Homeowners Again — But Where Will You Live?

After not owning a home for almost three years, there have been a lot of reminders of some of the reasons we had decided to shift to nomadism and a home-free existence! Don't get me wrong-we love our house, and we are really enjoying feeling a bit more settled right now. We are leaning in to what this area has to offer.

But…

With homeownership come the responsibilities of maintaining a home. I forgot how quickly you can become a slave to the home. It's not just the maintenance—we have Joseph, our gardener, and Chichi, our property manager, to keep the house from falling apart; but how quickly my brain shifts from planning grand travels and adventures to being sucked into shopping online for things like shower curtains, rugs, mirrors, kitchen stuff for baking…the list goes on! I have to remind myself that I don't have to have every room done all at once. That I can take my time and go room by room. It's tough, though!

Because of the load shedding here in South Africa, getting backup batteries and solar panels was first on our list. The installation was surprisingly quick and spoiled us a bit with how quick and easy it was to have it done.

Next up was the conversion of the garage into a gym. This has gone somewhat smoothly, although both times the contractor came by, we found out they would be arriving to work about fifteen minutes before they arrived. Again, it's good we have Chichi here to manage things if we are out and about! Other than a mirror, maybe putting up a TV, and adding a door to the utility room, the gym is complete!

Last, but not least on our current projects, is our office/retreat space. This room was originally designed as “the viewing room” since it is on the second story and looks out over Kruger National Park. Then, the previous owner turned it into a bedroom with a bed and two fold-out couches: basically a room to sleep 5+ kids.

Well, that wasn't going to work for our dreams of a private retreat and office space. The layout is a little awkward with a bathroom, a kitchenette, and an indoor braai (wood/charcoal grill). I was completely at a loss for how to make this space work for our wants. Isn't it lucky that my bestest friend is an interior designer and has her own business? I know she's my best friend, so you might think I'm jaded, but she is truly an amazing designer! I sent her pictures of the space and a little video, we had a video chat so she could ask some questions about the space and hear what our concerns, needs and preferences were. She asked about things that would never have occurred to me to consider.

Me with my beautifully brilliant bestest friend before I moved away in 2017.

After she put together some cute ideas and presented them to us on a video call, we are so close to done with the room! I still need to pick up a few of the decor items, but knowing what I'm looking for based on the bigger design makes it so much easier-and less overwhelming! And technology is great—here I am thousands of miles away, yet the process was seamless. You can reach Janna through her website, or check out her Instagram page.

I'm not ready to share pictures of the space yet, but soon!

We are still working on making the house ours: talking through ideas, contemplating knocking down walls, moving doors, and buying water fountains, but it is coming together!

Things are starting to settle a bit, though. Even with so much to do with the house, we are making time to socialize with friends and meet new people. And learning all about holidays in our new home. Because, man, do South Africa’s like to celebrate everything with a holiday! July we had Youth Day and August was Women's Day-

“National Women's Day is a South African public holiday celebrated annually on 9 August. The day commemorates the 1956 march of approximately 20,000 women to the Union Buildings in Pretoria to petition against the country's pass laws that required South Africans defined as "black" under The Population Registration Act to carry an internal passport, known as a passbook, that served to maintain population segregation, control urbanisation, and manage migrant labour during the apartheid era.”

Since Women's Day is a Tuesday, schools close on Monday as well, meaning it's a four-day weekend. Same as Youth Day last month. It was on Thursday, so Friday was also a day off. And Americans get all excited about three-day weekends! Haha!

To celebrate Women's Day, I made some delicious peanut butter cookies 😋 It’s so nice to have a kitchen with the things I need to make baking so much easier! (I remind myself of that when yet another thing breaks in the house and Joseph has to dig up the yard to fix a leak.)

Honestly, when we sold everything in 2019, I really wasn't sure we would ever buy another home again. I didn't think we would be nomad travelers for the rest of our lives, but I wasn't sure we would ever want to be tied down to a place again. I always say, all decisions are for-now decisions and we can change our mind at any time!

Here's what we've been up to lately though pictures…