Are Bucket Lists Overrated? Retirement Abroad Could Be the Answer to All Your Problems.

Everybody Has One!

Early in life we learn to set goals. My goals were always mountainous. "I'm going to climb Mt. Everest some day" or "I'm gonna be a Millionaire!" All goals begin with a dream! For me, I always wanted to have my own business and ventured into self-employment several times in my lifetime. While I was in the Navy stationed at Naval Air Station Beeville Texas, I had a wife and three kids, and my Navy pay was just barely enough to survive on. We couldn't afford the nice things in life. So, I began doing some yard mowing to supplement my income, which lead me to some landscaping jobs. But the real money was in tree trimming... Texas Live Oak trees. People who owned land covered in Live Oaks usually had lots of money and they loved their trees, a lot! Before long I was making more money in tree services than the Navy was paying me. At one point, I became so busy I thought about ending my 10-year stint with the Navy and striking out alone in the world of self-employment. When I discussed this option with my father, who was well into his sixties and doing yard maintenance at the time, he literally threatened to kick my ass if I made the decision to leave the Navy. Eventually my dad's logic (threats) became pervasive enough, and I reenlisted and was sent to the Philippines. Although that turned out to be the best decision I had ever made in my young life, the Navy life took its toll on my marriage and a year after arriving in the Philippines, I found myself divorced. But in the end that was okay, because I met my beautiful wife Teri and we married two years later.

End of Career, Now What?

When I finally retired from the Navy from my cushy weather office job in Ridgecrest, CA., Teri and I opened a small restaurant. A Chicago-style sandwich shop serving Italian Beef and Italian Sausage sandwiches and of course, the famous Chicago-Style Hot Dog. We were killing it until China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station received word it could face closure. It was like someone turned off the light switch and business literally dried up overnight. People were panicked about losing their jobs and having to relocate. It was 1994 and the California economy was in a recession, and the threat of the base closure doomed us into bankruptcy. We closed the restaurant after 18 months, but before then business was so good, we branched out and opened a nightclub. Just prior to the potential base closure announcement, California issued legislation and put out the smoking lamp in all businesses. Bars were exempt, but only if outfitted with a state-approved air filtering and recirculation system. Because our club was over 5,000 square feet, we were required to have two systems. The cost would have set us back over $20,000. We sold out of the nightclub venture, and I went back into the weather business taking a job with the National Weather Service in Tupelo, Mississippi.

Left High and Dry!

Just after getting settled and our feet back on the ground in Mississippi, the Tupelo NWS office was slated for closure the very next year. The government gave me the option of transferring to Lubbock Texas under a term contract with no guarantee of future employment. I rejected the offer and resigned, choosing to stay on with a government contractor as a Automated Surface Observation Station (ASOS) Meteorological Technician. A fancy title for a weather observer to augment the equipment left by the NWS for the local airport. After moving around the planet every three years with the Navy for more than 20 years, the Mrs. and I decided to stay planted in Mississippi and plant some roots. Because of the uncertainty with that job long-term, we started another business in Tupelo - an outdoor products business. Teri then opened her own custom clothing alterations business as I was building "The Barnyard" business selling sheds, decks, outdoor cedar furniture, and yard art. Things were finally looking up.

Custom Alterations was a lucrative business!

Then tragedy struck the family when my brother in Texas fell off a 4-foot ladder and broke his neck - the exact same injury which Christopher Reeves suffered. We immediately decided to move to be with family in Texas to help out. We quickly sold The Barnyard, put our house on the market, and made plans to head to Texas. Our house lingered on the market for some time and before we could find a buyer, brother Dan, now a quadriplegic confined to a wheelchair, was receiving state help and his wife and other family members were handling the situation just fine. We never sold the house, and one thing led to another, and I wound up going into the real estate business.

Real Estate Brokerage in Tupelo, Mississippi

Success Finally Achieved.

To make this longer story a little shorter, I would eventually obtain my Broker's license and venture out with my own brokerage. For the next 10 years, business was very good to Teri and me. The amount of success we enjoyed seen me obtain all those lofty and materialistic goals I started out with in life. Together, we had climbed the proverbial mountain, and we had arrived on top. We were the caricature of the American Dream, circa 2007. We had two successful businesses, two cars, a motorhome, a sailboat, two rental properties, and a huge house overlooking the lake and the #2 tee box on a beautiful golf course. We also had a mortgage obligation that kept us awake at night. But mostly, we had the glow and to maintain that glow, it took everything out of us. It absolutely absorbed all of our free time and sucked the enjoyment out of life itself. We learned that having it all isn't everything it's cracked up to be. But we had to learn the hard way, and we did.

The Great Recession hit in 2008 and hit us hard. The very worst place to be at that time was in the real estate business. Once again, some 15 years after closing our California restaurant, we were faced with a critical decision. To dig our heels in and live with all the encumbrances and stress or sell it all and retire to the Philippines. And that's exactly what we did.

We sold it all and made our EXiT!

It was now 2012 and at age 57, I was tired and the stress was affecting my health. I really didn't have the wherewithal to continue the struggle. With most all of my lofty goals accomplished, there wasn't anything really left on my bucket list at this point (except maybe Mt Everest). Everything I had always hoped for came to fruition over the years through much hard work and perseverance but at this point we weren't living, we were simply existing.

Oh Yeah, One More Thing.

After selling everything and retiring to the Philippines in 2013, we finished up with the construction on our home in Calbayog City and moved in. Miraculously, all the stress was gone, and life was good again. Better than expected. But then, four years into our retirement, something changed. We literally became bored with nothing to keep us occupied. Calbayog City eventually fell short of our retirement expectations, and we decided to retreat to Guam. From here, most of our followers know the story... how we now travel back and forth from Guam to Samar to satisfy our lifestyle needs at will.

As it turned out, there was still one thing on my bucket list I never had the time or opportunity to pursue. I was just too busy with everything else in life... sailing, camping, business ventures, construction, and working hard to keep it all. The both of us had reached that point where if I mentioned one more bucket list item to my wife, she would probably leave me. But time heals all wounds as they say, and now some 13 years later, she finally conceded and gave in on my one last, long-forgotten bucket list item. I finally got my Harley Davidson. There was nothing left on my list... well except for a pool table. And I just lucked into one!

It's not a new table and it needs some work, but it does come with an ocean view. And I can guarantee you that from this point in my life going forward, the bucket list has been whittled down to just the enjoyment of life. And if I should ever happen to get any more bonehead ideas, I'm just gonna keep my thoughts to myself and my mouth shut. Because I enjoy being married to my wonderful wife.

Enjoying retirement in the Tropic Shade!