T minus 2 days!
It’s really happening. We have packed all our clothes and the kitchen (minus essentials that will be packed Friday morning). We’ll be taking another RV trip to unpack more and install the scooter carrier today. This will be the last trip up before our last trip up! Friday morning will be the time to do the last bit of laundry, cleaning and packing up the last essentials. Friday afternoon, Mom will drive us and the last of our stuff up to the RV and leave us there! We will be out of there Friday evening, and on our way!
It still doesn’t feel real AT ALL. Our first stop will probably be a Wal-Mart parking lot, or maybe a Camping World. We have to get the propane tank recertified/replaced, and to our knowledge Camping World provides that service. I feel that we’ll be stopping in a lot of parking lots in the beginning, before our first “official” road trip stop: around Ann Arbor, Michigan. I’m not sure if we will arrive there before the Fourth of July, but we will need to find some awesome spot to watch fireworks!! I’m very excited to be touring America during the Fourth. I’d love to find a spot on a lake or something for a firework show. That will be planned en route, since we have no idea what the next few days will hold!
We are toying with the idea of a YouTube channel. Public/private. This way we can easily share videos with friends and family, instead of sending mass texts/emails with such footage. I have to look into it a little more, but it’s a very possible venture. Also, I’m trying to figure out a way to do a photo share type of thing. I know on the iPhone there’s a way to do that, but we don’t have iPhones, so if anyone has any (free) suggestions for a way to share mass amounts of photos with friends and family (not with Facebook or Instagram), it would be much appreciated!!
With all this free time I’ve had not working, I’m definitely getting to know myself better, and learning to not stress about a lot of things I used to (it’s a process, of course, I’m not 100% stress-free). I love being able to wake up slowly and deliberately. The ability to do my morning yoga, oil pulling, tea/coffee, set the table for breakfast, cook something healthy, sit down and eat with Paul…the whole thing makes the idea of going back to work at any type of 9-5 ish job VERY hard to imagine. A part of me really thought that I would become very lazy – sleeping in every day, bingeing on Netflix, etc. – but I haven’t done that. I haven’t watched much TV at all in the past few weeks. I’ve focused on my health – yoga, breakfast (something that has often been forgotten). When I take Pookie out for her morning bathroom run, she likes to sunbathe. I used to rush her in so I could get ready and go to work or errands, or whatever… Now, when she sits/lies down and proceeds to be stubborn about going in, I don’t force her – I join her down on the grass. I pet her and soak in some Vitamin D right alongside her. It feels so nice. It’s going to be really hard to go back to any kind of work. I think it’s showing me a part of myself that I never would have seen without this time off. I definitely think it is a motivation to work from home, or at least be able to create my own schedule – writing, or maybe nutrition…that will be worked out on the road (I hope!).
Another perk of having all this time before leaving is my little project of minimalism. I went through all my clothes so they all fit in my dresser/closet area. No more switching clothes out depending on the season. That felt amazing. And I’ve been putting more time and effort into picking out nice outfits, etc. to wear instead of throwing on the same old stuff with a sweatshirt. More intentional living, I suppose? Everything seems a little different now – in a good way!
Anyway, I need to get moving here. This will likely be my last post from Home Base. Next post will be from Somewhere, America. Stay tuned! xoxo
Raising LeBar 