Lesley's Leap of Faith
Hello there fellow Adequate Females, allow me to introduce myself.
I’m Lesley. I’m a mum, wife, daughter, sister. I’m 47 and I’ve spent as long as I can remember working in one job or another. Starting with paper-rounds, then on to hotels/pubs whilst in college, unpleasant late-night jobs and weekend jobs when the children were younger, self-employed cleaner to fit around the children’s schooling when I was going it alone..... anything and everything because that’s my way.
My children and step-children are now young adults and independent. Free time is now mine and my husband’s to do with as we please. Except for, you know, that work thing. Awful shift patterns and illness inducing stress. More stress. Sticking-it-out and sucking-it-up to keep working to pay the bills/pay the mortgage, keep a house too big for just us two, for our savings, for lovely holidays and weekends away, for the stuff - stuff we don’t really need but hey, we’ve earned it so.....
Don't get me wrong, we're not remotely flashy or materialistic but even we were still sucked in. Consumerism eh.
Ummmm, what are we exactly? Retired?...(too young) Unemployed?....(we're not seeking employment) I've given myself the job title of 'Explorer.'
We had a dream, my husband and I for when we retired. We’ve talked about it for years. And then a couple of years ago we planned a holiday slightly out of our comfort zone. Nothing major, just a drive though France, stopping off at a few places as we travelled to our well-loved and familiar hotel before doing a different return route. We LOVED it. And that was the moment. The moment we realized we were done with waiting. It was time to stop dreaming, stop talking, start planning! So, we sold our home. We decluttered, sold and gave away so. much.stuff. We moved into a rental. We bought a motorhome and we handed in our notices at work.
Those notices have now been worked and we're officially, ummmm, what are we exactly? Retired?...(too young) Unemployed?....(we're not seeking employment) I've given myself the job title of Explorer. Steve has chosen Adventurer. Together we are WanderWebb.
And apparently we're an inspiration! That's a shocker, lemme tell you.
I'm stepping far far away from my comfort zone now. No income (til next year when a pension kicks in) - you can easily manage on remarkably less if you really try. No fixed plans - because that's the whole point really -where shall we go and which road shall we take. No routine - one will probably develop.
So in a nutshell we've simplified our lives. We're swapping working for living and possessions for experiences. It'll all be incredibly liberating I'm sure once I get used to it.
Adequate Lesley, signing off x
You can follow Lesley's adventures on https://www.instagram.com/lesley_webb/ and https://www.instagram.com/wanderwebb/
