Most people were excited when we told them that we were going to be packing up our entire lives and traveling around the country for a while. But there were also a ton of questions.
"Are you quitting your jobs?"
"Are you going to homeschool the kids?"
"How long are you going to be gone??"
"Are you insane!?"
So, here are the answers to some of the most commonly asked questions so far (and some we haven't been asked yet)!!
"Are you insane!?"
Probably LOL!
"What made you decide to do this??"
Brian and I love traveling. It is one of our favorite things to do. We have been very fortunate to have jobs with enough vacation time to let us travel a couple of weeks a year.
But we realized it wasn't enough.
A couple of years ago, we started discussing the idea of doing a 4-5 week road trip to see the National Parks out west. We discussed the logistics for quite a while and ultimately realized that we would miss so much of what we wanted to see if we "only" traveled for 4-5 weeks, so at some point, the idea of 4-5 week trip became an idea for a 12+ month trip!
"Whose idea was it?"
We can't remember who had the idea first. We can't even remember exactly when we had the idea. But at some point a few years ago, one of us had the idea that we should travel for a year. Thankfully, the other one didn't consider the idea too insane!
"Are you quitting your jobs?"
Yes. Neither one of our jobs offers sabbaticals that would let us take such an extended period of leave, so we are both leaving our jobs.
This is the scariest part for Darcy, who is actually pretty financially risk adverse. The idea of leaving two good paying jobs for the unknown when we have two young kids who depend on us is absolutely terrifying. But this is something we feel like we need to do, so we're jumping off of this cliff together!!
We could play it safe and wait for retirement. But life is short. And seeing stories of people who waited until retirement to do this and then died of heart attacks before they ever hit the road convinced us not to wait.
It reminded us of the quote by Jim Rohn, "Time is more valuable than money. You can get more money, but you cannot get more time."
We realized that there is no guarantee that we will both live until retirement, or that we'll be healthy enough then to hike, or that we will have enough resources then to do this.
We also realized that if we waited until retirement, then our kids wouldn't be traveling with us. Lauren is almost nine. In a few short years, she is not going to want to sit by the campfire with her parents; she is going to want to go to the movies with her friends or meet boys at school dances.
We realized that we had spent so much of our kids' childhoods focusing on work. We were trying to maintain two demanding full-time careers and a house and a side business and everything else that came with our life (which was amazing), which also meant that we spent more time working (either doing paid employment or laundry) than we did playing with our kids.
We decided that putting our careers on pause to explore the world with our kids was worth it. As I told my boss, I have put my career in front of my kids for literally their entire lives. For a little while, it's time to put them first.
We are going to travel together; love, laugh, and learn together; and explore this country together. Because this time? We cannot get it back.
"How are you affording this?"
We have put a fair amount of money aside in savings to fund this trip. We also have some passive income from real estate investments.
"Are you homeschooling the kids?"
Yes! We will be withdrawing the kids from school and homeschooling them on the road. (Fun fact: This is common among full-time traveling families and is actually called road schooling.)
"What curriculum are you going to be using?"
We are not using a set curriculum. Darcy will be putting lesson plans together based on the kids' academic needs with input from their last teachers.
"Doesn't Brady have extra services?"
Yes. Darcy has been learning Braille and will help Brady continue to learn Braille. We will incorporate other lessons for Brady (physical therapy, orientation & mobility, etc) into our homeschool curriculum and our day-to-day travels. Brady's PE classes will now consist of doing daily physical therapy exercises and climbing mountains in Colorado or Montana.
"Where are you going?"
We have an RV waiting for us in Florida. (More details on that in another blog.) We are going to drive from Maine to South Carolina, where Brian has a pre-scheduled real estate investment conference. From there, we will drive to Florida to pick up the RV. We will spend March and April in Florida. In May, we are going to start heading northwest, toward South Dakota. From there, we are going to spend a lot of time out west and at lots of the National Parks.
"Do you have a specific itinerary?"
Brian and I have mapped out a rough itinerary of where we want to go, but all of that is subject to change. The whole idea is to be flexible!!
"What are you doing with your house?"
We are hoping to rent out our house while we're traveling.
"Aren't you going to drive each other crazy?"
Most likely!
"Aren't your kids going to miss their friends?"
Yes. Lauren is very worried about missing her friends and her grandparents. That is the part of the trip that she is the most worried about. But she's also really excited to go camping all of the time and to see new and exciting things! Brady's super extroverted and loves everyone anyway, so he's just really excited to be camping all of time, meeting new people, and trying new foods.
"How are you going to have enough space?"
We will do a separate blog on how we picked our RV, but we chose a large 5th wheel with a spacious living room (by RV standards!), a loft for the kids, and a master bedroom. It will still be a lot smaller than our house back home, but it's also much larger than the RV we're used to camping in for short trips around Maine.
"How are you going to do laundry?"
We had a washer and dryer combination unit installed in the RV. If we're in a campground that has laundry facilities, then we will likely take advantage of those as well.
"How long are you going to be gone?"
We don't know for sure. It depends on our finances, as well as how the trip goes. Part of the beauty of this trip for us is the not knowing. We don't know exactly where we're going to be or exactly when we will be back. We want to be able to have the freedom to roam; to come home if we miss it, or if we're tired of living in an RV, or we if want to resume our careers. We also want the freedom to stay out on the road if we love it or want to spend more time in a particular place. As people who usually plan everything obsessively, part of this journey for us is learning to be comfortable with the unknown.
We are so excited to start this journey and to share it with all of you!! We hope you'll follow along with us!!
We cannot be more grateful to all of our friends and family who have supported us so far!
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