On the road again...

This time last summer, I was reveling in the sights and sounds of a brief but much-needed return to the Rockies after finishing the first year of graduate school. It was a formative experience that was very much worth it, but it was also an existential trip down memory lane that was counting on some semblance of certainty once school would be completed.

A year later, I've graduated and guess what: it's pretty clear that it's time for more reflection. Well...it's more like, hey, I'm unemployed, I have no home now that my lease has ended, and I have no concrete plans yet because I'm trying to avoid the 9-5 life as much as conceivably possible until funds run out...so why sit around and twiddle my thumbs when I could be traveling instead? 

The Plan: 

There are enough cooking blogs out there to sink a battleship so I might as well write about something more akin to The Adventures of Milo and Otis than juice cleanses and substitutes for cream cheese. 

This time around I'm going to write about the next couple months on the road. It'll be just me, my boyfriend, our dogs, a home constructed out of the back of his truck, and a great deal of uncertainty to keep things interesting. 

Behold: our new home and the latest foray into "f"unemployment!

I have faith in this new living situation. Bret is a master of mobile living (he spent 2 years living in a camper before college). Ron and Joe are engineers by trade, so I'm [pretty] sure that this raised bed concoction won't collapse under us. Our dogs Katie and Charlie are the best travel companions that we could ever hope for (even if Charlie craps at least 3 times a day and Katie slobbers up a storm). And I have spent the last two months mentally prepping for irregular access to a bathroom and an uncertain hygienic future. I don't foresee too many problems on the horizon. As long as the car doesn't break down and we don't run out of money anytime soon.

The Execution:

The plan is to end up at a water conference in Snowmass, CO on August 20th in time to network the shit out of things and eventually land our dream jobs. Until then, we will explore everything nomadic about life on the road that includes breweries, disc golf, fishing, hiking, and lots of outdoor time. 

We've devised a rough route of where we want to go but I'm sure that it'll be revised as we get further into the trip. For now it consists of the better parts of California, Oregon, Idaho and Montana and lots of sunflower seeds to keep us awake at the wheel.

The End of an Era: 

Two years ago I cleaned out my life and put everything into a 4' by 4' storage space. A master's degree, a boyfriend, and a dog later, I have given away the majority of my worldly possessions and plan to embrace uncertainty head-on. This is really the best time to embark on such a journey and I'm looking forward to sharing the best of it. Stay tuned for sporadic tidbits about life on the road!

Our bed constructing engineering marvel of a team: Ron, me, Bret, and Joe