In 3 days Sean leaves for Belize. Time has just flown by! My house is rapidly emptying. I guess I should say something about how the finality of this is hitting me, but I can't, in truth. The finality of this hit me a few weeks ago when I had to allow my teens to enroll in school with their father. This has been a final plan for months. I am surprisingly calm. I hope that it is not the calm before the storm. I hope it's the calm from knowing we've done all the planning in the world, and I feel confident things will work out.

We made the choice to move a reality about a year and a half ago. We started looking at different countries including Costa Rica, and Mexico. We settled on Belize for so many reasons. Property in Costa Rica would be three times as expensive as Belize. Mexico is not the safest place for an American these days. I think when we began this plan, Mexico was still on the radar. The US media just makes the entire country out to be practically a war zone...we'll visit from Belize. Guatemala, Panama, Ecuador...All examined and eliminated for some reason or other.

We chose Belize. English is spoken officially. Although, I believe my high school Spanish will get quite the polishing. Americans can own land in Belize...even coastal properties. The climate is almost perfect...excepting the occasional hurricane. A hurricane is horrible, don't get me wrong. But they are not exactly the type of weather system that sneaks up on a person. When there is a huge storm forming over the sea, head for higher ground. If there is one thing I've learned already, it is that the building you are in is not your home. It's just sticks and bricks. Bring the ones you love and build again. The native Belizean population is, as a rule, friendly. EVERY populous has their bad guys, sure. But as in the states, if you want to keep company with shady types, then your door will be darkened. I'm a sunny gal! Bring it all to the light of day kind of gal...I have always said, "What you do in the dark will come to light." I believe that. And we picked Belize for the opportunity. I know from making some new Belizean friends, that some would argue there is no opportunity in this developing nation. I disagree. First and foremost, Sean and I are not going there thinking we will emerge in 5 years with our initial investments engorged to explosion. We are not the type of people who need a pile of money to sit on. We need opportunity enough to keep a roof over our heads, and food in our bellies. To be able to do this in a beautiful Caribbean clime...THAT'S opportunity!

AFTER settling on Belize, I began making contacts through various Internet allies. One of the gentlemen I met had a little tiny house he was looking for someone to house sit for several months while he and his wife are in the states. We thought that this would be perfect for us. It would get us on the ground and give us a base for exploration. We have saved enough money to be fine for several months or even years, so we had planned to give ourselves about 6 months on land before we dove into any business contracts. The timing, however, was not on our side. The fella' needed someone before we would be ready to leave. He was a nice guy though, and offered to assist us by looking into rentals for us. He was kind enough to offer to visit the rental and give us the "heads up" as to what we were getting into. During this process, I posted a thread to one of the (many) forums about Belize. The thread was a risk. People on the forums tend to be snarky, most seem like they don't wish for anyone to move to Belize. They pick and prod one another...like middle school, without detention. Anyway...I posted this thread about how Sean is a certified chef, and I have experience in varied fields, the most recent in education of youth at risk for dropping out of school. I have researched the education system in Belize, and drop out prevention is DEFINITELY a need. I thought this would be my ace in the hole! A proven track record keeping ungrateful American teens in class should sell itself, right? ...Not so much. I get the impression that no one wants me riding in on my white horse to save the education system of the country. I think I would be welcome to buy some supplies for the schools, and donate them. And by donate...leave them and take my high falloutin' American education when I LEAVE. lol

But the little blurb about Sean's credentials...The experienced chef...THAT brought an interesting response. I was contacted by an expat who is running a little resort in Dangria. He has a partner who has a resort in the Mayflower Bocawina National Park and needs a chef. Emails, phone calls, and more emails....Sean took the job. We will be staying on property thus giving us our base for exploration. The gentleman who owns the place will go to bat for Sean to get a work permit. So...in just 3 short days, Sean will be proudly joining the staff of  http://mamanootsbelize.com/! Mama Noots is an eco resort, completely off the grid. It offers jungle adventures including waterfall rappelling, and the longest zip line in Belize! And as of Thursday....some of the best food in the country! Keep reading...this adventure is about to take flight!