L.A. Off-Ramp Leads Couple To N. Idaho

Almost anyone with a big-city job has experienced the feeling. It’s 7:45 a.m. The traffic on the freeway creeps along at 25 mph in a 60 mph zone. You’re gonna be late no matter what, and an “off-ramp” is coming up.

And you wonder what it would be like to say “I’m outta here,” jerk off the necktie or kick off the high heels, take that exit, and change your life forever. For most of us, it’s but a momentary fantasy. Responsibilities, habit, good sense - whatever keeps us in the “through lane” and we pass on with only a wistful glance.

But one morning, in the middle of Los Angeles traffic and smog, Ben Hellewell literally made the choice to take the off-ramp and leave his work as a patent attorney.

It’s somewhat surprising when you consider that Ben holds a master’s degree in physics, a doctorate in physics and biochemistry and is a doctor of jurisprudence. What is more, he has worked and made a living in all of these fields.

It seems like a bold move for a man barely into midlife. But, according to Ben, diversity training and experience probably are the reasons he was able to take that exit.

That day he left the freeway in Los Angeles was not the first time he had changed course. Earlier he had departed an assistant professor of pharmacology position at a college in Ohio to study law. “One week I was going to my regular job and the next I was living on my sailboat and pumping gas to put myself through law school.”

Today, he and his wife, Ann, live what most would consider an ideal life. They run a successful software business from a temporary residence while their home in the forests above Lake Coeur d’Alene is being built.

What does it take to make such a move from a secure job into the unknown - starting over again in a new place?

“A lot of looking,” Ann says. “When we knew we wanted to leave Los Angeles, Ben and I spent three years traveling to different places to find one that was right. We had already begun the software business.”

One might assume that the Hellewells had unlimited money to finance the search. Not so.

“We didn’t have much. We slept in the car a lot, carried our own food,” Ann said.

It was on one of these excursions that they arrived in Coeur d’Alene one snowy, late, October night several years ago. Ann tells the story.

“Ben got out of the car at this little motel, looked around and said, ‘This is it.’ It was just one of those feelings. Next day we found a Realtor who showed us all kinds of property. None of it was right but I had this dream that it was there somewhere and I kept bugging him. Finally, the Realtor said that he might have one possibility - high on a bluff overlooking the lake. It was what we wanted and we contracted to buy it.”

Lacking a limitless bank account, what does it take to venture into the unknown?

“Faith that what you are doing is right and faith in yourself,” says Ann. “Faith enough to follow a dream.”

Ben adds, “I like to keep learning. I enjoy the challenge of trying new things. And I don’t worry. I’ve had money and been without but it always works out.”

He continues, “People who simply set out for North Idaho without a clue as to how to support themselves are probably doomed to disappointment. The job market for the untrained is tight. In our case there were several different options.”

In addition to Ben’s degree and job experience, Ann has trained and worked as a massage therapist.

Ann and Ben’s days begin at dawn and last until late in the evening. They divide their hours between the house they are helping to build (they work with a contractor) and keeping the business running.

All is not work, however. They find time for friends, family and an occasional sail on Puffin, the 30-foot sloop that once served as Ben’s home.

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