We all talk about it. We talk about it when life seems like we are living to work and not working to live. We talk about it when we feel our spirit of adventure becomes suffocated beneath the demands of work, bills and getting the kids to that next event. We all talk about it when it’s just the two of you alone and dreaming. We all talk about it when the moments throughout the day become less about filling our soul and more about everything else. We all talk about it when everyday life as we have made it becomes unfulfilling.

Hey, what if we checked out of the grind and did our own thing for a year? What would that look like? Oh, we could never do that, we have jobs, bills, school and family, how could we possibly do that?

So another year goes by living a good life but always thinking about what it might look like to pursue a different path away from the traditional 9 to 5, soccer tournaments, play dates and everything else that goes along with grinding it out day after day in the same place. We have convinced ourselves that it is just a crazy dream and it is silly to think of such nonsense.

But, what if? What if we refocused on the majority of our existence to be about substance, moments and experiences which nourish our souls. What if we could regain control over the things that make our lives truly worthwhile and fulfilling?

We spoke about it while hanging out, before we went to sleep. We spoke about it from time to time at family gatherings, We would throw it out there when hanging out with friends to get their thoughts. Then one day at a family function my sister called us out. “You guys seem to talk about this a lot, are you serious, is it something you’re going to do”? I paused briefly and said yes, that is something we could see happening. She said, “no, is it something your going to do”? In other words, do something about it or shut up already. Time had passed and the next time it came up she called us out again. I turned to my wife and at that moment, our dreams and conversations about making it happen turned to conviction and I could see it in every bit of her that she wanted this as much as I did.

When you turn all of the conversations of “what if”, into “we are”, an unsurmountable number of tasks suddenly fill your life. From there it has been a scramble of research and list making for everything required to make this reality. However, it seems checking off the to do lists is much slower than making them. Once something has been checked off it leads to more.

Budget, ugh, super scary, uh quit my job? Am I completely insane? Stability, comfort, a short commute. Nearly fifteen years with the same company with a mile commute in Southern California. There is so much to walk away from that it does not seem like any right minded person would do such a thing. Like any job it has had it’s challenges but it has offered stability, an above average income and good people to share your day. I knew that if I didn’t take this opportunity that another five years could easily go by and I would be in exactly the same place looking back asking myself, what if we had of taken that journey? What if? I didn’t want to look back and ask my self that question. I knew I would be full of regret if we didn’t go. This offered an opportunity to spend time with our children at a seemingly perfect time in all our lives.

So, we put our heads together and started figuring it all out. We had mostly figured the budget piece out before I headed into my office and requested a year sabbatical. I had no idea what reaction I would receive since my day-to-day work environment is all about producing more. More clients, more sales, more revenue and here I was proposing something completely contrary. That executive meeting changed the course of our lives as I was being offered a year leave. There were not guarantees when I return as my position is dissolved, but like Motel 6, they offered to keep a light on for me. Since the company is small, I understand and appreciate the fact they have made sacrifices to provide us time for this opportunity.

We knew that this decision may require great sacrifice when we return, as it may mean starting over in a certain sense. We know that and accept that as it comes down to never wanting to have a regret about not doing.

Now that the commitment was made and the budget somewhat figured out, there was now only everything else to consider. The thousands of details that lay ahead.

Is there a specific point to this journey? Is there some focus we want to highlight for our family? Or is it just an opportunity to drift serendipitously from place to place from one experience to another? What is it we want our children to come away with and what does this look like for them? What do we want out of this experience?

We know we want to expand their vision of this country. We know we want to instill a sense of adventure while building confidence. We know we want to instill a pride in accomplishment through working together. We definitely want to offer a perspective for what life looks like outside of our community. But is there some profound lessons to be learned?  Perhaps it is simply living this short life we are given and making the most of the moments together. I have a feeling the lessons learned will be after the test.

We have been “all in” since April 2015 and there have been very few moments when we have not been occupied preparing for this journey. What about home schooling, type of RV, where are we going, what are we doing with our belongings, so many questions, so many things to tackle. We will continue to document the ins and outs, ups and downs of all the makings of this journey and hope to spend time with friends and family along the way.