This is Happening

From The Coastal Trail

This is happening. This is really happening. For a couple years I didn’t think it would, but it is. It is really happening.

Nik and I are giving ourselves the gift of time. Time to travel. Time to be together. Time to see the world. Time to wander. Time to do nothing. Time to dream.

To prepare, we are giving away a few items, selling a few items, and packing the rest into cardboard. We are leaving our jobs, saying goodbye to the friends we have made, saying a brief hello to our families, and then jet setting to the European continent.

We have found the perfect bags and picked out which shoes we want to wear while walking along cobblestones. We have our passports renewed, and international drivers permits in hand. We have credit cards that won’t charge us $$ to use them, and we have a plan for our cell phones. We have our cameras and our computers, and our websites have been refreshed.

We have a route we think we want to take, a few dates we want to have with friends and family along the way, and our first month of accommodations and transportation arranged. We will figure the rest out later.

We do not know where we will live once it is time to live somewhere, and that is one of my favorite parts. We will be traveling without the burden of home, but with the dream of a home. I am certain that we will have a slightly different perspective on life once we get back, so there is no point in making a decision that will impact our lives for the next 5-10 years now.

We are also taking advantage of our last few weeks in San Francisco. We are going on our favorite hikes, eating at our favorite restaurants, and seeing our favorite people. I am thinking a lot about what I have accomplished here, and it is quite a bit. San Francisco has been good to me, and I am grateful for that. But I am also grateful to know that it is time to go.

From Crissy Field

From the Golden Gate Bridge