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The Mom Abroad Moves On: A Farewell to Belize

Jami Brouillette

September marked the end of an era for us as we sold our home in Belize. It’s a bittersweet moment, filled with reflections on our incredible adventure and excitement for what the future holds.


A Journey Spurred by a Midlife Unraveling

When people ask me what made us decide to purchase and remodel a home in Belize, they often laugh nervously when I tell them it was mostly a midlife crisis. The thing is, I’m not joking. It was unequivocally a midlife crisis that led us to Belize.


Before purchasing our house in Belize, I always associated a midlife crisis with things like shelling out a bunch of money for an expensive car that loses value as soon as you drive it off the lot—or worse, divorcing your spouse. But purchasing this home proved that not all midlife crises are “bad.”


In her book The Gifts of Imperfection, Brené Brown states, “People may call what happens at midlife ‘a crisis,’ but it’s not. It’s an unraveling—a time when you feel a desperate pull to live the life you want to live, not the one you’re ‘supposed’ to live. The unraveling is a time when you are challenged by the universe to let go of who you think you are supposed to be and to embrace who you are.” I couldn’t agree more, and I honestly don’t understand why more people aren’t talking about this “midlife unraveling.”


It was our unraveling—our desire to live the life we want to live—that led my husband and me on our home-buying adventure in Belize. Rather than seeking solace in the arms of a new romantic partner or chasing the thrill of a fast car, we embarked on a wild adventure that brought us closer together. We learned that if we could work together to rebuild a home in a developing country, we could tackle just about anything.


Lessons and Blessings

Our time in Belize was a blessing not just for Dan and me, but for our children, too. We faced some of our greatest fears, experienced life immersed in the culture of a developing country, and learned to appreciate the modern conveniences we often take for granted in the United States.


For all these reasons and more, it is bittersweet to share that this will be my final Belize blog post. We have sold our home, but the memories and lessons will stay with us forever.


Looking Towards the Future

Moving forward, we plan to continue flipping houses in various ways. Will we purchase



another home in a foreign country? Not at the moment, but I certainly wouldn’t put it past us. For now, we’ll be remodeling and selling our remaining rental homes, but we’re open to other opportunities as well.


Dan is an entrepreneur through and through, and our family’s roots are firmly planted in real estate. Real estate has afforded us the opportunity to take calculated risks, like our adventure in Belize. It has allowed me to stay home with our children from birth until preschool and to resign from teaching following the Covid pandemic.


It’s not a glamorous line of work, and it has its drawbacks, but it’s the work that Dan loves. It enables me to do what I love, too—taking our kids to and from school, sharing my thoughts through writing, setting my own schedule, and never missing our children’s sporting events. For all these reasons and so many more, I will forever be grateful for all the ways investing in real estate has enriched our lives.


A Heartfelt Thank You

To all our readers who have followed our adventures and lessons learned, thank you for being a part of this chapter of our lives. Your support and shared experiences have meant the world to us. May our story inspire you to embrace your own unraveling and live the life you want to live.

Farewell, Belize, and onto the next adventure!


With much gratitude,

Jami

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