Oh, The Places We’ll Go!
Starks in their natural state (Olive pouting out of frame).
This is a big one, guys. I’m taking deep breaths as I write.
We’re moving.
Kind of.
We are moving out of our house, but have no concrete plans to move into another one.
Is that considered moving? Or is that just not staying? Not sure of the semantics there.
Basically we’re going full time in the RV for the foreseeable future. No real plans. Just going until we don’t feel like going anymore.
Or until Brent has to go back to work.
Whichever comes first.
How did we get here? Would you like the backstory? OK, here goes.
Our time in Vegas has been such a gift. I really had no expectations when we moved here, (we were only planning on staying for a few years); but the friends we have made, the communities we have been a part of, the learning and growing we have done… it has been indescribable.
It has surprised me, and challenged me, and delighted me, and awoken me.
I would not change a thing.
And yet.
If you know me, you know I yearn for greener things.
The Pacific Northwest courses in my veins. Forest. Water. Mountains. These things sustain me.
And it’s time to start meandering back in that direction.
Moving has been an ongoing conversation over the past few years, and we knew it would happen eventually. We had tentatively planned to move next summer, giving us one more year to spend with our friends, give the kids one more year at their amazing school, soak up all of the loving energy that surrounds us here.
Oh, and also figure out where the hell we’re moving to. (Spoiler alert, that’s still a big question mark).
Then COVID happened. And just like all of you, our world exploded. Our plans exploded. Life exploded.
Or, I suppose, imploded is more accurate?
And standing in the middle of the wreckage, Brent and I looked at each other and said, “what now?”
The airline industry is in shambles.
Thankfully, Brent works for a company that has a history of responsible, employee-focused management. When they offered extended paid leave options in order to avoid furloughs and protect all of its employees, we took a hard look at our situation. While we were hopeful that Brent’s seniority would protect him from a furlough, we were concerned about the other employees lower down on the totem pole, and the health of the organization as a whole. This company has been very good to us, and it will be our home until Brent retires; we want to do our part to help protect it.
What changes could we make to live on less than half of our normal pay?
Can we adapt?
Can we view this as an opportunity?
What would we do if there were no rules?
So we put in for one year of leave. And we got it.
Brent is officially off work until September 2021.
Which led directly to the next question… can we afford to keep the kids in their school? In short, the answer is no. Sending all three kids to Montessori was a major decision, one borne out of the individual needs of each of our kids, and this school was the magic bullet that addressed each of their specific learning styles. And please know as I type this, I recognize ALL of the privilege that allowed us to make that choice.
Sending all three kids to private school required very specific decision making and financial sacrifice under normal circumstances. With reduced income? There really was no decision to make. It was made for us.
It’s not in the budget.
For all of us, this has been the hardest part; saying goodbye to a school and community that has been an absolute sanctuary. It is heartbreaking.
But the reality is, school is going to be weird this year.
It’s not going to feel like the other years. If we tried to scratch and grasp and make it work, we would be scratching and grasping for something that doesn’t exist anymore (at least for the foreseeable future).
And once we came to terms with that, and the decision was made, we felt something completely new…
freedom.
For the next year, we have absolutely nothing tying us anywhere.
We can do anything we want.
Go anywhere we want.
Oh shit. Wait. The house…
So we’re selling it.
We love our house, and even more, we LOVE our neighborhood. But the strings to everything else tying us to Vegas have already been cut, and it’s time to pass our home on to another family.
So those are the bullet points of the decisions that got us to this point. What now?
While we were in Mt. Rainier, we made the very quick decision to hightail it back to Vegas and put the house on the market. We’re going to sell a bunch of stuff, put the rest in storage, and hit the road.
Where are we going? No idea.
Where will we land? No clue.
We’re open to suggestions, feel free to make a pitch for your town! The general idea is to head to places we might want to live, stay there for a while, “try it on.” And hopefully over the course of the next year, the path will become clear.
And if not, well, maybe it’s RV for life?
The big unspoken caveat to all of this is that I will be homeschooling the kids.
I’m still processing that.
I’m fairly confident that I lack the temperament for homeschooling, so let’s just say I’m viewing it as an extreme opportunity for growth.
Lord help us all.
For the most part, we are all excited. There is sadness in the closing of this chapter, especially in such weird times. Under normal circumstances there would be get-togethers, last playdates, goodbye parties, lots of tears. I guess in some ways it’s almost easier this way? Just quietly slipping away? Because the reality is, it’s been 5 months since our old normal existed, and much of the breakaway has already happened.
And we’ll be back.
A part of my heart with always live in Vegas. We spent ten years here. My children were born here. We have created lifelong friendships and connections here. So this isn’t goodbye forever, it’s just goodbye for now.
And now I’m crying.
I honestly don’t know how to wrap up this post. I don’t know how to put into words all of the emotion that is flowing through me right now.
The love, the gratitude, the sadness, the fear, the excitement, the peace.
All of it.
But that is life, right?
Feel all of the feels and ride the waves.
We’re grabbing our surf boards.
Off we go.
In Joy, Truth, & Love,
~lisa
P.S. I’ll leave you with some pictures from the last leg of Phase 1 (Mt. Rainier back to Vegas). We’ll probably be in Vegas for all of August, then back at it in September. Stay tuned for Phase 2!
P.P.S. The campground we stayed at near Mt. Rainier has been our favorite so far. Big, private campsites in the woods. Beautiful property with a gentle stream rolling through, a big open field for playing, and a wooded trail perfect for mountain bike practice. We all fell in love. Check it out if you are looking for a great spot, the owners Tom and Brian are doing it right! www.elkamp.com
