The Time Has Arrived: Going Fully Nomadic!

As I write this, most of the items that once cluttered my house are now packed away in a storage unit. There is an echo in the house that reminds me of the days when we first moved into this place. It was just Jessica, me and the dog back then. We camped out on the hardwood floors, ate Chinese take-out and watched that Will Ferrell movie about basketball. I remember he played for the Flint Tropics but I can't remember the name of the damn movie. Anyhow, the metamorphosis has begun. There are still couches, tables, chairs and mattresses in the house to keep it inhabitable but we are moving into our camper TONIGHT!

Google Result: Semi-Pro. 

We have discussed where we want to go on our trip. We each have places that we consider to be important to us for various reasons. Jessica wants to head to Washington state immediately because she is pumped about the rainforest. I want to be able to hang out in Florida or Arizona for MLB Spring Training and the boys want Legoland. There is a Legoland in California and Florida so that should be easy to pull off. 

Keeping these non-negotiable destinations in mind, we created a mental picture of how we are going to see the country. Up until a few hours ago, this map of our intended route didn't exist in the physical world. It was a theoretical, counter-clockwise circle around the country that trailed off somewhere around Arizona. So I busted out MS Paint and and made this visual representation of where we are going to travel. 

The area in red is our soft launch. It is a trip that we had already planned and made reservations for before we decided to go full-time. It takes us to the Upper Peninsula and back in 14 days. We take a similar trip every August and it's what inspired us to travel for a year. We are pretty sure Michigan's Upper Peninsula is the most amazing place in America (during the summer) but we want to make sure. 

Once we return from that trip we will close on the house and head west. Sometime before September is over we will be in the Seattle, WA area. Once we get sick of the weather, we start driving south. 

From there we head east and the rest is subject to change whenever it decides to. The remainder of this map is stuff that I thought of as I went along. Some of the lines actually follow US Highways and Interstates but mostly not. I didn't want to start opening the atlas and worrying about fitting everything in. I didn't want to create a structure that represents the bricks and sticks we are leaving behind. I want to do something that we have all wanted to do at some point in our lives. Just get in the car and drive. 

As I write this final paragraph I am no longer in an empty house full of echoes. I am relaxing on a 32' travel trailer that is parked at Addison Oaks County Park. We made the leap. We live in an RV. In 2 weeks, the travels begin. Let the good times roll!