What would you do?

[Steph]

Every once in a while, dh and I imagine what we would do if we no longer had to worry about earning a living.

Wanna play?

What would you do with your life if you could do whatever you wanted and money was no object?

[mugsbigsis]

That's easy. . . TRAVEL, TRAVEL, TRAVEL!

[ashleygg]

I want to write.

[DebbieHodge]

i think i'd continue doing the work i'm doing right now but with more $ spent on marketing and hiring someone to do all the website work and support. i'd take my kids on a couple of awesome trips a year (japan, china, and france are top on their lists). we'd get new sliding doors and windows. and I'm guessing my husband would change his occupation to doing consulting work without worry of whether we need insurance or can pay for college. i like to work and my husband needs to work. alsim i'd really hate to leave my little house.

[DebbieHodge]

Originally Posted by ashleygg

I want to write.

LOVE the simplicity in your statement. And you are one awesome writer.

[maureenreynolds]

In our less than 10 years of marriage, we have both lived well below our income level, and so we are doing what you ask about.

We travel, we read, we volunteer and he works because he loves the projects he works on.
Neither of us does much that we didn't do when we both worked full time. Of course, we had both raised our own sets of children thru early adulthood so that helped a lot. ;-)

You only have to have one person die - one death that suddenly hits you hard for whatever reason - to start seriously asking that ? What would I do today if I had 1 year? 3 months? 1 month? to live? It was the death of a woman I wasn't even close to when I was in my early 50s that made me look long and hard at my life. I made a few small changes and the changes snowballed into a life I really liked. Money didn't make the biggest difference interestingly enough.

[Steph]

Originally Posted by ashleygg

I want to write.

You are an amazing writer, Ashley!!!

And Kelly, where would you go? Any place in particular?

[Steph]

Maureen, what an awesome answer!

One of the things I would want to do is have a house in Maine so that my kids could grow up closer to our family, so I totally know what you mean!

And, I have to say, my answers now would totally change if our kids were grown.

[Lynn Grieveson]

We have this planned ;-)

We will have a place in Wellington (New Zealand) and another in the South of France and will alternate between the two. I would still design and he would still write, but without the pressure.

[katrinak]

This is embarrassing but I think I would buy 5 acres and grow a huge garden...with a green house for the winter and perhaps explore a little hydroponics.

Oh and buy a Canon 1D and any lens I wanted so I could take photos in my garden knowing Ian's education is paid for.

[GoingtotheSun]

I'd spend summers in Montana and I'd travel more frequently.
I'd also spend more time with my family - no amount of money can replace the time you spend with the people you love the most.

[Steph]

Katrina - mine is a bit embarrassing as well. Why do you think I didn't say my answer?

Love yours!!!

[dugarner]

DH and I would love to travel, with our children and also when they have left the home.

I would go back to college and earn a few degrees---one in music performance, another in math, and finish the one I started in Latin and Ancient Greek.

I would love to learn how to play a few more instruments.

But mostly I would want to spend my time doing something that help change other people. I love teaching, and I'd love to do it without having to worry about being paid.

When it's my time to die, I want to know that I affected at least one person in a positive way.

[mugsbigsis]

Debbie, I love what you said at the end, "I love my little house." I would definitely want to keep my house here. This is home now. I could expand and say, I would have to continue to volunteer because it's what keeps me sane. I LOVE to see new places though. When I get "in a rut" I usually find myself dreaming about a trip somewhere. Now that the kids are moving out (not that I like this at all) I love the idea of maybe seeing more places. I want to see New Zealand and Australia and I'd love to see places in the US like San Francisco, Santa Fe and Seattle. (Can you tell I've never lived in the west?)

If it were possible I'd like more hours in the day, too.

