Gonzalo’s last day at work was October 11, 2019.  He turned in the company car, phone and laptop.  His insurance benefits and 401k match are now gone, as well.  It…

We moved out of our house on Friday and a lovely family with 2 young kids has moved in. We could not have asked for a better situation, truly.  I…

I need to buy airline tickets for myself, 2 teenagers, and 2 Yorkipoos from MCI Kansas City to VLC Valencia.  We will be accompanied by 6 checked suitcases, 3 carry-ons,…

We will be moving out of our home and into an Airbnb in 8 weeks. Gonzalo will be leaving for Spain in 9 weeks. I will be joining him with…

In my last post, I was happy to report that I had passed the CFP® Exam – hooray! What I neglected to mention is that within 48 hours of the…

This blog has been neglected in recent months because I have been studying for the CFP® Exam. I started studying 4 ½ years ago, got halfway through the coursework, and…

My boss found out about my blog today.  It was a stressful day at the office. Midlife Escape is a blog about saving for, planning, and taking a midlife career…

Gonzalo (my husband) is finally on board and ready to support this wildly irresponsible sabbatical idea, but there are conditions: “I am from Latin America and I don’t want to…

I don’t want to plan anymore. I don’t want to pore over site after site of travel information obsessing over where we should go and what it will cost. I…

My husband Gonzalo is still uncomfortable with the idea of leaving for 7 months to travel the world with job uncertainty awaiting us at home. His anxiety is legit and…

Like many people in the United States, I remember exactly where I was on September 11, 2001. Ironically, I was not in the United States at all, but in Colombia,…

Enough ruminating about blah, blah, blah. Enough disclosure of too much personal information to strangers online. It’s time to start planning the trip, the Midlife Escape! Because I will not…

I have a financial goal and a deadline for my Midlife Escape…but all financial hell has broken loose at home: Garage door repair. $500 Ventilation problems on the upper level…

Twenty-six months remain until we launch our 7-month Midlife Escape! My original goal was to be ready to leave for a full year by November 11, 2019 (my 50th birthday)…

I started this blog in November of 2017 to plan a midlife career sabbatical to travel with my family in 2020.  Then I started thinking about two years of squirreling…

Good News!  We don’t need $100,000 to travel for a year. A quick Google search shows various sites listing $4,000-$4,500 as the average cost of a one-week domestic vacation for…

I have started this blog to share my journey to plan for and take a midlife career sabbatical.  I dream of escaping the fatigue, stress, and over-work that is considered…

Some of us were born with a “worrier” gene and I am one of them. Women, in particular, seem to share this tendency and our conversations with one another reflect…

We were getting ready for work this morning and I must have been smiling. My husband asked what I was thinking as I slid into my nylons and heels. I…

This whole conversation is admittedly the babbling of an educated white upper middle-class suburban female. The problems I describe are First World problems.  Wahhh, right? Millions of people in this…