Downsizing back home

To get back to the Genesis blog I think it's apparent "Why Belize" for us. Let's move on to the next step which is what we did to downsize and prepare for the move.
We started the process one year out, April of 2014. We were living in a 4 bedroom, 4 bath 2600 sq.ft. home FILLED with stuff. Also our basement was full of 35 years of stuff that we hadn't really gone through in a while. So we began posting on Craigslist, FB and other "For Sale" sites the items we felt we could get rid of with the plan of getting our belongings down to a 2 bedroom apartment amount.

Over a few weekends we went through all of our storage and separated it into three categories; Keep, sell or donate. We had garage sales every weekend during April and May and slowly let go of items. What we didn't sell on the weekends we would donate during the week. Several non-profits will pickup the items at your home. We chose ARC in our area but there are others.

In June 2014 we moved into a 2 bedroom duplex in order to save on expenses and further plan our move to Belize. Over the next year we further downsized by selling one car and keeping one. We continued to sell off belongings until we got EVERYTHING down to our duplex and one 5 by 10 storage locker. It was a lot of work but very satisfying in getting very organized and less materialistic.

During our last month in Washington we decided to sell off pretty much all of our large furniture or give it to our son and his family for their house. Once again we posted the remainder of our items that we could live without and over the month of May 2015 we parted with chairs, couches, beds, etc.
We kept our storage with keepsakes, family photos and items our son and his family can use over time.

Please feel free to comment or ask questions you may have, I will be glad to answer or direct your inquiry !

San Pedro, Ambergris Caye

Here is an update to our two day trip to Ambergris Caye (pronounced "Amber Grease Key").
The "Thunderbolt" Water Taxi leaves Corozal at 7am daily to San Pedro with a very quick stop at Sarteneja, a small fishing village about 30 minutes south ( by boat) of Corozal. The cost is $90BZ per person round trip. The Thunderbolt website says $80 per round trip but it would appear they have not updated the site recently.
The boat holds about 50 people and the ride is two hours. My wife Shannon prefers riding the boat on top near the bridge rather than down below as it can be choppy when the wind rises.

We arrived in San Pedro later that morning and immediately noticed the hustle and bustle (for Belize). Golf carts are the main mode of transportation and they're EVERYWHERE ! Rentals of the carts is big business and are available at $80US for 24 hours.
San Pedro has a lot of water based action from parasailing to deep diving and everything in between. There are many open markets selling souvenirs, fruits and drinks, etc. Also MANY small stands selling Escabeche, Chicken Rice and Beans and other Belizean dishes.
The walk along the San Pedro (Eastern Shore) is filled with Restaurants, Bars and Dive and Snorkel excursions as far as you can see.
In all, for us, San Pedro is a beautiful place to visit but is all about the Tourist business and not where we would live.