Ashley, I'm thinking you should write anyway. :O) And Katrina, why would you be embarrassed about that? I think that's a great thing to wish for.
Steph. . . spit it out. It's nice to share. :O)

[quilter422]

wonderful question, steph, and i'm loving all the answers.

there are a few places we'd like to travel to - new zealand, australia, and italy being chief among them. (some u.s. spots, too.) and since money's no object , i'd go to a place and stay there/live there for 3-6 months to really explore it and get to know the culture. not the "if it's tuesday this must be belgium" kind of trip.

we'd build a home in ireland where my mom grew up. she's the oldest of 9, and she and her sibs have the farm still. it'd be a place that my whole family could take turns using to keep closer to the irish cousins.

we'd start a scholarship program at my kids' school to help out families who need the financial assistance.

i'd learn to play the piano. dh would spend more time coaching t-ball, baseball and the like. we'd tour all the MLB parks in the u.s., it's long been a goal of his.

we all disney world freaks, and we'd probably pay to have a day of that insanely expensive, guided, behind-the-scenes tour. or two days.

oh. this one is pure selfishness. i'd get candice olsen (hgtv's devine design decorator) to help me design my studio. and maybe the rest of the house, too.

[connieg]

Now don't laugh, but first thing I would do is find a good dentist. I would love to be able to give up my hidden talent of spitting watermelon seeds through my front teeth. I've had a gap the size of the grand canyon since I was little, just once I would love to smile a big toothy smile and not have a black hole.

[katrinak]

Originally Posted by mugsbigsis

And Katrina, why would you be embarrassed about that? I think that's a great thing to wish for.
Steph. . . spit it out. It's nice to share. :O)

Well...I grew up on a farm hating every moment of it, refusing to participate and saying I'm leaving this place as soon as I can! LOL

And yep Steph, spill it!!

oh...and my 5 acres needs to be in the heart of the city so I can still ride my bike to Rubicon that is a pleasure I refuse to give up...plus I'd probably have to go there to meet my hubby as he lives his dream of just making and enjoying beer!

[kmartorina]

I have two dreams that are very different but I would combine both of them. In no particular order I would 1. Travel all over the world, take lots of photos and learn about other people. 2. In between travel, I would minister to/be there for/visit with the elderly and homebound people in our community. Since I grew up as a child of a minister, I always went with him to the nursing homes and home visits...so I guess it is just in my blood. I did do some of this before I had to work full time, but don't have the time now until I retire (will be a while). It is very fulfilling for me and I know it is my calling.
Thanks for sharing everyone, fun to read and dream!

[KerryMac]

What wonderful, heartfelt answers!

I've thought about this question a LOT. I'd have a home in New Mexico and also a big motor home so we could follow our children around the country! I'd want to build a home next door to my sister and brother-in-law, too. I love them so much and they always make me happy.

I'd continue to travel. The Galapagos and India would be next on my list.

We'd like to repay the generosity that has been directed toward our 3 daughters and pay for 3 other kids to attend college.

Materially, I have everything I could possibly ever need right now. My life is blessed. Well, I would like those little black pants I saw today, but....

[sawdust]

Oh golly, this is really a great question. I am loving all your answers!

Mine is so stupid. I would love to have one of 2 things.Either an old farm type house built...so it looked old...only with good wiring and all...with a big front porch with a swing. But not really far out in the country. It is the house I want. You know...squeaky floors and stuff. Desks that had places worn where people had hit their knees when they turned to put their feet under the desk. I love used things...it is weird I know but I feel people's presence there.

Or... I would like a huge one room...with a fireplace in the corner, a big round braided rug in front of it. A big bed on the other side with a handmade quilt on it and big pillows. An old fashion sink with the drainboard and all built in and the kind that a curtain hangs below to hide the pipes. Vinyl tile on the floor, with homemade throw rugs. A few chairs and a couch. All in one room...except the bath of course. I don't know where this desire came from but I have had it for so long. Just that simple but all "home" and "cozy"

Gosh, now you ALL know I am so weird!! But that is what I would want. And to be able to help people with their bills. To be able to pull them out when there seemed no way out.

[Steph]

I am LOVING this thread!!!!

Okay, here's my answer. Part of what I want to do is just help my family - get everyone out of debt and be able to contribute to causes that I care deeply about.

But, really, what I'd like to do is build a house in Maine on the water - a very simple farmhouse with a big porch and a huge cozy fireplace (almost exactly what you described, Barb!) - and allow myself and my family the peace that comes with being content where you live. I don't live where I want to be for the rest of my life and I want to wake up and LOVE what I see out my windows. And I want to work more with my hands - quilting, crafting, photography, gardening, etc....that all spells home and happiness to me.

