I want to tell you a little story about life adventures, and like all good stories, it comes with the most amazing characters. This story is about my sweet friend, Andrea. A few years ago, she and I were emailing back and forth about us selling our house one day. Andrea is our realtor extraordinaire! Our plan was several years in the distant future, but I knew I wanted Andrea to represent us when it came time to sell our home.
One day, she and I met in a tiny local restaurant called Starving Artists Cafe. It was a conversation for the record books. I described John’s and my crazy plan to sell our belongings and move somewhere new every 12-18 months. I told her all of the thoughts, the plans, the dreams, and the questions that still remained. I will never forget the way she listened. And then she replied, “Billie! You’re going to work to live instead of live to work.” It was in that one sentence that I realized she understood exactly what we wanted.
This January, I received a text message from my sweet friend and said, “Billie, I did a thing!” Andrea is celebrating a milestone birthday this year by “doing all the things,” and that includes a few life adventures. Every few days I see a social media post saying, “It’s Andrea, your friendly neighborhood realtor. I did a thing.” And she posts about going on an impromptu trip, or seeing a concert, or something even grander. Like moving to Florida!
Here is Andrea’s story:
Andrea, how would you describe the adventure you’re on?Andrea: “Billie, I have been so inspired by you to take a leap! I have been asking my husband and God for quite a while “Where do you see us in this last part of our lives?” I pray I won’t become a bitter old woman. I can see how that happens when people just sit around and have no purpose in their lives. My ultimate dream is to sell our home, which is paid off, and go and enjoy the next 10 years of our lives.
We have a nice retirement saved up and we don’t have to touch that now. When we come back home we can purchase a smaller home and just live off Social Security and small takes from our retirement. Wouldn’t it be great to just go to fun areas of the country and live for 6 months at a time? Whether it’s the beach, the mountains, the small town of Owensboro, KY, go enjoy one another and the nature around us.
I have always been so guided by the fear that I am not doing what I need to be doing with my life. I don’t want that fear to overtake me any longer. I think God sets us in places to reach out to Him and find Him (Acts 17:26-27) and for me that place is in His nature. Tom will be 71 this year and I will be 60. It’s about time to enjoy the benefits of our hard labor all these years.”
What was the catalyst for this decision?
Andrea: “My word of the year in 2026 is “LIVING” . I don’t want to be a part of statistics where Tom and I just sit on the couch. I want to live out our final quarter of our lives and live it to the design God intends. To be flourishing in these latter years! Tom is 11 years older than me and I really feel strongly that I don’t want to wait another 10 years to retire. I want to do things at this time while we are healthy and available.”
How did you prepare to see your dream come to life?
Andrea: “We worked very diligently financially to get our home paid off and to save for retirement and not touch the money that we saved until we absolutely have to. This has given us some financial freedom to go and do some fun things while I still work. My career in Real Estate and working side by side with my son in the business, offers me flexibility and time to enjoy my time with my husband.
What was your leap of faith moment?
Andrea: We visited some friends in Florida in January and Tom was able to go to a car show (which he loves to do). He was kind of blown away that while Louisville was getting colder by the second, we could enjoy outdoor activities while we were out of town. This enabled him to consider thinking about maybe being a snowbird.
Tom and I are polar opposites while he doesn’t make quick decisions, I am more of a rash person. There’s a funny scene in My Big Fat Greek Wedding. The mom is talking to the daughter and says, “The Man is the head of the home but the woman is the neck and she can turn the head any way she wants to.”
So combined with a little coaxing and not too much nagging we decided to bite the bullet and rent a home in Florida for 6 months. We will go back and forth between KY (where our grandkids are) and Florida, where we can feel like we are on vacation for long periods of time (some 2 weeks, some a full month).
This is just the first in the adventures that I see us doing.
What obstacles (if any) have you experienced?
Andrea: Well unbeknownst to us, we were kind of blind sided by a person we were supposed to rent from. She called and started getting cold feet. We had already sent her our entire 6 months of rent plus deposit! So we had to scurry to find another location. We are still awaiting the return of our money…we have learned a lot.
What would you say to someone considering their own particular adventure?
Andrea: Life is too short to wait. There are so many stories of people who wait to retire or wait to do anything and then horribly a spouse dies before they are able to enjoy what they have built up for. If you don’t take the first step then you may never see the fruits of your labor.
If you have not made wise financial decisions then start today to build up for your dream. It’s never too late.
I have been working since I was 13 – cutting grass, babysitting, bagging orders for the local Tupperware lady, then on to Little Caesars and my careers as a young adult then into a highly successful real estate career the last 12 years. I’m ready to take some time for ourselves.
The Bible states that All Hard Work Brings A Profit (Prov 14:23) – if you have worked hard then go enjoy those fruits. Your grands will still be here, your kids don’t need your money after your death – enjoy what you have saved for…
I would love to go to a little Tuscan village and work in a chocolate shop! That’s the next dream on my list! Want to join?
There is something so absolutely amazing when you see a friend flourish in the life they want to live. Just recently, Andrea went on a trip with her daughter to Puerto Rico to celebrate her birthday. For Andrea and Tom, this is just the first of many life adventures. I know that they are going to do so many wonderful things and make a world full of memories.
Andrea, I wish you and Tom all the wonderful life adventures you choose. Take lots of pictures because I’m living vicariously through you!
