If only there were more who think like you Eric, this world would be a better place!
I 100% agree with every piece of advice you give here, the stand-out for me personally is:
Value making memories over acquiring things.
Making memories is something that enriches our lives forever, and can never be taken away from us! People place so much value on acquiring material things but that of course just puts one on a temporary high.
I find genealogy fascinating, yours is really interesting! It is such a pity that we do not keep record of family history when the older generation is still young, as memories fade, and they pass on hearsay, but at least one can then get a record of important happenings in their lifetime.
My son also did a DNA test and found the closest match is a lady from Texas, definitely related to hubby's grandfather. Dean still has to contact her (she fortunately chose that option, and shared her photo as well) I'm looking forward to that, but he's way too busy with work and discovering the new country they find themselves in!
Thank you for a thought-provoking topic, it's been a crazy couple of weeks with municipal strikes, all bnb's lowering their rates because of service-delivery failures in our city, but thankfully we ended up with good bookings again so I can heave a sigh of relief! Maintaining a big property can be costly, and my little side-hustle helps with that. (one of your pieces of advice which is vital) - never put all one's eggs into one basket they say, and it is so true!
It really feels like more people are waking up, hopefully it's enough to change the world before it's too late.
We made some good progress on our family tree. The details of the Walton side get a bit murky before England but as best we can determine two brothers fled Spain during the Inquisition (they were Jewish), landed and settled in Ireland, then the next generation(s) moved to England and settled in the London area (23andMe backs this up). I find it interesting that our family fled persecution twice but I guess that's how the world was back then.
You're welcome! I'm enjoying this more than any other initiative I've ever launched on Hive. It will make for a great year of writing.
I'm glad to hear your bookings picked up! Do utilities go out often in your area?