How We Got Here

I have always dreamed of doing a long trip, away from jobs, hectic schedules, and all the crazy things we add to our lives. I always imagined I would build a family that traveled; one that learned and experienced from the world around us. When Scott and I met 17 years ago I always talked about wanting to do a big trip. The dream did not always include him, but I would have loved for it to be his dream too. He would always say to me that he was satisfied with doing long weekend trips around the desert southwest, which I loved too, but I yearned for something more. I thought of many ideas and even planned them, but they never worked out. We were either to broke, or had jobs we didn’t want to leave, or distracted by other big life things, such as getting married, building a family, or as most of you know, school for me. Though the desire to get away always was within my soul. I remember our late night discussions about my dreams and me feeling like he would crush them with the realities of life. It wasn’t that he did not want to do these things, he was just practical about making it happen. I was the one who thought you could easily just pack it all up, quit your job, pull your kids out of school and just go. He knew it was much more than just saying it out loud. Something I finally learned as we planned for this trip. I remember friends I have met along the way of life, living their dreams and feeling jealous they were doing it and I was not. I would listen to their stories of adventure, their stories of letting go of fear and the norm and just doing it. I wanted that too! A few years ago, to fill that wanderlust void, Scott and I went on solo international trips. He went to Iceland to do photography and I trekked in Peru. I honestly believe this was the spark that started it all.

I also had the dream of getting a van. Something that could get us to the places we wanted to go, but also allow us some luxuries like having a bed to sleep on and being able to get out of the rain. I did not want to get something that would hinder our love for getting off the beaten path. But of course this ended up being a journey too. We started off with a pop-up tent trailer. I tired to make it be a little home, but we ended up leaving it at home most trips because it did not allow us to access the places we loved to go. I never wanted that trailer. I hated that trailer. I knew what I wanted and it was a 4x4 van! So we sold the tent trailer one year after getting it. Then we got a call from a friend telling us he had a friend who was trying to sell their 4x4 ford E-350 van and wanted to know if we were interested! I of course said, YES! We went and looked at it and bought it! I was elated!

I remember the day very clearly when we finally agreed to do a long family trip. I remember laying on the bed and asking the question I had asked so many times, “What if we just do it? Just pack up and go?” We had spent the last two spring breaks in Costa Rica and thought we could go there. I suggested it to Scott and for the first time he said, “I think we could do that.” I was filled with joy! Could this really be it? Could we really be packing it all up and going? Our dream in this moment was to go to Costa Rica for a year. We wanted to enroll the kids into a school that we had visited on our last trip. It sounded like the perfect option. So we started planning. As we talked and plan the idea began to shift from staying in one place in Costa Rica to traveling from Baja, MX to Alaska in our Van. As we talked about it more we knew this was the right thing! The final decision was made April 2018.

So here we are. I am sitting here writing this post 10 days into our trip. There has been much planning to make this come true, but so far it has been well worth it. I hope to be able to share my real thoughts on my life and this journey through this blog in a way I cannot do on standard social media. I would not call myself a writer, but I hope I can offer something to anyone who is reading this. Or even if it is just a place for me to lay my thoughts down, then that would be ok too.