This adventure really began five years ago in 2019 when we bought our first travel trailer.  A Forest River No Boundaries 20fter.  We were hooked and knew that there would be some amount of traveling done in a TT.  We started watching full time RV families on YouTube, shout out to @keepyourdaydream, @lessjunkmorejourney and @findingoursomeday , and dreamt that we could do the same.  “Your Dreams Matter- Start Small- Start Now” is KYD’s tagline and we took it to heart.  However, we are inherently NOT risk takers and we kinda like our ordinary life, so every Sunday night we would watch and dream.  

  What we did do was start planning to do SOMETHING in the future, to interrupt our ordinary life, and  not necessarily give it up.  We started to aggressively pay off debt, put as much money as we could afford in savings, this was going to take some time.  You see both of us, (yes, I talk big about selling our house and moving), like where we live and the “selling everything” and traveling full time is just not in us, yet. Notice the “yet”, who knows what the future holds, however, at this point we are committed to SOMETHING! 

Fast forward to 2025

I hit a big zero age and we will celebrate 40 years of marriage. We couldn’t think of a better time to do our “Golden Gap Year” , this became our official name for what this year is all about.  But it is more than that for each of us.  

The Reasons

We each have our reasons for wanting to take this time, some are the same, but some are very different.  For Sam, he worries about Alzheimer’s in his future, a disease that stole his mom way too young and canceling his parent’s dreams.  That pushes us to live our dreams while we can. He also views this as a work reset.  Financially we really can’t fully retire, at least that is what our “Monte Carlo” number tells us right now, but with the proper planning we can take some time to reset our minds and think about what we want to do in the future.  For that reason we can agree, interrupting work is what we are going for. We both also want to be healthier, more active and outside more.  We are hoping to find a way to  volunteer more on our adventure.

  For me, it is about facing my fears.  In my profession, I come across as confident and in control, which comes in handy as a Director of Finance. I write about this because there are so many other women, and men who can relate.  At one point, someone called me a “boss lady”, I took it as a compliment because of the giver, but everyday I would put on the armor and head out the door.  However if you peel back the layers, (if you ask Sam, there are many layers), I am fearful of a lot.  Mostly unrealistic fears, but at the root is control and not being in it. 

 Fear of not being in control has been in my nature for a long time.  To illustrate this in relation to this trip,   I have begun fearing our time in Florida, yes 22 months in the future.   My fear is being attacked by an alligator.  I hear a news story about an attack and that is all it takes to visualize myself fighting off an alligator, over and over.  Another fear I have is just the driving from one point to another, trailer trucks are the devil I say!  I can physically feel the distance narrowing as we pass a truck or it passes us.  Fear of high roads and edges can put me in panic attack mode,  I see us going over the edge, and rolling over and over and over to the bottom.  Fear of being attacked in our camper in a Walmart parking lot, I have subdued that fear with the plan of having bear spray at the ready, if it can slow down a bear, maybe a murderer?

These are the fears that come to mind now, although I am sure that my neurotic brain will come up with a few more before we take off in February 2025.  The biggest take away from this PRE journal is that despite the reasons, fears, money, and life in general, we are going!  

The Planning (my favorite!)

Sam’s planning mostly involves the rig itself, which is now a Grand Design Imagine 2600RB TT, and oh the truck, apparently there is a need for a new truck.  He is determining: What do we need to boondock longer, increasing air flow, storage, comfort. What size truck do we need and where do we fit the electric bikes are a few things he is working on.   My role true to form has been the financial planning.    We began having regular financial checkins about 2 years out. We both talk through what to do with our house for a year, rent it, Airbnb, etc.  All of those decisions come with miles of logistics, so far we are undecided.

  I have been the main route planner using RVLIFE Trip planning Wizard.  We also bought a big map and routed the trip on that as well.  As the time gets closer we will plan regular times to work on this together.  It is more complicated than it looks as you consider how long you can boondock to save money and how long you want to stay in a spot.  We also have our daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter meeting us for a week.  Oh and did I mention we want to work in an Alaskan Cruise while we are up in that region of the US?    We know that it will change often but there is a lot of fun to be had in the planning.  

For our Family and Friends – Join us for the Journey

I hope you come along with our journey. I promise to write with honesty so that someday you can interrupt the ordinary of life and face the fears of the unknown, knowing that we will cheer you on in whatever you do!

Stay tuned for more PREP and PLANNING posts as we near the launch time.