Preparing for 50 States in 50 Weeks

We have recently been spending our time preparing to take our three toddlers, ages five, three, and one to see all 50 states in 50 weeks.  Yes, you read that right…and yes…that is a year of traveling the United States.

So some questions arise as of where will we live, what will we do with our house, are we still going to work,  and when are we starting this crazy adventure? Then as a bonus, you will get my feelings about the trip.

What will we do with our house?

Our plan is to rent our house out and live in an RV for a year.  We spent a lot of time looking for the perfect place to lay our heads at night and a couple weeks ago, the day of the total solar eclipse, we found what we would call home for the next year.  You will have to read our follow-up post about RV shopping.  I will post a link when it is written.

We had a garage sale over Labor day weekend to minimize our belongings and get rid of things that we have not used in 10 years or have hardly used and to dejunk and declutter.  Seriously, who wants to move stuff that is never used?  Not me.  And in all reality, we have a lot of stuff.  I personally get tired of cleaning, nagging my kids to pick up and actually picking up!

Our goal is to become minimalists.  That is going to be a hard one for me because shopping just hits the spot some days.  Living in a 31-foot house will force me to be a minimalist.  It will be a challenge, but one I am willing to accept.

Work/School

We are not quitting our jobs, well Colter isn’t at least.  He will be working on the road, helping customers and future customers promote their businesses.  He provides high-quality social media marketing and videography/photography services.

I, on the other hand, will magnify my calling as full-time RV mom and teacher!  My creative juices will have to flow to keep our girls entertained.  As far as my pharmacy career, currently I work only as needed or PRN as the medical professionals would say.  I will be taking a year off working in an actual pharmacy but keep up on what is new in the pharmaceutical business.

When the adventure begins

The plan for our 50 states in 50 weeks trip is to leave in January 2018 and head south, or somewhere warmer than Idaho. This puts a lot of pressure on us to get our ducks in a row!  That is only three months!!!  I am not even sure if I should count October because we have so much going on here.  So there it is, two months to rent the house out, get rid of ‘stuff’, store the other ‘stuff’ and be ready to live in a 31-foot motorhome!  No big deal…right?

Emotions

There have been many who are totally excited for our 50 states in 50 weeks trip and others who think we should stay.  I am somewhere in-between.  I love having my house, my luxuries and the stability of friends and neighbors.  I love having my space.  I am nervous about how I am going to deal with not having my friends around, friends for the kids and not having my family close by.

I am not sure how it is going to be to have Colter around all.the.time.  Then, on the other hand, I am excited to have it just be he and I, figuring it out and spending time together as a family and seeing the entire United States.  I am a little overwhelmed right now, but I just have to remind myself to take small steps and a little consistency will go a long way.

Here is to us getting our ducks in a row and hittin’ the road for 2018!!!!