Officially Adventuring

Well, welcome to the blog!  Really, my hope is to keep this relatively updated during our travels (and maybe even after that?), but I'm not sure I'll be very good at it - time will tell.  I'll do my best to post regularly and even put up pictures... but, I warn you, Ben and I are not good at picture taking... we often just plain-old forget.  I'll work on it.

So, here's the story.  We quit our jobs, moved out of our house, and now we're driving around the USA.  This road trip is going to be about 40 days long... enough to see a lot but still be home with family for the holidays.  A lot of people have been asking us the same question, but I think my insurance agent put it best when he said, "You're quitting your jobs and traveling, and then you don't have a plan... don't you think that's kind of a ballsy thing to do?"  Well, hmm, not sure how to answer that one.

Yes, we know the economy isn't at its prime right now, and no, we don't have actual employment plans after this (though we do plan on being employed), but it is just the right time.  Through some hard work, some very generous parents, and a little bit of fate we have come to a point in our lives where we are debt-free - that's right.  No house payment, no car payments, no student loans... nothin.  We have a place to put our things, a car with 4-wheel drive, and health insurance.  So, we were feeling a little bit restless and figured Now Is The Time!  Before we get into careers, or go back to school, or get sucked into a stationary life some other way, we are going to adventure.

Well, maybe you will be interested to know that I have some goals for this trip.  Here they are (the list might grow as we continue):
1. Have lots of fun.
2. Don't get too worked up about the details - remain flexible.
3. Stay healthy (as in, don't get injured, and also, don't just eat crap).
4. Keep liking each other.  Ben and I spend a lot of time together normally... but we'll be taking it to an extreme for the next little bit.  My hope is that Ben still likes me at the end of it all, and vise versa.  There is nobody I would rather have by my side, so I'm hoping for lots of laughing, fun, and even some mishaps to tell you all about along the way.

Ben and I are also extremely fortunate to have a giant network of supportive and loving family and friends.  It is going to be so much fun to see a bunch of people during the journey, and just to share it all with everyone else.

So, we're nearing the end of day one.  We left Gastonia, NC this morning and will end up in Canton, OH.  We're visiting some fabulous friends from camp: Allyson Shank, Ben Colston and Nicholas Colston (maybe we will see Nate too?  I don't even know).  I heard that Momma Colston is making a lasagna for us all to enjoy together when we get in, then we'll head to Allyson's apartment and relax & hang out for the rest of the evening.  I can't imagine a more perfect way to end day 1.

Thanks everybody!  Stay posted!