Downshifting to a Better Life

By Marie Sherlock


 


Grandparents Find That Simplifying Their Lives Leaves More Time For What’s Most Important



David Heitmiller and Jacque Blix dote on their 14-month-old grandson, Erik. But the Seattle couple live 1,400 miles from Erik’s home in San Diego, hardly conducive to developing a close relationship with their first grandchild. That’s why they’ve arranged to “winter” each year in Southern California just 20 minutes from Erik’s home, close enough for plenty of leisurely days spent swinging at the park and visiting the zoo.







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But Heitmiller, 56, and Blix, 53, aren’t jet-setters who’ve retired early with bloated stock portfolios and second and third homes in vacation locales. Despite their middle-class existence, they were able to leave the workaday world behind more than eight years ago by embracing an increasingly popular lifestyle philosophy called downshifting.



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