Our Horizon

We found a renter, hired another consultant, booked our flights, and we're a week away from leaving!!!

Here's the latest broad scope of our trip.

So far, the only definitive dates are based around starting our journey in Los Angeles on Sunday, May 20th, heading north to Santa Cruz for Memorial Day weekend, continuing north to spend June and July in the Pacific Northwest, making our way back south (passing through San Francisco) to Nevada for Burning Man during the last week of August, and finally, decompressing at Lake Tahoe during the first week of September.

From there, we are open and unplanned and we will see!

Late Spring 2018, California:

• Begin in Los Angeles, May 20th
• Pacific Coast Highway
• Big Sur
• Redwoods
• Santa Cruz, Memorial Day
• Lake Tahoe (and Reno, NV)

Summer 2018, Pacific Northwest:

• Devil’s Tower, Wyoming
• Bighorn Medicine Wheel, Wyoming
• Olympic Peninsula, Washington
• Crater Lake, Oregon
• Portland, Oregon
• Seattle, Washington
• Irondale, Washington?
• Glacier National Park, Montana?
• Banff, Alberta
• Alaska?
• San Francisco, August 19-22
• Black Rock City, Nevada, Aug. 23 - Sept. 2
• Lake Tahoe, Sept. 3-5

Late Summer 2018, California:

• San Francisco
• Redwood
• Muir Woods
• etc.
• Mt. Shasta

Fall & Winter 2018, Southwest US:

• Lake Tahoe
• Sequoia
• Sierra
• Yosemite
• Oak Creek Canyon, Arizona
• Santa Fe, New Mexico
• Quartzsite, Arizona
• White Sands National Monument
• Death Valley (wildflowers)
• Fly to Northeast for Holidays?
• Family Vacation (Holidays or Winter Break)?

Our Plan

Our timeline for leaving is contingent on a few factors:

• Renting our condo (completing renovations, finding a renter)
• Hiring an additional technology consultant at Joe's company
• Establishing a structure to ensure sustainable success of Joe's company, as well as our Namago endeavor

Our best estimate is "early spring,” which now, well into January, seems closer than ever, though it's still nebulous. We don’t have an actual date as of yet. Nonetheless, we know and trust and plan for late March.

While in the throes of cleaning house, gifting and giving away what were once our treasured belongings, and reshaping our mindsets about life and belonging, we sometimes slow down and embrace the fun of envisioning where we plan to go…

Early Spring 2018, California:

• Begin in Los Angeles (3-4 days)
• Angeles National Forest (2-3 days?)
• Palm Springs
• Joshua Tree
• Death Valley (wildflowers)
• Sequoia
• Sierra
• Yosemite
• Lake Tahoe
• Reno
• San Francisco (May 5-8, 2018)
• East Coast (2-3 days, fly to conference)
• Connecticut (May 10-16, 2018)

Late Spring 2018:

• San Francisco
• Redwood
• Muir Woods
• etc.
• Lightning in a Bottle? (May 23-28, 2018 in Lake San Antonio, Bradley, CA)
• Mt. Shasta

Summer 2018, Pacific Northwest:

• Devil’s Tower, Wyoming
• Bighorn Medicine Wheel, Wyoming
• Olympic Peninsula, Washington
• Crater Lake, Oregon
• Portland, Oregon
• Seattle, Washington
• Irondale, Washington?
• Glacier National Park, Montana?
• Banff, Alberta
• Alaska?
• San Francisco (August 19-22, 2018)
• Black Rock City, Nevada (August 23 - September 6, 2018)

Fall & Winter 2018, Southwest US:

• Lake Tahoe
• Oak Creek Canyon, Arizona
• Santa Fe, New Mexico
• Quartzsite, Arizona
• Fly to Northeast for Holidays?
• White Sands National Monument
• Family Vacation (Holidays or Winter Break)

These are just lists of places we wish to experience, loosely grouped by locale and arranged according to climate. There's something to be said for “un-planning our travels” (thanks Wynns!), but I think the more we research and plan now, the more with the flow we can go down the road.

A bit more nebulous still, here are some other places on our list:

Spring & Summer 2019:

• Boulder, Colorado (June 2019)
• Yellowstone, Wyoming
• Glacier National Park, Montana

Summer 2020:

• Alaska?

From there to here...

2017 was a big year...

Last year we went to San Francisco, Amsterdam, Spain, the Grand Canyon, and Burning Man. Plus, we came to the decision to live on the road in an RV for 18 months, and we bought one!

On Joe's birthday in February last year, we went to check out a RoadTrek camper van in person for the first time ever. The model Joe selected after many hours of research was available in New Jersey, about two hours away. Ashleigh approved.

In April we traveled to San Francisco for a conference, and while we were there, arranged to see a very reasonably priced, used 2016 RoadTrek CS Adventurous that matched our exact specifications. It was perfect: in great shape and priced to sell. We made an offer.

In May, we closed the deal and bought it! Our friend Jerry, over the course of two trips, drove the RV from San Francisco to Phoenix. Since Joe had to be there for a tech conference in June, we planned a trip to the Grand Canyon. After the trip, we stored the RV in Phoenix.

Independence Day fell on a Tuesday last year, extending the first weekend in July to four days, presenting an opportunity. Joe flew to Phoenix, got the windshield fixed (a water truck's tire had kicked up a pebble into our windshield on the way to the Grand Canyon), and shuttled the RV to store it in Reno so it would be ready to go for our next trip: Burning Man!

In late August we took the RV to the Black Rock Desert in Nevada and camped out for ten days at Burning Man. We then journeyed through Lake Tahoe and by way of Angeles National Forest to L.A., where we cleaned our RV and placed it in storage. The RV sits in L.A. as we write this, patiently awaiting our return. We are in Connecticut, excitedly planning for our departure – and for our big move into life on the road!

To top off a year of steady progress in realizing our dreams, last month we rented out our new home on wheels to another couple for two weeks. Even after the rental listing website took their cut, and after paying our friend Micah to facilitate the rental in Los Angeles, our profit covered a few months' worth of RV expenses. It was great to go through that process and validate the plan to rent it out and make money, both before and after our upcoming road trip.

Yep, 2017 sure was a big year, alright.

...and 2018 is sure to be even bigger!