Escapism

Our rental property is FINALLY under contract and closes in 3 weeks. I feel like this is the finish line for the nightmare that started with a busted pipe in our kitchen December 23, 2022, which led to an entirely new kitchen, which required us to sell the rental property. I never wanted to be a landlord and didn't intend to keep the property this long, we just hung onto it because of a long term tenant. I felt guilty selling it until I discovered he drilled eight 4" holes in the walls of the first floor pantry and closet to ventilate his marijuna plants. But that's a whole different thing.

Our neighborhood is generally pretty quiet, but we do hear gunshots now and then, usually many blocks away. Still, I hate that my kid plays "gunshots or fireworks" at 7 years old. Today she told me she is fine with the wildfire smoke keeping us indoors because the world outside is dangerous. Like objectively, from an adult perspective, this is a perfectly nice neighborhood with nice neighbors. We take a walk every morning and then do schoolwork outdoors until lunchtime, and have never had anything bad or even slightly annoying happen to us, other than the one neighbor across the street who gets picked up every morning by a woman who thinks her car horn is a doorbell. Still, between her thoughts and the fact that STL City just has PROBLEMS that are getting exhausting, I'm readyfor a change. Sixty+ water main breaks in the last 9 months, all the main roads have been torn up by Spire and aren't going to get paved until 2025, forestry and trash are always behind. The undeniable gun violence of the city that has not improved in the 20+ years I've lived here. I'm just tired.

Of course, I'm self-employed, so whenever I'm feeling psychologically trapped by circumstances, my brain goes straight to "how can I make more money immediately?" But we'll be dealing with closing this sale for the next couple of weeks, AND I'm getting ready to start the next homeschool year and need to get our school area organized, plus the past 6 months have just been SO stressful. I need someone to force me to slow down and let go of the "hustle 24/7" mental load. 

What do I do when I'm trying to stop "hustle 24/7" in a situation I can't control? Plan our next vacation. That's totally financially responsible and absolutely an investment, right? I'm a travel agent, after all. 

Can I just hibernate until August?