THE QUESTION

“Where are you all going?” everyone asks us.     

“West,” we tell them.  The truth is we have no destination, no set course.  We don’t feel the need to create a bucketlist of things we have to pursue like to pass through all 50 states or every national park.  There are specific places we want to visit, but our main goal is to be outside where the landscapes overpower the senses.  More importantly, the time we will have together as family will be priceless.                                                                                 

There will be tough days ahead.  I have two young daughters with attitudes.  They are used to comfort and to getting their way most of the time.  Which is another reason I want to travel, to toughen them up a bit, perhaps to enlighten them.  When those tough times arrive, I will write without glossing over the truth.                                                                                          

Most importantly, my wife and I have a strong, solid relationship.  I feel this is an absolute necessity for an adventure like ours.  When those obstacles hit us, we will be able to tackle them together.  Still, I refuse to go as far as purchasing an RV where we would be cramped in a small space for a year or more.  We will rent homes or apartments.  With luck, we won’t end up in a pay by the week hotel room in a shady part of whatever town where we stay.  Then again, if it has a decent pool…

THE DECISION

“Make the decision by New Year’s Day 2017,” we told ourselves.  How long had we pondered and made excuses? Then life happened – children, the routine, the extracurriculars, the mortgage, the car note, the career, the pets.  For so long we have wanted to leave the South, not to escape, but because the mountains, the rivers, the oceans and waterfalls, all the natural beauty of the world called us.

Before children our travels began to get longer.  We visited places that are more exotic.  Even when the girls came along we traveled as much as our income and vacation time would allow.  We skipped house repairs and short weekend trips in favor of month long vacations to destinations like Dominica and Spain.  If Europeans get at least a month of vacation every year why can’t we?

In our life travel has been a priority.  There is no better education.  So many beautiful places exist in this world and we have so little time to see them.  For this reason we made the decision to leave our comfort zone.  Yet the choice goes much deeper.  We are also choosing to leave behind family and friends, well-paying jobs, a home where we have established roots, and a basic everyday routine where we feel safe and secure.

Both scary and exciting, I must admit.  The first and toughest step was to make the decision, at least so far.  So this summer, most likely in July, we are leaving the South to travel for the next year or more with no set destination except West.  No place to call home except the road. 

Now time for the planning…