As we prepare for the most grueling four months I’m sure I will ever experience, I can’t help but wonder how in the hell I got so lucky as to have the opportunity to do it.
Back in January, I made a post talking about how far I’ve come in five short years. The insane progress I’ve seen in my life is never lost on me. Every day, I wake up grateful for everything I have and, even after the crazy improvements in my life, I’m still seeing things get better.
All of this is to say, we are 26 days away from embarking on one insane summer trip that will see us drive over 10,000 miles through 22 states, stopping and staying in seven, three of which I’ve never even been to, and one I haven’t been to since we moved away from it 40-plus years ago.
None of this would be possible if not for the amazing opportunities I’ve been given- Having a flexible job that allows me to work from anywhere, having the financial freedom to do so, and to have an amazing wife that shares the same desires to wander.
In the meantime though, I’m tasked with doing the insane research that goes along with taking this kind of trip. Finding places to go to, things to do nearby, how long it will take to get to each destination, how to break that up, finding stops along the way… it’s a task, for sure.
Not to say I don’t enjoy doing it, I really do, but finding time to do it, while also worrying about the near constant threat of tornadoes, hail, terrific thunderstorms, and the flooding we’ve experienced in our basement, is a challenge.
Additionally, we also began the process of having our living room leveled so we can finally close, latch and lock the door we just had put in. Having a small crew of people here as well as arranging for a plumber to come clean out the drains in the basement (unrelated to the flooding) has been brutal, to say the least.
But, even with the stresses I’ve been experiencing, I still continue to have a positive outlook on everything.
My Summer Tour to-do list will wind up being a several page document that I fully plan on printing and putting in a binder and will manually be checking off tasks as I complete them. The binder will then be carried with us so we can check off To-Do items at each place we go to.
I am getting more and more excited for this trip with every passing day and look forward to full documenting it here.
May 31 is the day.
Stay tuned.
-Phil