"D"eparture day [from now on known as D-day] is exactly 2 months from today. Woah! What?!?! You mean I only have 2 measly months left of comfort? Of warmth? Of good food? Of a bed to sleep in? Of a job?
What are my thoughts on these mere 59 days that we have left in good ole [currently snow covered] Simpsonville? First - I am thinking of all that we have left to do. Sure, we've made the BIG move, transferred the majority of our stuff to a storage unit, quit or put in our notices at work, and of course, geared up. However, we still have lots of stuff to take care of: insurance - health & car, saving as much money as possible to pay for this adventure so we don't have to dip into savings, really finishing gearing up, picking a few towns for mail drops [in case anyone wants to send us stuff...hint, hint!], learning to eat only oatmeal, nuts, dried fruits, and such...to name a few.
People ask "How are you preparing for this?" My best answer is: We aren't. I couldn't possibly prepare myself for walking approximately 2,179 miles while toting a large, heavy small sized child on my back, the complete and utter silence that is sure to engulf us daily, the beauty & creativity that God is going to show us, the people we'll meet, the hunger, cold, and fatigue that I'm sure we're going to feel more days than not. Sure, we're picking a few towns for mail drops and deciding on the Must-See-Towns that we must see...but that's about it.
Am I okay giving it all [the aforementioned things] up? Uh, yea! One of the things I am most looking forward to is being homeless. Not because I think it'll be "cool" or "radical" to be homeless. I just can't wait for the simplicity of literally carrying everything on my back for 6 months. If I can't carry it, I don't need it.
I do keep praying for warmth (: [and if possible, no snow blowing in on us - pelting us from every direction]. But hey, we're starting in March...in the mountains of Georgia. I guess I should start preparing myself for snow, and probably lots of it.
I am currently reading A Walk in the Woods [Bill Bryson] & it is HYSTERICAL! I love it. I tell Mike frequently that I hope our experiences rival this man's in hilarity. I'm quite sure we'll have our fair share of them.
Here's a passage from the book: "Distance changes utterly when you take the world on foot. A mile becomes a long way, two miles literally considerable, ten miles whopping, fifty miles at the very limits of conception. The world, you realize, is enormous in a way that only you and a small community of fellow hikers know. Planetary scale is your little secret. Life takes on a neat simplicity too. Time ceases to have any meaning. When it is dark, you go to bed, and when it is light again, you get up, and everything in between is just in between. It's quite wonderful, really." BRING.IT.ON.
PS--I wanna throw out a HUGE "Congrats" to my little sister & her fiance!! (: Whooohooo! Love to you both, Haley & Kendall!
Ok, I am seriously so excited for you and so PROUD of you for being so brave. This is going to change you forever! You guys will come back with a renewed sense of what really matters and I'm sure that living so simply for a while will show you how much "stuff" we actually don't need!
ReplyDeleteHooray for your big adventure! I can't wait to hear all about it. You are inspiring me :)