Life is short

I realized yesterday that if I buy a vehicle for my trip before next fall, I could use it to go to Burning Man next year.  I'm planning on that being my last year.  Although it did dawn on me a while back that going to a bunch of regional burns around the country would be a fun goal.

My Uncle Glen passed away two days ago.  He lived with me for about 15 years after he developed some health problems.  He had an apartment in the basement, and for the last year lived in my upstairs apartment.  When his health took a turn for the worse he went back to Arkansas last year to live on the old family property with his brother.  He could build anything, and helped me with many projects.  Including my favorite, the Cosmic Wish Launcher.  His passing makes me realize once again, and very deeply, how little time I have to do all the things I want to do.

Here is a pic of the wish machine.

Refinancing my house.

Planning to refinance my house because the rates are great now.
Typically I would not pull any cash out because I like to see the balance
go down, but I'm thinking that I should pull out some cash in order to have
it on hand to buy a road trip vehicle. Now the question is how much?
I'm thinking $20,000. I know I could spend upwards of $50,000 on a new
one, but I would be more comfortable with less than $10,000 on a used one.
I certainly got my $1,000 dollars worth out of "Burning Bettie." Just took
the grandkids camping last weekend in her. Still road worthy after 5 years.
She's 34 year's old.

Setting a new goal

I'll be 62 years old in 6 months.  Within one year from that date I want to hit the road for an extended road trip of at least one year.  I want to travel all over the US and visit friends and family.  And make new friends and visit new places.  I also want to take some extended trips to other countries.  Some on my list currently are Brazil, Thailand, Spain, Morocco, and South Africa.

A few of the things I need to do to accomplish this goal are:

 1. Research small travel vans.  I want something just big enough to stand up in, with a comfy

bed and places to store my gear.  At this moment I don't think I want anything with kitchen or

bathroom facilities.  I think I can use that space better for stuff.

2.  Clear my house of as many "treasures" as possible to make it easier to rent or sell before I leave.

3.  Work out a small wardrobe that will cover all my needs.

4.  Buy a laptop and appropriate gadgets so I can stay in touch.  I also might use it to find jobs here and there.

That's my bare bones start up list.

Now I'm committed.