Earlier this summer we got the unexpected news that my teleworker status was being revoked and I was now tied back to my Bellevue WA office and expected to be in the office on a regular basis.  That of course, put us in to a big spin, trying to figure out where to live, how to stay mobile as much as possible, etc.

http://rv-dreams.activeboard.com/t60382690/an-unexpected-change-in-plans/

After crunching all the numbers, looking at several "what if" scenarios, we just couldn't make sense of my quitting my job and trying to find various work camping jobs to live off of for several years to come.  With my current salary and Dale's art show business, we're on a 3-7 year plan to retirement.  Quitting my job would require taking on at least seasonal jobs that paid a bit more than work camping and would have elongated the retirement option for several years, and most likely not being as mobile as we would want to be, and honestly, probably a job I wouldn't enjoy as much as I enjoy my job now.  I'm in the fortunate position of having a pretty good job that I like, most of the time. 

Well, we finally have a little more light at the end of the tunnel with some compromise on both sides.  My manager is truly being as accommodating as he can within the changing HR rules and is willing to allow me to work out of different offices as it makes sense.  For example, when we're in a city for an art show with a local office I need to try to get into the local office a couple of times.  For those times when we're between art shows I need to try to be closer to an office and get into the office more frequently. 

End result is that it looks like we'll still need to be a bit more stationary than we wanted to be and I may have to winter in Southern CA vs AZ for a longer portion of time in the winter as our company doesn't have any offices in AZ but several in Southern CA.  We will probably need to spend more time in the Seattle area, lengthening our stay there in the summer months to include the end of spring and early fall, but still escaping the winters.  I may also have to occasionally foot my own travel back to Seattle in the winter for client meetings if it's deemed necessary for me to attend, fortunately that's not a frequent occurrence and a small cost to pay to continue a mobile lifestyle.  However, my boss has also assigned me 2 new accounts that are based in Southern CA which will make it easier to justify working from multiple offices.

So once again, I'm making plans / reservations, looking at a different art show schedule for Dale that will most likely find us in Palm Springs and San Diego a bit more with occasional weeks in the LA area to accommodate my work schedule, but it could be worse.  Los Angeles vs. Seattle in January?  Kind of an easy decision for us, having to drive in the LA traffic to the local office for work isn't something I'm looking forward to, but sunshine, warmer temperatures and less gray skies has a definite appeal.

Loving this life on the road and very grateful that we are finding a way to continue being somewhat mobile.