A sense of community.

A sense of community.

We all want it. We all need it. And if you're reading this you already have it available to you.

As I sit and read yet another thank you letter from a new member of this forum, I am struck by the need we all have to feel a part of something. We all have that nagging fear deep in the pit of our stomach that we are about to jump out in to the unknown without a safety net. Even I, after starting over in a new place at least five times in my life, feel the anxiety. But at the same time I feel a great comfort in knowing, I am not alone. There are others like me out there, studying, researching, asking questions and plotting our steps.

I had promised myself that this time would not be like the other moves. I would study and plan. I would not jump off on a whim and move with a bed roll and $100 to someplace I knew little about and had no contacts. To this end I have spent well over a year researching and planning. I have collected several thousand information links and articles. I have studied the local news outlets, made on the ground contacts, and tried to structure my finances and plans, so as to insure a relatively comfortable transition to my new life in Belize. Even so I still have that nagging need for community. To be a part of something, a group.

This forum has filled that need. Links and research are all fine and good, but they cannot fill that need for belonging. Don't get me wrong, research is vital in order to make an informed decision, but it lacks that one on one personal contact needed to feel comfortable. Many of us are planning our next grand adventure with a spouse, companion, or sibling. Some of us are even planning a solo jump. However you are planning or with whomever, I urge you to take full advantage of this forum.

Avail yourself of the vast diversity of experience, back grounds, knowledge and research available through the members of this group. Some are already there, some are dreaming and others are at every different stage imaginable of getting there. While all our reasons and dreams are similar, they are all different. One persons research may be focusing on the where or how, another may be more concerned with the financial, political, or eco-friendly aspects of the decision making process. Some of you have asked questions on the forum, I never thought about. And for that, I thank you. Every question and every response, no matter how routine or obscure, helps us all.

So I urge every one of you to click on; Belize Network

There you will find a listing of all the members associated with Belize. Read their profile and all their posts, ask them some questions, and develop a relationship of mutual assistance. This is a community. They may or may not have the answers you need. They may refer you to someone else or a link or page of information. Then in return you can pass that information on to others in the community. Then maybe just before you do your final packing you can contact your new friends in Belize and see if there is anything you can bring them from wherever you are coming from. Build for yourself a net-work, your community, your new extended family.

NOTE:  When contacting those in Belize, Remember they are all on Caribbean time. It may be 2+ days before they check their messages, then another couple day to germinate a response and get it posted. You are not being ignored. They are just much more laid back than any of us on U.S. time. The way we will all be soon.

Leonard