Inspiration for the blog.

So, there are a number of reasons or contributing factors for this blog, and for our quest.
1. Weather: Probably more as a result of timing than anything else, it's winter in Canada, and its darn right cold. We've had a couple of long stretches of -30 degrees celsius, which is enough to want anyone here to leave. Not to mention the deep freeze started before Christmas this year, making winter seem so much longer. We've had the most snow in Calgary than I can ever remember, (Josh and I were born here) the combination of cold and snow causes hybernation, & depression. This is unless you enjoy winter sports like skiing, sledding, and ice skating, which we don't. Snowboarding we might try once a year just to make us realize how much we hate being cold. Why not wait until wakeboard season to do virtually the same sport (only better) in warmer weather?Every year for the last few we've been saying "why do we tolerate this cold?" Well, we don't think we HAVE to, and now it seems as though we may not NEED to.
2. Life & Death: There have been several family members, friends and people we know become ill and/or pass away this year, mostly from cancer, but from other things too. It has made us realize that life is just too short to be doing things you're not happy doing. You really have no idea what could happen so you shouldn't take life for granted. The best you can do is make the most of your days, have fun, laugh a little, love a lot, and try to be as healthy as you can, while you can.
3. Travel: We love to travel and see new things, so what better way to see a country than to live there, learn a new language, and enjoy their culture.
4. A chage: Why not?
5. The ocean: we want to be near the water, and not just a lake. We'd like to adopt surfing, and scuba diving as our choice "warm-place" hobbies, in addition to wakeboarding, and everything else you could possibly imagine and are not limited by the weather.

Since we've been thinking for a while about where we would go, and whether it would be for just the winter season, or year round, we had to consider a number of different places and what they had to offer us. Here are a few of the places we've though about:
Aruba: too small, windy, desert-like, not direct flights from home.
Thailand: too far away.
Australia: far away, but easy for me to find a job as a nurse. Long, long flight, doggy needs quarantine (although there is a really nice kennel in Perth we could use)
New Zealand: far away, not warm enough year round, but easy to find a job as a nurse, although scope of practice is reduced (same as Auss) & pay. Doggy also requires quarantine & very long flight.
Belize: maybe a bit small and not as developed as we like. It's nice to have a good hospital and health care close by (on the island) especially if you're taking kids. Flight path isn't the most direct. But real estate seems to be still reasonable. It's english speaking.
Panama: a bit far, out of our comfort zone as we haven't been to south america and aren't sure about safety, proximity to home, flights are longer, but land is darn cheap right now. There are a few new developments of interest although they are quite a ways from the main parts of Panama.
Carribean Islands: we've considered a few, but don't want to have to worry about hurrican season. Although if only there for a few months, we'd likely miss that season.
Bahamas: too westernized, property is getting more expensive. Flights are direct and reasonably priced. You can ferry from Florida.
US: not a fan of the health care, want more of a cultural experience. Although you can find warm weather, and I can work as a nurse. Real estate is well, you know. The market isn't exactly that great right now, which could be good or bad for us. Our dollar isn't going as far as it did last year.
Japan: We loved it, and thought we might be able to spend more time there, but maybe not live there, its just too different, too far, and the language barrier is more than just that, its also a reading barrier. We COULD, but its also not that warm year round.
Spain: it rained a lot when we were there last september, which is a downside. We enjoyed the country, and its closeness, especially San Sebastian. Close to the ocean, close to downtown, but property there is quite expensive for what you get. There may be other coastal towns that might strike our fancy, but none that we saw really appealed enough.
Mexico: This is our current favorite. Its's familiar to us both, as we've been there before (myself with my family numberous times), it's rather close and we could potentially drive down with our dog, instead of having him put on the plane. Our families could easily visit, flights can be quite cheap. I can't work as a nurse there, however, but I would be open to other options. We are thinking that some volunteer work might be a great idea, and we'd continue to work when home in Calgary during the warmer months. Josh will be job-free as of the end of this summer, and is considering a number of options with flexibility in mind, so far we're not sure what will be feasible. Real estate in Mexico is reasonable still, and there are a number of smaller surfing towns that we're considering. We are currently learning Spanich which would help us out, although they speak pretty good english down there. There are plenty of expats that have moved and done the same thing, one in particular that Josh worked with, who loves it, and wish they had done it sooner. We think its going to be the place to retire, which will boost the market over the next several years, hopefully AFTER we buy our place.
So, now we plan our trial. Hopefully for next winter, we'll do a three month stint, drive down with our lab, and rent a place to see how things fit. From there we'd like to spend the last 3 months of winter traveling through Oceana and the parts of Asia that we have so far missed, leaving our Nixon at home with family. Voila, another winter is done. So, our plans and thoughts seem to change daily, and that was yesterday's plan. From week to week, we change our location of choice, although Mexico has lasted about three weeks plus. It's a good sign.