So, this is actually happening. No turning back now.

So, just like that, the house is sold. It feels weird to say that. I've had to tell myself several times that this is okay. Society says I need to have a house, car and grocery budget for my family yet, here I am, walking away from the safety net and heading out into the unknown. Going against the grain is mentally taxing but, hey, living your dreams isn't for the faint of heart.

We received a formal offer on the house the day after my last blog entry. We didn't get the price we wanted for the house but we weren't insulted by the offer. It gets us out from underneath a mortgage that didn't do so well during the recession. It feels good because we were stuck and now, we can go wherever we want and set up camp for as long as we want. What a huge contrast.

Everyone is wondering when we leave now. Unfortunately there isn't just one answer to this question. It breaks down like this:

- The buyer just sold their house and closed last week. The buyer is on the clock and needs to move ASAP. The buyer has been notified that we also would like to move ASAP so our agents are working with the lender right now to see if we can expedite closing.
- If they can expedite closing, we are leaving town on August 11th and heading to the Upper Peninsula for 12 days before heading west along US2 to start our year as nomads.
- If we cannot expedite closing, we are still taking our trip to the Upper Peninsula but we will return home afterwards and then close on 8/29 and then head west on Route 66 / I-80 immediately after closing.

So, to summarize, we are either leaving on 8/11 or 8/29 depending on when the bank can make the closing happen. Oh, and the city just marked our street with flags and paint because they are going to start tearing up our street ANY DAY now. Party!

We spent the week cleaning out the basement and I am pretty proud of the job we did. We had a lot of junk stored down there. As I cleaned I started to get all sentimental. The basement is where I first ran my business from. I was finding documents and folders from our early days in business. I found budgets and financial records and scribblings of ideas that never quite made it to the public. I remember sitting down there with Donny, my right hand man, trying to figure out what we should be doing with our time. We didn't have routines and standards. We only had things in front of us to look forward to and we were just winging it. Much like I will be doing when I hit the road with my family next month. Cheers to new adventures!