07-28-2005, 06:40 PM
Go with your heart. We are in the same boat. My husband is 60 and I am 50. We used to live in Orchidland had to move back to the mainland to deal with a family illness. We are close to moving back. Just sold one home this week and will put the second home on the market soon. It is hard to be so far from the kids and it is expensive for them to visit,at least from here on the east coast. But,you can't take money with you and the kids will find a way to spend it when you are gone so why not use it to make the rest of your life more enjoyable. The roughing it grows old very quickly. We lived in a shell for a while and it is not easy carrying water and using a portapottie and cooking everything on a grill. I dont recommend it for a long period of time. Why not start the permit process now, and rough it only for a short time. A dump truck needs maintainence, and you need a pit to haul from and you will be competing with locals who are probably related to pit owners and you will probably not get the best price on material to haul and you will have to charge more than locals and people are going to hire them. And if you cant do the work on the truck yourself you are going to go broke in repair fees. Take the money you have build a shell and live in it. If you run short land values keep going up you could always sell a lot off it needed. We feel that we belong there and the kids have finally accepted that. You deserve to be happy so think about it and then just jump in with both feet to whatever you decide to do. Best of luck