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Believe It Or Not

It was in the seventies. (important to remember, because it would be impossible today). Work was becoming tedious, boring, and soul sucking. Each night I would go home, grumpy, complaining, unable to leave the drudgery behind. Finally, one night I proclaimed to my family I was done. Through with listening to whining customers with their ridiculous deadlines; I was quitting.

Needless to say, it was not a popular declaration. I found myself commiserating with an old, self-employed, friend, and our conversations grew from wishful thinking, to possibly hopeful planning, to definite steps we might take to realize a dream.

Weeks of explaining, badgering, promising, and downright pleading, brought both of our wives onside at last. We would sell everything, pack up, move to another country, and start our own business, with all of us involved.

Sounded easy when you said it fast, but so many details surfaced mercilessly. Family first and foremost. Convincing them was worse than work, yet they all saw our determination and surrendered to the inevitable - we were doing this.

Our first step, after agreeing on a destination, was for my chum and I to fly there and scout out a possible source of income. We spent two entire days researching a feasible idea, drafting a plan, and flying home to discuss the possibilities.

Every night was spent hashing over all the ramifications, the financial responsibilities and the execution. It was decided that my wife and chum would go back down and do a deep dive into available sites. This was the trip that provided the gas for our adventurous engine, and we cranked it up.

The nightmare began. Marketing our homes. Disposing of contents. All the utilities, insurance, international moving company (there were some things we just could not part with), mail delivery. So many things we never even considered. But, we got it done. My chum and his wife had a little more trouble, and we were needed to assist in their move.

Time came to leave. I had given notice but was still obligated for a short period, so wife and son flew down ahead. Our daughter, not wanting any part of our madness, eloped. Since I still had time, and was living with my mother-in-law, I got to know my new son-in-law, pleased that she had not just grabbed someone off the street to avoid joining us.

My turn. Final farewells to all. Our car as a wedding gift (insurance not included) a final ride to the airport, and away. My chum and his wife had applied for green cards. We looked at one another and said, to hell with it, let's just go - and we did.

Our new enterprise was a small hotel in Palm Springs, California. (Hotel because the Chamber of Commerce didn't permit the word motel). Built in the late twenties, it was very popular with the celebrity exodus from Hollywood, and over the years many personalities, in front of and behind the cameras, vacationed there.

Owned originally by an elderly woman who retired, it was purchased by a couple of fellows our age, who made a decent success running it. Now, we were asking the place to support two families of three each. On top of which, one of the prime rooms was taken over by mine -a large kitchen unit with two bedrooms - a big loss of potential revenue.

I arrived just ahead of our tardy moving van, and had to direct that along with enduring the scrutiny of our long term stays (six months every year!). Somewhat settled, we held a war council to determine steps forward. Our long stays were only about one third of our income, we needed to flog the other vacancies.

Our wives immediately turned to the aesthetics. We had agreed to keep it in the Twenties Hollywood era, matching that with new materials and decor items. My chum and I dove into the promotion. He was a music copywriter/singer. I was a graphics designer. Duck soup! We developed a new brochure for the hotel, and an advertising program that was sent to travel guides, newspapers, magazines - and our biggest success - the annual Palm Springs Life hard back coffee table book that sat in every hotel room in the desert! With pictures!