In the beginning ...

Okay, you have to start somewhere if you're going to get started right? So, we decided to start in the garage. Yuck. I hate the garage. It's like our no-mans land anything that has no home or is in between homes goes in the garage. I feel like it's some dirty little secret! Well I logged about 3 house of garage time and Norman put in many more. In the end we had 6 boxes/bags for goodwill, two trash cans FULL of stuff to go to the curb and we've begun the sorting process by creating bins of things that will go to full-time storage and those things that will initially travel with us. It felt great to start getting rid of stuff and I was proud of Norman. Historically he's been a bit of a hoarder but he managed to sort through is precious bags of rags and even sent an old tennis trophy to the recycle pile. (poor guy). There's still mountains of work to be done, but we've taken the first step and for that I'm proud of us.

Explore. Dream. Discover.

Well Christmas is over and so my mind turns to the new year and my list of resolutions (and the reason for this blog). Like so many we've spent lots of time and energy chasing the "American Dream". Advanced degrees, enviable cars, desireable neighboorhoods, and all the right lifestyle accessories. But as we age and watch our time disapper into the black hole of roles and responsibilities that are required to maintain this lifestyle we find ourselves asking ... why. Our advanced degrees have us locked into jobs that demand ever changing certifications and endorsements, our cars require payments and the neighborhood HOA continues to skyrocket in order to pay for the increasing "amenities".

A few years ago we purchased a travel trailer. We figured it was an affordable way to vacation. Some of our family scratched their heads and placed bets that the trailer would turn out to be a big, fat, waste of money. Well we've loved our trailer! We even named it "Bert" after Norman's dad who always wanted to retire to travel in a Winnebego. Sadly, he never did. In fact Norman's mom and dad have both passed away as has my mother. Life is short. And so ... we're heading out. Our plan is to sell the house and all the "stuff" ... upgrade our trailer and become ... a family on the road.

Is this crazy? Yup, but we're ready. So many little things have been pointing us in this direction for years and other larger things have been marking a path in recent months. Norman is fond of quoting Mark Twain who said,

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

Come along with us as we follow a dream, explore our options and discover how to make it happen.