Taking the First Steps Toward a Dream

My heart is racing.

Years ago, I stumbled across The Nesting Gypsy somewhere on Pinterest. At the time, I think it was under The Happy Janssen’s. In any case, her RV interior blew my mind, and as I read more and more about their lifestyle, my heart leaped. Everything in me lit up, and that dream has stayed alive ever since. I knew it wouldn’t happen immediately, but it became one of those things I just knew would happen if I trusted God’s guidance.

Fast forward, and I fell far away from God. Obviously. Traveling was still a dream, but I let other things get in the way. I didn’t have the right motives or focus.

I’m remarried now, and my husband is an adventurer. We bonded over a shared love of exploring new places, new experiences, and freedom. We both owned our own business when we met, and most of our dating months consisted of weekend trips to nearby cities and parks. Then life started getting a little hectic, so after we got married, we buckled down on work.

The dream to travel stayed alive, but I mentally pushed it out five more years.

My husband wasn’t all that interested in an RV or a camper, which baffled me. In my opinion, it fit perfectly with both of our travel dreams. My dream to travel in a trailer had evolved over the years, and I’d settled on taking at least one full month in the summer to travel the western US. Before we married, I talked a lot about my eventual plans to travel the country, but I had no idea how it would play out. All I knew was that whether he traveled with me and my kids or not, I was going to do whatever I needed to make this dream happen. Even if it was just a few weeks in a rented camper, that would be ok.

Fast forward to this past week, and everything has changed. We looked at campers. He caught the fever. Now I’m typing this in a car dealership because we’re trading in my 2013 Dodge Journey for a 2017 Ford F-150. Whaaaaat?

I married an ENTJ, and it never ceases to amaze me how quickly and efficiently he can get stuff done. Meanwhile, I think and plan and brainstorm and think and plan and second-guess and think, and look at the pretty butterflies, then get back to thinking…you get the idea. I’ve wanted this for a decade, he realized he also wanted this about a week now, and now it’s happening. Or at least, the beginning steps are happening. There’s probably a life lesson in there somewhere.

So…we have a truck now! I didn’t finish this post at the dealership, as you can see. The truck is in our driveway now.

Now we get to look for a camper. I have a list that I like, but we’ll see how it goes.

What will we do with a travel trailer, anyway?

I’m still thinking and planning, but I’m pretty excited about the possibilities. Over the years, I refrained from laying out a full detailed plan for this, because I never knew when it might happen. After my divorce, I thought it would be 10 years before I’d be at a point to do this. Yet here we are, and I get to make some plans.

The actual work that we’ll be doing on the road is still in the beginning planning stages. It will be a mixture of writing, vlogging, and website design and development. Right now, I’m good with simply jumping in with both feet and wide-open eyes. My blog will be part of this plan, but it won’t be the only part.

We’re not going to live in this full time, or all of a sudden start homeschooling the kids and traveling the country as a nomadic family. As cool as that would be (in my head, anyway), it’s not feasible with our custody arrangements and other goals.

Next steps:

• Write. A lot. I can make plans and look at campers all day long, but writing is my first love and first goal. It wouldn’t be good to lose sight of that in the excitement of making changes. This means you’ll probably (hopefully) hear a lot more from me.
• Work, network, make (and save) those dolla dolla bills, y’all.
• Research travel trailers, things to look for, additional costs that might come up, all the fun stuff.
• Find a camper that fits our budget and needs. Easier said than done, but we’re not stressing about it. This is all happening much sooner than I ever expected. When you’ve waited a decade, what’s another few months or a year?

Right now, we’re praying, working, and playing it by ear. Stay tuned!