Yes, it is the New Year coming up but it’s so much more than that. January will change our address and a big shift in me personally. I’ll have to consider what to do with this blog as it won’t be about Asia/Europe travel anymore. Also, 2020 will require my husband to make a big decision on his career path.
New Address: Yep moving from Italy back to the United States of America. After almost seven years living abroad we are returning and it is a bit awkward for us.
We will be going from living in an area where dinner out for two including a bottle of wine and a shared dessert costs $50-$60 to San Diego where dinner out for two will cost more like $80 -$100 easily. Groceries are at least double what we pay here and not farm fresh with no pesticides, etc. so our digestive systems are going to have a hard time adjusting and our bank account is going to suffer.
Travel in the U.S. is so much more expensive than in Europe, so for us to visit family we will have to plan and save for it where in Europe to go see another country for a weekend would cost less than dinner out in NYC.
Also, we are going from an area of Italy where traffic rules and common courtesy do not exist to a country where cops sit waiting for someone to break a rule/law and will chase you down.
Personally: I’m doubling down on a few things. Being military we move every 3-4 years and each time I sit down and evaluate what I want to change about myself and what I want to continue-boost. Who I want to be, essentially, in the new place. This time is going to be a massive overhaul.
Health needs to be priority one, while eating farm fresh and such in Italy has been fantastic, it has also hurt me with all of the carbs and sugars I’ve been consuming so I am planning to go on a no sugar/carb diet as of stepping off the plane in San Diego for at least a couple of weeks to kind of hit a restart button. From there I hope to keep the sugars to special occasion only schedule and white carbs out almost completely (CoCo’s Curry opening in San Diego will be the exception haha). Also, with San Diego I will be getting calmer weather so I’m going to start a habit of daily exercise, no excuses.
Spirituality, I have slowly been working on this already but I’m going to amp it up with the move. New habits to be set and I’m going to be deep diving into research and study into a few things Pagan related to set myself up in a routine and focus. I’m hoping by 2021 I’ll be sorted enough to start writing a structured, focused path in a journal/grimoire.
Nonna time – We will be much closer to our granddaughter and getting to know my daughter-in-law better, though still hours away by plane but much closer and less time difference so I’m hoping to be spending more time with them both in person and video chat. This will be a year of embracing the Crone that I am becoming as I get closer to the big 50 mark.
Except for occasional visits over the last seven years I have not had much time with my parents and this move brings me within driving distance (a long drive, but still) so I am really hoping to be spending time with them this coming year. And we will be closer to my step-daughter in Las Vegas so I’m looking forward to spending time with her.
Finding me will be an ongoing quest this year. I hope to hone my style a bit as a more mature woman now and we will be getting closer to actually settling down so I want to start looking into house decorating and furnishing. We haven’t really spent money on nice furniture and such because of all the moving and damage/loss possibilities. I have no idea what I like and how we want our final home to look/feel whenever we do settle somewhere in our old age. ?
This Blog: I really have no idea where this blog will go as of January. Will I add U.S. Travel? I don’t know how much of that we will be able to do. At this point our travel focus is on visiting family and special friends across the U.S. Also, I am planning to pick up a part time job to help offset the cost of living so that will limit time off. If travel does happen it will likely be Hawaii and the Northwest of the U.S. I have not been to Montana, Idaho, Dakotas, etc. and would really like to.
Career Path: I can’t say much about the husband’s big decision but after he makes it we may be moving again ahead of the normal three year duty.
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I did a tour of Tuscany last weekend and hope to get a post up for that in the next couple of days. It was fun and beautiful.
Coming soon: Our final trip before the move will be Vienna for the Christmas markets then training to Prague for Christmas. I am looking forward to this trip so much!
Life Notes 