My intent to slowly build a small house on the lot, which finally is paid up, had to be thoroughly examined. With that, I came to a revision that will make my life easier. I sorely need a vehicle and if I put construction on hold for a few months, I’ll be able to buy a used vehicle some time around August or September.
Then, now that I have found a mechanic/machinist who is willing to fix my generator, an older Honda that has seen only 1234 hours of use, but is good for 30 amps, 3600 watts, I’ll be able to have power night and day. And will no longer have to wash by hand. Then, I have a large expense coming up at end of March. I must fly up north and have my passport renewed and attend to a few chores.
After a few more months starting at summer end, I’ll have enough to employ a couple workers who will be supervised by Peter, a friend who has tremendous experience building in Mexico. So that instead of being on a building site for many months on end, erecting the casita will be over in a few months.
Another consideration is that to get electricity on ejido land, there has to be enough of a client base to warrant the installation of cement posts, electric cables, a transformer, etc. at our collective cost. There is already a number of neighbours-to-be willing to form a little group to share the cost of the installation. But it will require time, as well. I’d rather have the installation and security of an electrical connection before I get going with building the house.
And this final consideration. I have decided to let this blog die a good death. Reasons are numerous, but the most important one is that I’m no longer trekking and boondocking. At least elsewhere. I will admit to being content on my sunny lot, securely fenced in with a six foot cement block wall. And my three dogs.
One last note on blogging and full-timing. I had great hopes of making a few $$ from AdSense. To that end, I’d asked a full-timer who had doubled his income of social security, to give me a hand in checking up my blog to improve my chances of a few bucks. He flatly refused saying that he’d been at it a long time and that it was impossible to make any money from a blog nowadays, as so many people were blogging. I took him at his word. Nevertheless, I felt pretty demoralized.
And now, I DO feel that I have very little to contribute. So many are having a look at full-timers’ blogs and, caught in a situation no longer wanted, idealize life on the road. Let me be candid about it. While I have NEVER felt that I’d made a mistake living in a house on wheels as both a mode of residence (although not really residing anywhere…) and a lifestyle, I have found it more expensive than I had conceived. Whatever little financial cushion I had was quickly exhausted, which left me in a precarious situation at times. So, a word of warning to would-be full-timers. The cushion has to be either substantial or self-replenishing.
I wish all “wannabes” TONS of good luck. And do keep the dream alive. It is better to make a few mistakes on the way to fulfill a dream than to end a life without having had the guts realize one’s life on one’s own terms. However it ends up before life is over, I guarantee it will have been worth it. With me, it ends up quite content, looking forward to more adventures in Mexico. And who knows? Perhaps I will have something to write about in a few months’ time! For now, it is Adios! or perhaps Hasta Luego!
3 comments:
I guess I'll have to read your old posts. Do they go back farther than 2009?
Hi Bob. Before I began blogging, I'd been on the road since 2004. Had some hilarious adventures in Idaho and Montana, others less so, which I began relating in the 2009 blog. I even related some with Shermie VW that dated to the mid-nineties.
I'd been discouraged from publishing a blog by someone dear to me who exclaimed how (un)"original" it was. My friends Pete and Jimena were just by urging me to write about how life is so affordable and good in Mexico. Hmmm.... it is that. Once I begin the construction full swing, I'll probably take pics and comment on how all is going. But it'll be a few months ahead. Thanks for your support.
Stargazer, you are starting something that few know how to do, and even fewer have the courage to undertake.
I understand that you are burned out, but what a great blog you could have leading the way in land purchase, explaining what an ejido is, arranging utilities etc..
Best wishes
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