the process

Before we left

It’s not all pretty, but here’s a look behind-the-scenes to let you into our world.

We saw an opportunity for ourselves in creating this RV trip of a lifetime, but knew we were going down a road society teaches you not to take. You are supposed to retire after 65 and not in your 30’s, even if it is just for a “pretend” year. We surely had mixed reviews along the way about what we were going to do. Most would say, “I have always wanted to do that” or “I am so envious”.  Yet, we did find ourselves challenged almost daily by the resistance of others, but painfully endured it.  It was an extremely emotional process going through all of the new changes especially merging our lives together and starting a fresh new one.  Also, because we are so close with so many people, the anticipation of missing everyone really tore at our hearts.

To say that it is a MIRACLE that everything came together is beyond an understatement.  We can’t even begin to shed light on what an unbelievable process this was, but we will try.   It’s been a crazy maze taking all of the necessary steps in order to get on the road.   In order to pull this off, check out the list below.  It shows the tasks that took at least two weeks or more to execute; most things took months.  This is NOT including the other 100 things (for real) on our list that had to get done before we set sail.  Nothing from the “Would be nice to do before we go” list got done (like finishing this Blog).  It was impossible to do it all.

Mind you, we were also trying to hold together our day to day lives with household things, work, travel, spending time with friends and family, and keeping up with holidays etc. while preparing for this trip.  During this time we also lost our beloved greyhound, Reese.  This was almost enough to stop us in our tracks because of how hard we suffered over his loss.

Our major “TO DO” list:

• renovated and sold Jennifer’s house
• sold David’s condo (fully furnished)
• packed and moved to Bellingham, MA
• downsized by giving away most of our belongings
• unpacked and repacked to divide for RV only and storage
• temporarily transferred Jennifer’s business to Sara (TwirlTheGirl manager)
• went paperless and set up a new mailing system
• set up a year’s worth of payments for all bills
• packed our personal belongings for the trip and new coach
• cleaned and moved out of the “Ham” house
• completed our personal and business taxes for 2008
• went to two national RV rally’s and did months of research to pick our RV
• met the ridiculous criteria of the only five banks left that offer Recreation loans
• bought our RV and spent days to drive it 1600 miles home
• researched and bought our VW convertible and drove it 1500 miles home from Florida
• insured, inspected, registered, serviced and detailed the convertible
• transformed the new car with tow plate, wiring and tow bar to be tow ready
• embellished our RV by adding an exterior entertainment center and bike rack
• (still) working out the bugs with in-motion satellite and DISH network
• this “bleeping” Blog
  (It has taken over a year to learn how to operate, create, produce, edit, trouble-shoot and release this Blog.  It was worth the wait!)

Each step of this process has brought on a totally new learning curve we were so unprepared for.  We had NO IDEA what we were getting ourselves into even with our diligent hard work to prepare for what we knew was ahead.  To be real, taking on this year hasn’t been easy at all. We have endured major challenges that seem to pop up at the least opportune time.  However, we pulled together each time to see it through and to stay committed to our personally designed vision.  By far, the worst part of all was the banking crisis.  It was a total nightmare.  We could write a book about the financing, but we will just leave it at that.

After all that

With all that being said, we are absolutely clear we would go through every bit of it again to have what we have today!  We have the most amazing 43’ Big Rig that is so spectacular with the coolest feature like a surround sound entertainment center that shakes the whole coach!  We are free as birds, bouncing around the country with the biggest smiles on our faces that one has ever seen!  We are the happiest we have ever been, and we are just so grateful to be doing this.  It’s absolutely priceless (Yeah, right)!

Each day of this trip brings its own hidden treasures like getting really excited to drive three hours to the nearest store, hearing the water from the falls, watching the manatees, seeing a simple farm with a silo, being a part of a sunset that has watercolors of purple, orange, yellow and baby blue, learning about Mr. Hershey or Eleanor Roosevelt and her charming and inspiring ways, or just roasting a marshmallow over the hottest campfire.  Such treats we have experienced with our many days in the Amish country.  Waking up and hearing the trotting sounds of the graceful, ex-racing horses really is quite peaceful experience.  This country really holds such undiscovered and beauty!

Every day we wake up in sheer amazement of this whole idea, what it took and still takes to make happen, and we can’t believe it’s ACTUALLY happening.  Not a day goes by that we don’t experience something so unique and special that makes us comment, “It was all worth it!” or “This is the life!”  We have never been so elated, free, happy-go-lucky and grateful for our life, our health, and our very dear family and friends.

Together

Our story would not be complete without sharing with you our major support teams listed below.  We cannot express enough thanks to each and every one of you for your cheer, encouragement, and support in helping us make this happen. We absolutely could not have done this without you as each of you were such an intricate part of this trip.  We feel so fortunate that you are part of our lives.  This trip of ours was definitely a team effort as we definitely did not do this alone.

Special thanks to the TwirlTheGirl staff!
Thanks to Sara, Cory, Kerrin and Kim for carrying on the spirit of dance and superior music in RI!

Special thanks to Jennifer’s family and David’s family!
Thanks for pooling together financially and giving at a time when there is nothing left to give.

Special thanks to our dancers!
Thanks to all of the dancers that have continued falling in love with dancing, who are continuing their learning, training and dancing each week at TwirlTheGirl!  It’s because of YOU that we all get to bask in the glory of having a growing community with fun people we love to be around!

We also wanted to share a gift with you that we so fortunately have received.  We never would have dared to dream this large and would not have thought this trip was something possible had we not attended a 3 1/2 day course called The Landmark Forum at Landmark Education Center (offered world wide).  We are living and experiencing what is possible now, rather than living with our old constraints that we did not have an awareness of that limited our life before we took the course.  The universe is boundless!  Really!