally packed up the U-haul on October 22, 2022 of the items we staged to go to the boat and some things that didn’t fit in the Pod that we were sending to Sarasota, FL, our new residence. At the time of writing this, we have 4 storage rooms. Three in Virginia and one in Florida. Two of the storage units in Virginia will ultimately be emptied when we finally return to Virginia to put While One on the hard in June. JK Moving has the rest of our household belongings for long term storage.

I thought I’d start this blog to capture all of the places we’ve either visited or passed through since starting this adventure. This will be a living blog, updated as we visit new places.

San Jose, CA to Sarasota, FL 2022 — 4000+ miles

  • Gilroy, CA
  • Los Banos, CA
  • Kettleman City, CA
  • San Fernando, CA
  • Glendale, CA
  • Pasadena, CA
  • San Bernardino, CA
  • Palm Springs, CA
  • Palm Desert, CA
  • Blythe, CA (The last place we got Gas at and paid California prices!!!)
  • Quartzsite, AZ
  • New Hope, AZ
  • Phoenix, AZ
  • Tucson, AZ
  • Benson, AZ
  • Wilcox, AZ
  • Bowie, AZ
  • San Simon, AZ
  • Lordsburg, TX
  • Deming, TX
  • Las Cruces, TX
  • White Sands, TX
  • Santa Rosa, TX
  • Tucumcari, TX
  • Amarillo, TX
  • Pampa, TX
  • Canadian, TX
  • Enid, OK
  • Tulsa, OK
  • Little Rock, AK
  • Memphis, TN
  • Nashville, TN
  • Hendersonville, TN
  • Cardiff, TN
  • Knoxville, TN
  • Asheville, NC
  • Statesville, NC
  • Cornelius, NC
  • Charlotte, NC
  • Kannapolis, NC
  • Greensboro, NC
  • Durham, NC
  • Raleigh, NC
  • Wake Forest, NC
  • Richmond, VA
  • West Point, VA
  • Mathews, VA
  • Williamsburg, VA
  • Yorktown, VA
  • Gloucester, VA
  • Beaufort, NC
  • Jacksonville, FL
  • Tampa, FL
  • Ocala, FL
  • Sarasota, FL

Sarasota, FL to Fort Lauderdale, FL (214 Miles)

  • Venice, FL
  • Cape Coral, FL
  • Naples, FL
  • Fort Lauderdale, FL

Bahamas 2023

  • Alice Town, Bimini
  • Bailey Town, Bimini
  • Great Harbour Cay, Berry Islands
  • Chub Cay, Berry Islands
  • Spanish Wells, Eleuthera

Finally! We’re Moving Out Today

We’ve literally been packing this house since March. The POD is fully packed…and I mean FULLY but somehow we still have to find room for another half-dozen items or more. We were unable to bring our bikes and a few other items so I guess we’ll be hauling them to Virginia and storing them until June when we sail back to haul While One out.

It’s a little surreal. I’ve been working towards this day for probably a decade or more and to finally see it come to fruition is a huge pile of emotions. I thought I’ve feel relief by now. Perhaps it’s due to lack of sleep. I can’t remember the last time I’ve slept through the night and the past handful of days, it has spread to Sherine as well. I’m excited to do something new yet, at the same time, sad to see this chapter of my life done. Scared that I’m making the wrong decision. Worried about everything that’s going on in the World and in the United States.

The sorting, selling, packing, giving away and moving stuff from one room to the next, to a storage room and back to the house and between storage rooms has been exhausting. We have probably dozens of man/woman days invested in this move and we’re not quite done. In December we have to unload the pod and try to make our new house a home. We have a storage unit in Sarasota because, let’s face it, the 900 sq. ft. house we’re moving into isn’t going to come close to holding our stuff…even after splitting it between long term storage with JK Moving and our boat. I’m trying to live in the moment and appreciate this for every minute…I’m not likely to experience anything like this again in my lifetime. On the other hand, when I’m finally at anchor or at a marina in Bimini in December, that’s when I think it’ll all sink in.

Yesterday evening my retirement was communicated to the greater Apple Watch System team. It was emotional…I expected it to be so but even so, it’s hard to prepare. Looking at a picture shown taken at the factory with iPhone ready to be shipped…a few more pounds, a lot more gray, less hair on my head and no beard. It was a great time. Apple’s been so good to my family and I and I’ve been so fortunate to have had the opportunity to work on two highly successful products that have literally changed the world.

10 Days to go and we’re closing up the door on the U-Haul trailer and heading cross-country.