Let's go back a ways before we go forwards!

So, I thought I was going to blog about my trip once I hit the road, but then, one of my very best friends, after hearing how involved and time consuming my trip planning and prep was, suggested that I start now.....and I thought it was a brilliant idea!

But we have to start with the back story first!
I've lived in California all my life. At some point, I decided that it should be on my bucket list to experience life outside of CA...after all, CA is not the be all and end all, right? Well, how was I supposed to know unless I tried it?

So in July of 2012, an opportunity arose for me to leave my home of 12-13 years in San Diego to move to the Bay Area, where my family lives (for the most part). I downsized my 4 bedroom/2 bath house (pic of my free living room set...placed outside!) into one 7x7x8 POD (pic of POD being unloaded with their unique system), one Subaru Outback load with my dog, and one Tacoma truckload. As a developing pack rat, this was one of my biggest accomplishments and freeing moments.

I wanted a year with my family before I left the state. I still had no idea where I was going yet. Then, when my year was up, and I still had no idea where I was headed..... I had this brilliant idea, although it should have been obvious to begin with! My current employer was opening a manufacturing site in Newark, DE and people had been working for months trying to set up the site and flying back and forth...and what do

you know, they needed production planners out there! So why it didn't come to me sooner? I don't know. So I thought, that seeing as I wasn't particular about where I lived outside of CA, if I could move somewhere with a job already in place, BONUS! I thought it was an additional bonus that having lived in the western-most state, I move to the direct opposite coast to experience the polar opposite! Delaware, here I come!

So in September of 2013, I flew my dog (pic of Weeze in her airline carrier) and trucked my car, my motorcycle (pic of moto being loaded up into a truck using a lift gate for cross country travel), and two 6'3"x 7 x 8'4" Upack containers (pic of them unloading the containers from the truck with a 4x4 fork truck!) across the country to Newark, DE, where I mangaged to survive two gruelingly icy and snowy winters with regular wind chills below freezing and two equally unbearable hot and humid summers. I fulfilled my dream of living out of CA for a minimum of 6 months!

In November of 2014, I realized that the toll of the stress of the job was just too much on my declining health and I ended my employment in mid January 2015. I remember the exact moment when I knew I couldn't handle it anymore: I had just gotten back from Thanksgiving in Greece (where I was too stressed to fully enjoy the trip). (I threw in a couple of Greece pics just for kicks!) I was already doing 2 full time jobs and the day I get back, I was "told" that they were eliminating a full time position and I would be taking it on in addition to my other duties! At that point, I was already working 60+ hours a week just barely keep up with the minimum requirements of my two jobs. THAT WAS IT!

My plan was to take some time off and enjoy an early retirement! About a month and half to two months later....and probably 550 tv hours later, I was well rested and CRAZY bored and unmotivated! So.....I found another job..."supposedly"so much better than the last, but after less than

2 weeks, I was miserable! I thought about the importance of my family and friends in my life and started seriously thinking about heading back west (not back to CA!).

At this point, I had been "mulling" over the move and the cross country trip back for months. It started taking on the place of the top slot on my Bucket List. I kept "thinking" about it and "talking" about it but never really putting anything in action. Then there was a moment when everything came together and I was "committed." In June, I was in Vegas visiting my family and supporting my dad in the World Series of Poker Tour (included a pic from Vegas-couldn't find one of the tour). One night my brother and I were spending some "quality" time together and having

a heart to heart. At one point he had said to me, "You need to just stop making excuses." That really got me thinking....and he was right, I was making a whole bunch of excuses to put off doing something that was really important to me....mostly because I am scared of change and the unknown. Then when I got home, I got my lease renewal information/request. It was in that moment that I knew, it was time to "shit or get off the pot."