These past few weeks have been full of adjustments and most certainly our first week on the road was no exception. We had to adjust to the idea of selling our home in Parsippany, leaving friends & neighbors and purging items that often held either sentimental or monetary value. We had to adjust to the idea of downsizing ~1,000 square feet and living full time in our lake home that we used to enjoy as a refuge from our everyday hectic life. We had to adjust to being unemployed and to no paychecks coming in. We had to adjust to little sleep and never-ending packing/moving/unpacking. We never really got to adjust to the fact that we were embarking on a 12-month journey because we went from one thing to the next and then got in the RV and drove. And that included a whole host of other adjustments.

First, it was adjusting to our new ‘automobile’, a 24-foot drivable home that shakes with the wind and doesn’t handle turns quite as nicely as our Sonata. Dave thought I’d be able to sit in the back and work or nap but the sad truth is it makes me nauseas. And so, there is an adjustment in the way you move with the sway and rock of our moving home and, most importantly, remembering to open cabinets slowly otherwise the insides fall out. We are adjusting to having to move many items to get to the one we want and having to immediately put away what we’ve gotten out because there is just no extra room for it. With the windows down, you suffer from the howling wind and truck traffic so I learned to put cotton in my ears. There are the road signs which don’t always provide the direction you need. Jackson is trying to adjust to his new window perch but still insists on laying across our laps to sniff the air from our window. He’s also slowly adjusting to the new noises and smells and to not sleeping in his crate or being able to run and play.

Then there is our limited wardrobe and supplies and initially, lots of time driving and scrambling for places to stay. We had to adjust to sleeping in rest stops with traffic and noise and to setting up and shutting down ‘house’ nightly. We are still adjusting to our new bed (and to having to make it each night and put it ‘away’ each morning), to a smaller fridge, a 2-burner stove, a miniature sink, a tiny bathroom (although it is a plus not to have to stop at rest stops for bio-breaks!) – heck, smaller EVERYTHING.  Believe it or not, Dave is still adjusting to not being in class and I am trying to figure out work on the road.

And in spite of the many adjustments, modifications and changes, we are EXACTLY where we want to be. Together. Free. Traveling this marvelous country of ours and enjoying every second of it. We’re not sure it has sunk in that we have 51 weeks left of our journey. But when it does it will surely be BLISSFUL.