We finally did it. We left. We’ve been talking about this for years and we finally did it. A little backstory…

Nathan and I retired from full-time employment at the beginning of 2019. We immediately left for Mexico on a humanitarian project/vacation and that kicked off what we thought would be several years of on and off travel. We tried leaving for an extended trip to Europe that summer and we really liked it. We were prepared for more of the same. We just had to sell our big, time-consuming house and figure out our next move. Cue the pandemic and two grandkids.

Covid was good for us in that it forced us to stay home and get the house ready to sell. But it really put a damper on the travel plans. However, rather than jetting off to some foreign country, we became road-tripping experts, driving thousands of miles across our own country to visit lots of National Parks and to spend time with family. It was a really fun couple of years, but still not what we were planning.

So we moved into yet another house and started projects there. I also decided to go back to school to finish my degree. That dragged it out even further, although it wasn’t a drag. Nathan had a most glorious ski/snowboard season with all that amazing Utah snow. I finished up my penultimate semester of school. We spent time with friends and family, we went to lots of movies with El, and Nathan worked hard to make the house absolutely beautiful.

But it was time to move on. We have now accomplished our goal: we have renters in the house, we have our belongings packed away, and we ran away from home!

So, what are the plans, anyway? The renters have a two-year lease, so we need a place to crash for a couple years. The plan right now is to spend the first year in Europe and then come up with something else. Since we are moving with no real commitments, we are keeping the plans loose for now. Leipzig, Germany is our first destination and then we’ll play it by ear after that. Part of our decision-making will depend on a residency visa for me, but Nathan can stay as long as he wants with his Swiss passport. We will wait and see.

First stops, however, are Missouri and West Virginia to play hard and get grandkid snuggles before we go far away. We already stopped in Kansas City for our favorite barbecue and we will be taking a couple of weekend trips to Chicago and to Detroit, just for fun.

This week was full of driving across the country. We stopped in Kansas City for our favorite barbecue to celebrate getting the house all done. We’ve been enjoying time with Alex’s family and in a few days we’ll celebrate his birthday with dinner and a trip to the top of the Gateway Arch.

This trip will be a lot less like a vacation and a lot more like real life. We won’t move around as much, but we will dive deep into one place or another. We will also be doing day trips and weekend getaways to explore more areas in Europe that we haven’t experienced yet.

Thanks for coming along for the ride. We’re not the greatest at journaling, but if it’s more like writing a letter, we will be more consistent. So thanks for being willing to read these messages once in a while.