We're Going On A Trip..... (how we got to this point)

 ... maybe we should name our car 'Rocket Ship'.  It would fit the Little Einstein song that keeps winding itself around my brain.  

For years I have talked about packing up and traveling the country with my kids.  Living in an RV (or a van down by the river) and exploring.  Having a grand adventure.  I have a little bit of wanderlust.  I'm also a homebody.  I like my stuff and I like familiarity.  I like to go on adventures, explore, and see new things.  Thus the RV sounded like a great plan.  I could have all my stuff, our home base... familiarity, yet we'd be able to move it and have an adventure.

I have tried.  I explored different options.  I researched different possibilities.  Travel trailers, Class A, B, & C, fifth wheels, even teardrops.  Something always came up that put a dent in my plans.  That's ok.  I'm used to it.  Dents happen and I try to roll with it.  For my high school graduation trip I wanted to rent a yacht and cruise the Puget Sound.  Yeah, that didn't happen.  A group of friends and I rented a houseboat on a lake up in British Columbia... it wasn't a yacht, but it was a vessel that floated on the water, it had a hot tub, and we had a great time.  

So, dents. My mom said to me the other day (I really have no idea how long ago it was... maybe 2 weeks... with covid I've gotten really terrible about remembering time frames) "Why don't you just go.  Take the money you've been saving up, continue to work while you're on the road and just go."  So, that is what we are going to do.  Instead of buying a travel trailer and a vehicle that could haul it and having to learn how to deal with black water, and then having to figure out what do do with it when we're done with it, we are just going to go.  

I don't know how long we will be gone for.  I've got a long list of things to do, places to go, and people to see.  I know I won't get to everything... but that's okay.  We are going to fly by the seat of our pants a little and live.

My parents have been so amazing.  We live with them.  I moved in with them almost 3 years ago after my divorce and it has been the best.  It has been such a comfort to be around people who love my kids as much as I do.  It's not all rainbows and butterflies... sometimes its a caterpillar and a rainstorm.  Without them I wouldn't have the courage to take this leap and chase this dream.  

I've got about a million sticky notes filled up with lists of things to pack.  I wake up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep afraid that I will forget something, puzzling over all the things that could happen... trying to figure out solutions for problems that haven't yet arisen.  

The plan is to leave on Friday.  It is currently sometime between Wednesday night and Thursday morning... the adventure has already begun.

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