Blog

  • All
  • Beaches
  • Finances
  • Life
  • Other
  • Retirement
  • RockLife
  • Travel

The First Five Years

We celebrate our fifth year of retirement, looking back and looking ahead.

Calling it Done

The beach house renovation wraps up in the kitchen. It’s modern, open, & airy, just what we wanted.

Back to Puerto Rico

We return to Puerto Rico for a wedding, for friends, and for fun!

Fourth Year of Retirement Freedom

We celebrate our fourth year of retirement with another playlist of songs we used in the blog. Why? Just because we like them!

Getting Down to Living

The beach house renovation finally comes to the living room. Big room, big work!

It’s a Florida Room

Beach house renovation includes a new Florida Room, bringing breezes and light into our lives.

Down the Drain

Beach house renovation continues with and without the help of our contractor.

Blood, Sweat, and Cheers

We dive in to the beach house renovation. Blood, sweat, and cheers.

A Century

We settle in for a long winter’s nap. Or maybe just work hard on a beach house renovation. But after 100 posts, we need a break.

The Love Shack

We’ve gone and done it again. We bought a beach house to renovate, and to use as a home base for further Caribbean travel.

Miles and Miles

We decide to explore the miles of beaches on the east coast of Florida, and guess what? We find miles and miles of beaches!

Hurry Up and Wait

Once again dodging storms, we find a new place to park our flip flops.

Summer Wine

We go to wine country in Colorado, and learn about the peacefulness of a small valley of farmers and winemakers.

Oops

We (re)learn the hard way that Colorado doesn’t care what time of year it is. If it wants to be cold, it’s going to be cold.

The Breeze

We continue to move along, by plane and by car, to points unknown.

Here We Go Again

We head out of Vieques, PR to points unknown.

Third Year of Freedom

We celebrate our third year of retirement with another eclectic playlist of songs we used in the blog. Why? Because they brought us joy!

I Wish I Had…

We read an article about the things that we wished we’d done in retirement, but we kind of like what we’ve done!

It Changes You

We discuss the benefits of the long, slow, deep type of travel that we prefer.

Living to 92

We calculate our mortality, and use it to plan for a full life in the meantime.

Island Hopping Issues

We discuss the issues we’ve found with our plan of a slow island-hopping odyssey around the Caribbean.

Here Kitty, Kitty!

We got adopted by some stray cats, but they didn’t know what we had in store for them!

Caribbean Medicine

We experience Caribbean medicine for better and for worse. It’s good though!

West is Best

We hop over to Rincón on the west coast of Puerto Rico for a few days! We’ve always wanted to go there, so now we have – well worth the trip!

Puerto Rican Drinks

We explore some of the many beverages that Puerto Rico has to offer. (hic)

Slow Season

In every Caribbean island there is a slow season, when the tourists are gone, the snowbirds are gone, and the island is quiet.

Dorian Gray

Our first tropical storm / hurricane while in Vieques turned out to be a bit of a dud. It’s good though!

Tomorrow isn’t Promised

We lost a great island friend – Captain Mike Nisius has passed away.

Chinchorreo!

We experience our first Chinchorreo, and our lives are forever changed…

Retired with Pets

Retired life isn’t all freedom when you have pets in tow. We discuss how to work with them when you want to see the world.

Financial Disaster

Many people are on the edge of a financial disaster and don’t know it. We talk about how to avoid that.

Leaving Them All Behind

We discuss the fact that we left behind our friends, parents, and (adult) children when we took off on our adventures.

The Best Beach in Vieques!

We try to find the best beach in Vieques, but it’s not an easy task!

Jubilación Segundo Aniversario

We celebrate our second year of retirement with a playlist of songs that inspired us and made us happy.

What We Love

We love to explore deserted parts of this island. The beauty and solitude are amazing.

What’s That Stash For Anyway?

We stash food and drink, not just for hurricanes but also for typical island problems.

You Wanna Know the Secret?

You wanna know the secret to happiness? Little Big Town said you “Can’t buy it, gotta make it.” And they’re right.

The Solar Powered Car

We find a way to use the sun to keep our car running!

Experiences Over Stuff

We have said from the beginning that we want experiences, even simple ones, rather than stuff. This is about some of those experiences!

Could Be Worse…

2018 spending summary, graphed with pretty colors!

Our New Year’s Resolution Is…

We’re wrapping up 2018 in island style and on island time (which means late).

We’re Different, Just Like Everyone Else

Are island people really different? Or all the same?

How Long Can We Live Like This?

Answering an important question – whether we can live a long, healthy, and happy life here.

It’s A Dog’s Life

Our constant traveling companions – Kirby and Maxwell!

Extremely Boring?

It’s hard to get bored when you’re havin’ a ball!

What Did We Expect?

Taking a look at all those expectations we had before moving to Vieques, Puerto Rico

Satellite photo of the Caribbean Sea and its islands

A Year Already?

Having been gone from the States for an entire year, have we learned anything?

María in the Rear View

At the one-year anniversary of the Hurricane María devastation, we are putting that gal in rear view mirror. Vieques has risen, together we are stronger than María.

Comin’ Home

Home is where the beach is.

From the Rock to the Rockies

Back to Colorado for a wedding, & family, friends, and beer.

Normal is as Normal does

We talk about the concept of “normal”, and how it depends on where you are.

Mosquito netting hanging over the bed

The Best Stuff

Our favorite things have changed since we retired

Good Times are Free

Checking our spending vs. the budget and see how we’re doing halfway through the year.

Black Sand Beach, blue water

New World Explorers

We explore beaches and mountains and cliffs, oh my!

