Since before I knew how to drive, I wanted to go, to wander. Even when my transportation was only my bicycle, I could be found towns away exploring what was beyond my own neighborhood. After I got my license no place was too far away. My father always used to ask, “how could you put that many miles on the car in a single night?” After I purchased my first car, it was game on! My neighborhood grew immensely to include most of New England. Remember the TV show Route 66? I promised myself, someday I would drive the Mother Road although I doubted it would ever be in a Corvette.
My wife was a mother at a very young age, and an extraordinary one too I might add. Besides her own four children, she was a mom to thirty two foster children, until they were placed in their permanent homes. Needless to say, with her responsibilities, there was not much in the way of travel other than trips to the doctors office, cheer leading practice, sports games, scouts, and an occasional vacation. Until now, her opportunity for an extended trip to go see the United States was limited. THE time has arrived to change all that!
The children are grown, have families of their own, and don’t live nearby, so now that we are retired our schedule is our own. Recently, we decided we no longer want the upkeep of owning a home. A condo doesn’t appeal to us either, nor does the idea of paying rent.
The option that does intrigue us is to sell our home and all it’s contents, both cars, and purchase a motor home to travel the United States FULL-TIME! That means going from a 2,400 square foot house to a new one of only 400 square feet. Our theme is “Downsize But Not Downgrade!” The plan is to travel the country for the rest of our lives. Wait, what? Let’s start out with a two year renewable contract and at the end of two years we can evaluate where we are, mentally and physically, and choose to keep going or not. This plan is both exciting and at the same time scary. I describe it as we will keep going until we run out of money, run out of health, or run out of fuel, whichever comes first. But, at least when we do run out, we will know where we want to park!
We are surprised and delighted by the interest all of you have expressed, wanting to know the details of our plan, how the process will work, and our progress once we begin. It has also been suggested we keep some kind of journal, not a diary exactly but some kind of record. This website is meant to be a way to keep in touch with family and friends and to answer the question, “Where are they now?” If traveling the United States is on your bucket list, and for whatever reason you are unable to, we invite you to come with us, virtually. Statistics say we are all becoming more isolated and anxious as we use our devices more and more and have less face to face contact. Perhaps if you take this trip with us to see our latest discovery, and you let us know what you are thinking, we can close that gap using the devices that are creating the issues.
The link From Here to There is how we went about the process. The Blog links are issue specific and meant to answer the many questions you may have, based on what we have been asked so far. I hope they are helpful or at the least informative. The link Postcards From The Road will grow as we travel the country. It will be about our latest stop and what we discovered. If you are going to experience this trip with us, this is the link for the latest postings. Please use the link Contact Us to let us know what you like about what you are reading, and what you would like to see more of. And to let us know about your favorite place so we don’t just drive right by. We welcome your questions and comments.
Kathryn and Paul
RVTourUSA 