An Unexpected Layover on Our Adventure Moving to Iceland

I know you have all been stoked to see my Instagram pictures of Iceland fill up your feeds. Well, the reason they haven’t yet is because I’m not in Iceland at the moment. In fact, I’m in Ohio. I know, I didn’t expect that either and I’m still waking up to the shock of it daily. Let me fill you in.

Living Out of A Suitcase

We left Colorado at the end of May and arrived in Ohio. At the time we expected to stay for a few weeks while wrapping up the sale of our condo before moving onto Iceland.

Things did NOT go according to plan and…

3 Weeks into 3 Months

Before the buyer fell through on the day of closing and we all collectively lost our minds, we recognized the best thing we could do was take a moment to regroup.

It’s been a tough year, which I’ll get to in a moment, so we went under contract for a house in Ohio to give ourselves breathing room.

Those three months put us in an unbelievably uncomfortable position. We had to ask for help. Our families and friends in Ohio took us into their homes because after flying from Colorado to Ohio, we couldn’t go back. We couldn’t afford it which left us effectively homeless in Ohio.

Didn’t think I was going to go there, did you? Neither did I. We owned a home, but occupying it while trying to sell it wasn’t feasible. The chaos of the past year left us unable to find a rental we could afford for the duration of the closing period on both homes. Our quick vacation with family turned into 3 months of overstaying our welcome.

Silver Linings

It wasn’t all bad. There were beautiful nights on our friend’s farm watching fireflies and days picking mulberries from trees. We walked in the woods, ran through rainstorms, and ate A LOT of ice cream. But, to sum it all up, we survived.

Fortunately, the home we have fits our needs. We have space to run around outside, more than 546 square feet (unlike our condo) and we even planted some flowers. 

Vulnerability Time

Our financial circumstances have changed. For years I was the breadwinner while my spouse stayed home with our son. Now things have flipped because robots are taking over the world. Just kidding! A little. AI has changed the world I work in and made an international move unfeasible for us right now. 

Admitting that to myself let alone the digital world is hard. Each day I confront the reality I’m in, where I am, and how far I need to go. But it’s not my fault. (I’m saying that more for my sake than yours.) My spouse reminds me of that whenever things get a little too stuffy with existential dread over here. So, while I’m picking up the pieces of my bruised pride and sparkly dream of Iceland, I’m doing what I can.

Publishing Nia’s Rescue Box

I’m sure if you’re reading this you’ve already seen my posts about it. But, it’s happening! Abi, the illustrator, and I are getting all the final details in order and we’re on track to publish November 7, 2023!

Remember to Breathe

(Yes, I might be talking to myself again and that is okay!) I’ve been building breathing room

myself and my family. Time to collect ourselves and start over, something we’ve done before more times than I’d have liked.

Even though we’ve had tons of fresh starts, they never get any easier. I always think we’re done and we’ll have everything figured out from now on. Then life goes and changes unexpectedly causing me to entirely reevaluate everything I thought I knew. 

So, I hope you’ll enjoy the posts on here, my Author Spotlights (hopefully to soon be brought to you in podcast form) and my other posts about story, branding, and my publication journey.