Changes in latitude, changes in attitude.

As the old saying goes, sometimes the best laid plans of mice and men sometimes go astray. Another one says that change is inevitable. Yet a third says that life, like other things, is a learning experience. Well, it turns out that our plan to move to New England and rent a place for several months while we tour the area has fallen under the influence of all three.

We arrived here in Massasachusetts several days ago and rather than rent an apartment for the duration of our stay, we’ve decided to ditch that idea and just live out of motels. This is prompted by several realizations.

1. We have found that trying to rent a decent place for a short term – three to four months – has problems. Every place we’ve looked at requires a lease and the cost for a short term lease is much higher than for longer ones of six months or a year.

2. Very few apartments are furnished and those that are are significantly higher in cost that unfurnished apartments. Yes, we could rent furniture but then there’s another cost.

3. After renting a place, the plan was to then spend a lot of time traveling around New England seeing the sights. However, any trip further away from the apartment than a days round trip drive would involve the need to stay in motels,,, thus another cost in addition to the cost of the apartment. And even if we did return home each night, the time required to drive somewhere far away, and return, would reduce the time available to see and do things at wherever we would go.

So, when you add up all the costs involved, both in terms of money and time, plus a couple of other minor factors that I won’t bother you with, we’ve decided that just staying in motels might be a better way to go. Also, we wouldn’t be tied into a place for a lease term if we decide that we’ve had enough of the area and want to move somewhere else sooner than planned.

Now some of you might wonder why we don’t just get an RV of some kind and travel that way… carry our house with us, as it were. Well, do you know what a decent RV costs? Do you know what it costs to insure them? Do you know what it costs to store them in an RV storage lot when they aren’t being used? Do you know what it costs to repair them when something breaks? Do you know what kind of gas mileage they get… and at today’s gas prices? Do you know what it costs to stay in a decent RV park per night? Add up all those costs and then try to convince me that it’s cheaper than just staying in a motel each night. Besides, I haven’t seen an RV yet that had a swimming pool, Jacuzzi and fitness room…. not to mention free breakfast and internet connection. And if I don’t have internet connection of some kind then you, dear readers, wouldn’t be able to follow along on our journey by reading these occasional missives. And how incomplete would that make your lives?