Down to three months...

The time is starting to speed up as the spring slowly crawls into NH. We are tired of being cold but we no sooner say that when we realize that cold will be a 'four letter word' shortly in Jamaica.

To give a small idea of the details involved in this kind of adventure consider the following:
1. Get a government passport and Jamaican Visa [different from the standard passport that we already have]. This required finding and ultimately replacing birth certificates [very easy and I think too easy] and going to two different US Post Offices. Rochester folks were great!

2. Write an owner manual for the house and care of the dog. This is hugely more complicated than I thought it would be when I started. Basically it involves condensing 26 years of home ownership into writing. Every house has quirks and then add the silly dog...

3. Arrange coverage for the house with our Niece Devin and her BF/SO Rich. Set up accounts for them to use for major repairs. Make a memo of understanding.

4. Attend to financial details like letting the bank know not to cancel our credit cards when they see charges from Jamaica.

5. Set up trust and financial power of attorney for our son Ben to act in our stead if need be.

6. Actually get around to doing the 5,000 repairs I have always meant to do...

7. Connect with family that I know I will not see for a while and frankly maybe ever again considering the age of a few of my relatives. Very powerful and poignant moment.

8. Sign off on a few projects that I have taken on as a part of various boards.

9. Sell the car.

10. Arrange / transfer insurances so that everything is covered for the right people.

Well you get the idea...I won't belabor it here [too late to say that?] And this list does not include things like learning Patois [Jamaican African language], researching everything we can about Jamaica and even planning a Christmas for the family in Jamaica!

All for now but more as we go along.

Love to all,

Matt