How the Adventure Started

How did we get here? A long-time dream of taking the kids out of school and traveling for a year lingers in the background when a job relocation and quick house sale hit. Suddenly, one of those ‘wouldn’t it be great to . . .’ ideas that had always been dismissed as being way too impractical is the most logical family plan. The year-long dream isn’t actually in the works, but we’re excited to undertake something that blends the adventure of that dream with the practical aspects of wrapping up a quick house sale and taking the time to make a smooth transition to a new location. 

Planning 

I’ve been a fan of family travel blogs for some time, and most of the planning tips you’ll find there are along the lines of taking a year or so to sell, donate, and store your stuff, homeschooling for a year before to get into the swing of things, and lots more advice on taking the time to get your RV ready for travel and work. That’s all good advice, but we took none of it. 

Up until about a month before we left we had a certain job in mind for K (Plan A), but the time he’d be on the road for that one didn’t have us super excited. (Yeah, I do see the irony that we’re literally on the road all the time now, but we’re together, so it’s good.) Then we decided to implement Plan B, traveling, to give us time to make the best decision on the other interviews in the pipeline.

So, it is possible to sell your home, cars, arrange your finances, schooling, work, and mail, sort out your belongings, buy a RV, and fit the belongings for a family of five into it all in a little over one month. It’s not for the faint of heart. There is little time for sleep or proper meals, etc. Having good neighbors that enjoy having your kids in their house (and feeding them) is a blessing. I’m humbled by how kind our friends were to us. Craigslist worked great for selling our cars and tons of furniture. We also had great luck in happy coincidences, like someone mentioning that they needed a couch—and being able to help deliver it to them that afternoon. Like childbirth, I know that I'm already blocking out some of those moments right before the adventure started.