Setting a Course

John Lennon sang, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."

Maybe it isn't the most profound statement, but it's one that I like. I try to live in the moment, try to not get dragged down by the past and try not to get too distracted by what lies around the corner. Sure, I think about the future... especially now that I'm a mom, although kids definitely force you to live in the moment, because everything changes SO quickly. I just feel like life is too short to spend so much time planning and preparing that you either forget what it is you're planning and preparing for... or you just never get "prepared" and miss out on that thing and every other opportunity that you passed up in the meantime.

That's a lot of BS to get around to saying that DH and I have decided to set (or change) a course... we're not waiting until we're 65 to go on adventures. I mean, we've had lots of little adventures in the almost 15 years since we first met, but we're not going to wait for "retirement" to really go out on a limb. Yes, we have a 17-month-old and we'll have another baby before the end of the year, but we've never thought we had to wait 18 years to do anything "fun" again, either.

We haven't figured out exactly what or exactly how, but we've got some pretty interesting and compelling examples in folks like Brad and Sheena and Pat and Ali Schulte.

It all started when our buddy in Portland sent DH a link to a guy who is driving the Pan Am Highway with his girlfriend in an old Toyota Forerunner... that led him to Drive Nacho Drive which then led him to Bumfuzzle. He sent me the link where Brad and Sheena met up with the Schultes and I read from there... and climbed right on board (yeah, pun intended). The sailboat is compelling, the life in Mexico maybe even more-so since our PDX buddy competes in the SCORE races on the peninsula and has begged us to come for years. Doing all of it with kids is what is most interesting to us. Our daughter is 17 months old and will be about 20 months when the new baby arrives, just like the Schulte kids.

We've been on lots of road trips in the almost-15 years since we started dating, camping out of a 1990 Ford Bronco, sometimes with my brother tagging along, lots of times with one or two dogs tagging along, not to mention following along with our friends and all camping out together and helping each other through mechanical failures and other mishaps. We've driven from the east coast to Colorado and Utah and we've roughed it on the Rubicon Trail. We've done a lot of backpacking, even. We've done 'nicer' trips to Key West and San Francisco (if you can call youth hostels nice)... Now we have a jeep and still get in lots of long weekend practice runs... but we miss the longer (although only really 2 weeks or so) trips.

We think it will be like a mini-retirement. We're setting our 'start' date about 5 years (+/- 2) out, to give us time to figure some things out... and then we figure the duration will be 1-5 years. I guess it all depends, we're ok with that. We just like the option to change course and not be stuck anywhere doing anything. I think we've both been feeling a little "stuck", professionally, for a while and this has been a bit of a light bulb moment... not only can we get out of a rut, we can rid ourselves of the clutter and BS that drags you into them in the first place.

I've never sold anything on ebay, but I'm finding things I think will sell, along with things to offload to charities or friends (can you say way too much pink and purple baby/kid clothes?).

So, tell me your best adventure story, tell me how to best photograph stuff to sell on ebay, tell me I'm insane. Whatever. ;) I think, sometimes, you just gotta take chances.