Cases of beer stacked

Preppers

We prep for the Zombie Apocalypse and the 2018 Hurricane Season.

Wilson volleyball with blood stain, from the movie Castaway

Are We Crazy?

We ponder the question of our sanity, knowing full well the question may not be answerable!

Two marine batteries cabled together

The Sound of Sunshine

We dive into the background, technical details, and sizing of our small solar backup power system.

3 Solar Panels on the ground

Follow the Sun

We discuss our small solar backup power system, which helps us ride out the many power outages on Vieques.

Beach, water, island in the distance

Island Shopping – Is The Cart Full Yet?

Another episode of island shopping, where we take a good hard look at Vieques and try to answer the question: Is this the place?

Norm and Deb, ocean in the background

Retirement First Anniversary

A short summary and song playlist from our first year of retirement and of blogging about it.

Satellite Picture of the island of Vieques

Island Soul

The island shows us some new beaches, introduces us to great people, and teaches us how to get by on this rock.

Messy pile of $20 bills

How Much is Enough? – Closing the Loop

We wrap up this series of posts by pulling together the spending and income parts, and discussing strategies and tools for success.

Random pile of 20 dollar bills

How Much is Enough? – Paying for It All

We discuss the income generation part of retirement, ya gotta pay for it somehow!

How Much is Enough? – The Spending Part

We discuss the very important spending part of retirement.

Stack of $20 bills

How Much is Enough? – A Foundation for Retirement Planning

Here we talk about the early steps in preparing to retire.

Small beach with overgrown trees, and crashing waves

Island On Our Own Time

Where we find time to go to the beach, and a few other places!

Refrigerator full of food, drinks, and leftovers

Coste de Vida en Vieques

We discuss the cost of living in Vieques, including some anecdotes of everyday purchases.

Stack of 3 boxes, all with crumpled and rounded corners

Oh No! Mo’ Stuff!

We needed a few things to really settle in to this island, so we found a few ways to get them.

Fresh Eyes

We get a visitor, someone to see the place with a fresh set of eyes.

The Cost of Paradise

Power to the People! Actually no power to the people, and other limitations of island life.

Vieques Virgins

Early impressions, thoughts, and random bloviating on our new lives in Vieques, Puerto Rico.

Keep Them Doggies Movin’

More island hopping, this time across the Caribbean from Roatan, Honduras to Vieques, Puerto Rico.

Roatán Wrap-Up

We wrap up our thoughts on Roatán, and compare it to Utila and Ambergris Caye.

FIRE!

Money can’t buy happiness, but if you take control of it, you can take control of an important part of your life.

A Little Bit of Mañana

Exploring Roatan, on island time.

Roatán in a Rush

Running out of time (already!) in Roatán!

We’ve Gone and Done It Now

Where we go to another country and back to stay in good with the Immigration folks.

Detour Ahead

When you’re in a foreign country, you pretty much have to do what you’re told.

Island (S)hopping

Hopping to a new destination in the Caribbean.

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

Making the call on Utila – should we stay here, or go off exploring some more?

Looking for Booty

Looking for booty all over this pirate island

When Your Money Turns Red

We talk about costs, spending, and budgets for this island life. Ya gotta pay for this somehow.

Island Oddities and Laughs

We discuss the island oddities that make us laugh, then they become the “new normal” and we forget about them.

Critters

The one about the creatures in this strange land.  We’ve met a few but there’s sure to be lots more.

Beauty and the Beast

There’s more to the tropics than beaches, piña coladas, and beer.  There are a couple other challenges.

Rehab, Relapse, and Skid Row

Cheap waterfront bars and restaurants are one of Utila’s draws.

Typhoid, Flip-Flops, and Lempiras

A Day in the Life, and other miscellaneous thoughts on Utila

Life on a Rock

Early Impressions of Utila, Honduras, and living on a Rock!

Big Planes, small planes, and tuk-tuks!

Where we get on a big plane, then on a smaller plane, then on a(really small)nother plane, to finally arrive in Utila, Honduras. The adventure starts now!

Hurricane satellite photo

Blown off Course

Where we (only figuratively) get blown to another island.

Honda Element filled with luggage

Still! Too Much Stuff

Yep, it’s still about the stuff!

A Beautiful Life

Saying goodbye to a wonderful lady

Back to Colorado

Roadtrip to CO – a lot of driving, a few sights!

Real Life

Back to CO for important family time

Sunset on Siesta

The sun is going down on this island, but it will rise again!

The Dog Blog

Our constant traveling companions – Kirby and Maxwell!

Witness Protection

Where we (don’t really) answer the age-old question, “Where are you from?”

A Different Florida

We discovered a new territory and staked our claim!

But Wait!

Final thoughts on the heat, the wildlife, and the beauty of the Florida East Coast

That’s a Wrap

Wrapping up the Indialantic stay – bye bye bye to home sweet home 

To Infinity, and Beyond!

Things that fly over beaches, old friends, and more STUFF!

The Space Coast

Home Sweet Home – Indialantic, FL and the Melbourne area.

Dixie

Still heading south, but we made it to The South!

Texas welcome sign

Deep in the Heart of Texas

Where we drove friendly, the Texas way!

Adios Colorado

Tearful goodbyes and homelessness.  It’s good though!

All That Stuff

You can’t travel with a bunch of Stuff. This is how we took care of that problem.

Retirement Itself

Ya got to retire before you can write a retirement blog!

Dark night sky with stars

A Twinkle in our Eyes

The start of it all was a series of long talks while sitting in the hot tub staring at the stars.