More About Us

Hi, I’m Amy!  I’m so glad that you found us at H+A at Home and Away.  My husband Howie and I created this website to have one handy spot for our travel and retirement research. 

We have relocated 4 times and think that we have at least one or more moves in our future. Where we will go and what we will do there have not been determined. We love to travel and plan to cross some travel destinations off of our bucket list in the near future without spending too much of our retirement money.  The reality is that (1) moving can be expensive whether you are planning to relocate or take a trip, and (2) making expensive decisions on a budget requires research.

As long as we are doing the research anyway, we decided to create this website to provide everyone in the same situation with helpful resources – all organized in one spot – to make these decisions.  We look forward to organizing our little corner of the Internet so that all of our research does not disappear into one of our seven filing cabinets never to be consulted again.

First, here is a little background about us.  We dated for 5.5 years before getting married and then 5.5 years before we had our first son.  We have two sons ages 24 and 23.  We just celebrated our 29^th wedding anniversary and the last college payment for son #2.  Hooray! 

If you read between the lines, I’m acknowledging that we are not impetuous or impulsive people, and we try to make thoughtful choices especially involving our finite financial resources.  We research any expense over $100 carefully before making a purchase and are usually pleased with the results.  Purchases over $200 get their own spreadsheet.  So, please know that if we make a recommendation on this website, we have not done so lightly.  

Second, we divide and conquer every task, including this website, based on our different skill sets and schedules.  I’m the artist formerly known as an international trade attorney with numerous designs, books, and briefs to my name, and Howie has had a long career in commercial lending and automotive finance.   Therefore, for the most part, I will be tackling the research, writing, and website design projects, and he will be copy editing, proofing, and making all airline, hotel, credit card, realtor, and moving company arrangements.  

Third, we like to have a game plan.  We are young Baby Boomers who are planning for a completely empty nest soon and enough financial freedom to enjoy our retirement years.  If you are heading in the same direction and have similar questions, we hope that you find some valuable information and resources here.  If you have ideas for future research projects, please let us know at handaathomeandaway@gmail.com.

Welcome!