In my head, this title sounded like a catchy play on the movie titled “We Bought a Zoo”. Instead, however, it sounds less like a title and more like a lame statement. But then I realized that’s exactly how the movie title sounds as well, so I shrugged and moved on.
John and I have spent the last year+ talking about quitting our jobs and taking a long road trip. Once the idea was planted in my head, I knew it was something I had to do or I would regret it for the rest of my life. Unfortunately, John’s job situation made it difficult to just take off. For a while, his message was “The trip is going to happen, I just don’t know when”. So when our ideal departure date (March) came and went, and John’s project still hadn’t shipped, I was trying not to get my hopes up.
On April 5th, I managed to tear John away from work for long enough to look at some conversion vans in Dallas. We fell in love with one of them, and after scrounging to get enough cash on Easter weekend (it involved lots of ATM withdrawals and some help from our roommate), we had a van! And then John proposed that we both put in our two weeks notice the next day. I was shocked! It had seemed like his work wasn’t anywhere near letting up, but I took his suggestion as a commitment to this trip and went for it.
I have always been the type of person who plays it safe in life. I love adventures… as long as they are done safely and practically. I started saving for retirement when I was 15, and have had some sort of job since 1999. So, up and quitting without any future employment lined up is crazy for me. But once I put my two weeks in, I simply felt exhilarated and excited. I’m know there will be points on the road – when I’m missing a bed, regular showers, a convenient bathroom, and good food – that I’ll regret giving up my comfortable and predictable lifestyle, but for now, I am simply excited.
We started by gutting the van completely, and it currently looks like an intimidating mess of wires, with wood scraps and nails jutting out from the exposed metal walls. But with a little (make that a lot) of work, hopefully it will make a semi-comfortable home for the foreseeable future.
The van after we started gutting it.
The ceiling after we gutted it in an effort to get more standing room.
We finally get to see the van!!!!
Very cool, I look forward to following your adventures!
Ooh! Put Oregon on your list. From what I hear, no climber’s life is complete without paying homage to Monkey Face.
http://www.smithrockclimbingguides.com/Guiding/MonkeyFace/
And visit us in Portland! Sadly, we will be sitting at our desks — unless you make it to Bend during the first week of June or over July 4th weekend, and we can watch you climb Monkey Face 🙂
Enjoy your great adventure!
Awesome! I have always wanted to visit Portland, and Smith Rock is definitely on our todo list. We’ll be in Seattle for a wedding in late August, though, so we probably won’t be hitting Oregon until September.
Road trip suggestions from a recent trip: 4th of July at the Roswell UFO Festival, zip lining at Angelfire (1500 ft. double line, 60 MPH) and Flower Festival in Crested Butte, Colorado!