LOVE this thread! MayasMom88 really warmed my heart with the original post - the part about knowing what 'career' choice you want and that one being a mom. I am 52, my kids are grown and although I went to college, I got an arts degree mostly because I wanted to have fun and also to please my parents and get a degree. But I never had an ambitions towards a career outside the home. I wanted to be a mom.
My kids were born in NYC in the late 80s but we moved to a small cabin in Alaska with an outhouse and no running water inside. But we had a well. We have also lived in relatively suburban areas so I've raised them in a few different environments. But we always lived very simply and usually on one income (sometimes on none - very stressful). Of course, we did the cloth diapers and all the usual natural stuff.
Now I've moved to Australia to be with my new Aussie love and perfect soulmate. We are both broke (he hasn't been able to find work for a couple of years and I was a full-time volunteer at a remote Buddhist center for 3 years) and starting over. We have a small amount of debt - maybe $4000 between us and he has some debt to family but they are not in a rush. So we've moved to Sydney where we plan/hope/pray? we can work for a short amount of time (the jobs are here and he used to make good money in IT) and then move out to the country.
I've always lived simply having been raised by Depression-era relatives so I know how to do most things and need very little. I am very inspired by this thread since I'm starting all over again. We want to have chickens and I'm also hoping for goats. We will grow most of our own food and I'm also really hoping we can find a way to barter for many needs.
So thanks for the inspiration. I'm looking forward to keeping up with this thread. It helps a lot to have pics also of what you have done. Helps the dreaming! Also, I really liked a suggestion made earlier about not waiting forever to have your dream. I second that. Just because we live in a city right now (and actually just staying with friends of his who use the dishwasher every day and both parents work, etc. until we can afford our own place) doesn't mean we can't live simply and use many of our skills right here. All my housekeeping skills alone will save us hundreds of dollars that we would otherwise spend if we lived a typical suburban life. As soon as I have my residency visa, I am planning to work at least part-time, but I mainly just want to help the dream happen faster even tho DH wants me to stay home if that's what I want.
I also want to stress the don't wait for "someday" idea because last winter my sacro-iliac and pubic joints just 'gave out' with no apparent injury. I click like I'm 8 months pregnant and no one seems to be able to tell me any more than my pelvis has opened up wider at the top and it's stressed my pelvic joints and that they don't know what to do about it. I couldn't walk and the pain meds made me crazy (literally) so after much acupuncture and physiotherapy I was much better within 2 months. But OMGosh, I really value my health more now (I hardly ever get sick) and I realize that the time is now, not years from now.
LoveLoveLove what you are all doing. Thanks for sharing your amazing dreams and stories.
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