This was probably the biggest (and scariest) decision I have ever made - I am a super risk adverse person and it was so far out of my comfort zone, I still can’t believe we did it!
The decision to leave and rent our house for me was twofold, financial and emotional. Mortgages are expensive and we are not immune the interest rate increases over the last 12 or so months. If we really wanted to give this thing a good go, we did not need the added financial pressure of paying for something that we were not using.
It would also have diminished our savings so fast that within 12 months we would essentially be forced to retreat, back into the work full time spend full-time lifestyle we were so eager to get away from.
On an emotional level, I think I really needed that complete disconnect, and just knowing that we didn’t have a house to come ‘home’ to so we kind of had to make it work! Part of me was worried at the first hard turn I would retreat, book the first flight 'home' and cocoon straight back into my safety blanket that was my old life.
We kept telling each other it was our first home, not our forever home and that home is where we are together as a family rather than an innate object so we were able to disconnect from the property as a home and acknowledge that it was now an investment to help sustain and support our desired on the road lifestyle.
As for how, it kind of happened in 2 stages. We knew early 2023 this was what we wanted to do, I was on maternity leave but Kaia was still very young and Jacob was making waves in his newish employment, he was also working away a fair bit so we hung on for a few months, Jacob gave his work plenty of notice of our intentions and we just kept ticking along, living simply, saving what we could on one income and enjoying life with this new little baby.
There was a serious rental crisis in Perth and a lot of people were struggling to find properties, so we assumed we wouldn’t have any issues finding a tenant. We initially agreed to lease it unofficially to a friend’s parents however that fell through at the last minute so we went through an agent. It was stressful at the time but in hindsight it worked out better for us, the power of the universe huh?
Jacob finished up work in August and gave himself a month to get the property ready, I did not think it would take that long but hooley dooley it did, and you really don’t realise how much there is to do until you start. We ended up putting a lot of effort into the back yard as it really is the best part about the place and just some touch ups here and there inside. In the end we had to draw a line in the sand and call it quits, accept what we had done and just say enough is enough.
We could have spent a year getting it ready if we wanted to but we were absolutely chomping at the bit to get away and also burning through cash fast while still living in Perth with no incomes.
By the time we booked our flight out of Aus, we were so exhausted, had worked right up until the very end with our tenants moving in and us flying out a couple of days later. We were exhausted but so relieved, we were finally off and the start of our next journey had begun!
As for what we did with our “stuff”, we aren’t by any means hoarders, but over nearly 10 years in a house you definitely accumulate some random things! We tried to give away/donate as much as we could via our local buy nothing page and to friends and family. We also sold some of the bigger ticket items.
My family was constantly questioning us selling our things but honestly Jacob and I were in the position where most of it we had purchased to move in nearly 10 years ago so it was old, out of date and just a part of our lives that we were ready to let go of and move on to the next chapter.
We kept some essentials so we could set up somewhere simply should we have returned (fridge, washer, mattress, chest of drawers) and were lucky enough to be able to store this in a sea container on my parents property, but the vast majority we let go.
The thought of having someone else live in our home although it's strange and a bit scary, I’m choosing to look at it from a place of us being able to help out a family by making available to them a safe and secure accommodation. So far it's all going really well, a few little things here and there but nothing that hasn’t been easily attended to overseas and sorted out swiftly.
It is also so nice to finally see some money coming back into the bank account for the house, even if there is still a shortfall against our mortgage. We have watched money go out every week for years but never see anything come back in.
It's even nicer to see it when at the moment we have no other form of income, so it feels a bit less like we are two unemployed irresponsible parents with a baby and more like it's ok we do, kind of, somewhat, have a bit of an income and a plan!
So far so good, the journey continues.
Til next time,
R
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