How Did We Get Here?

How Did We Get Here?

We were a very typical middle-income, middle-aged couple who had by all measures achieved the American dream. We put ourselves through college working in restaurants and bargain retail stores. Eventually we each earned multiple college degrees, had children, cats, dogs, hamsters, and even chinchillas. We both rose to prominence in our respective fields and earned a six figure living complete with benefits, retirement plans, and a high level of job security.

Then we visited Maine.

We took our teenage sons on a cruise of New England that stopped in Portland and Bar Harbor as well as a few stops in Canada. We were both immediately smitten with everything about Maine… or at least the little bit we saw. We came back from vacation and went back to our regular lives but talked frequently about how much we loved Maine and how, we might want to live there one day. Perhaps in retirement. Someday.

Time moved on and we only became more comfortable in our lives, earning larger salaries and leading, by all counts, truly happy lives. But we weren’t happy. Not really. Not completely. Something was missing. We were equal parts bored, frustrated, and burnt out from our high stress jobs. Our sons had moved out and there we were, the two of us with our two newfoundland dogs, and our orange tabby cat. Our life was filled with stability and success- but not satisfaction. Not peace.

So we made a choice.

We began doing research in June of 2023. We watched every YouTube video we could find, we read articles, blogs, and others posts familiar with Maine. We looked long and hard at our finances. It would involve some significant sacrifice, but also, we couldn’t stop thinking about moving our lives to a place more in line with how we wanted to live. We visited again that fall and there was no question- we were Mainers, just born in the wrong state. We made several more visits and each time it became more difficult to leave.

So we both quit our jobs- sold our home and moved 600 miles away. We are cataloging what we have come to call our “Next Chapter,” and will be sharing our adventures, our experiences, and the truths that we learn along the way, in our Maine story.