And, of course, I'd love to travel and do a lot more but it really comes down to the feeling of being home that I'd love to have.

[Carol Elliott]

Kelly - you can come visit me in Kennewick, we're only 3 1/2 hours from Seattle so we zip on over there for visits all the time. And then we can go see Katrina in San Francisco! Heck, we could even go via Teri As place!

After our last two are off to college (only 4 short years), we'd sell our 2-story house (we purchased it a month before my 20 year old was born) and buy a one story at the base of Badger Mountain so we could climb it every morning. We'd give back more than we've been given, travel more - we've already planned to go see all the places my husband traveled in Europe for work when our kids were little (I was either very pregnant or nursing), Mike would take classes with the woodworking masters to improve his woodworking and I"d keep puttering away taking pictures and sewing and reading and gardening. We have actually talked of doing all these things ...

[susiecw]

First, I would take a long, deep breath! Then I would always want to live near my grandkids and daughters wherever they end up. Charity work, travel, golf, paint and take photos. Simple needs.

[grandma lynnie]

If I could live the life I wanted, free of worry about money, I'd be married to a good man with a whole big family of healthy happy kids and grandkids. I'd also be healthy and have time to spend with my husband, my mother and my children. I'd have time to volunteer at a place that I love. I'd spend my days doing things that I love and not doing things I don't love. I'd travel to some of the places I've always dreamed about. I guess what I'm saying is that I'd live pretty much as I do now! I feel fortunate to have the life I have.

[whatnext]

i have this strange desire to live in a small stone cottage on my daughter-in-law's family's estate in Provence, wander the hills with a big walking stick, speak to no one, drink lots of the estate wine and be spoken of as "that mad American woman who lives in the hills" by the people of St. Remy.

[Joey_M]

Originally Posted by katrinak

This is embarrassing but I think I would buy 5 acres and grow a huge garden...with a green house for the winter and perhaps explore a little hydroponics.

Oh and buy a Canon 1D and any lens I wanted so I could take photos in my garden knowing Ian's education is paid for.

Katrina, I have a girlfriend near Rockford, IL that has this exact thing for sale...AND it's organic land......not near CA, but hey, it's worth mentioning!

[donitab]

BEACH! Somewhere on a beach with an umbrella, good book, kids to play in the water (my own or grandkids), always a Diet Coke & just the time to look over my book & thank God for all the blessings I have.

Kelly, I LOVE Santa Fe - it is less than a 5 hour drive from my house, so it makes a wonderful long weekend retreat. A wonderful place for a photowalk (we should all plan to meet there one day for that). You can find the most unique jewelry and artwork and there is a wonderful Rubber Stamp Store that sells great southwestern stamps. And on the square is a deli that sells green chili croissants that are horribly expensive, but once you eat one, you gladly pay through the teeth for another one - you gotta' go!

[donitab]

Originally Posted by whatnext

i have this strange desire to live in a small stone cottage on my daughter-in-law's family's estate in Provence, wander the hills with a big walking stick, speak to no one, drink lots of the estate wine and be spoken of as "that mad American woman who lives in the hills" by the people of St. Remy.

I can SO see you doing this! How fun!

[MIDA78466]

oh my DH and I have thought about living life to it's fullest ever since we found out his cancer returned. Unfortunately I have to still work! Work--that's a bad word. But, if we were retired and didn't have to worry about an income we would take short trips (long trips are out of the question since he has treatment once a month), golf every day and do tons of mission work. Somewhere in there I would find to scrap our every day events.

Sounds like dream, huh. We are trying to live that dream now--it's just that work is getting in the way just a little bit.

[Joey_M]

I love all these answers. The DD community has such a big heart....but that's no secret! So what is keeping us from our dreams? Fear to try? Priorities? Poor money spending habits? (that's me!)

My girlfriends and I have been working on our bucket lists - things we want to do before we "kick the bucket." We share our lists with each other so we can encourage one another and check things off our lists. Sounds like you ladies have the start of a good list!

What an awesome thread!