So… the rumors are true… we are hitting the road!
In less than a month!!
And we haven’t done jack shit yet!!!
AHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well, that’s a little white lie. We did do one thing. We made a “to-do list”. It’s 25 items long. And it’s 25 items long not because that is all we need to do. But because we ran out of room on the white board! Sad. I know.
We’ve decided to start blogging everyday from now on to chronicle the steps we are taking to prepare for life on the road. Here is a quick summary. I’ll leave out the boring details… because I don’t want you to fall asleep at the computer as I talk your ear off about how I need to buy a new cat carrier. A plastic one this time. Because our cat Yoda peed all over the last fabric one we had. Yup. Our toddler isn’t the only one who refuses to tinkle before leave the house!
Our condensed “to-do list”
- Tune up the Van
- Tune up the Airstream
- Tune up the Generator
- Check all tires and tow package
- Sign up for a mail forwarding service
- Get house ready for the house-sitter
- Reorganize cabinets/closets in Airstream
- Wax the Airstream
- Update map on the GPS
- Figure out new sleeping arrangements for the kids
- Set-up internet connection in Airstream
- Figure out how to backup our data on the road
- Re-organize the blog
- Finish that Tombstone video from our last trip (please Dan, please)
- Go on a week long test trip
Does it seem like a lot to do? It does to me. And it is giving me serious anxiety. Dan keeps telling me we can do some of these things while we are on the road. But I’m a first born kid. And I need my checklists complete! So we are going to try our best to check off as much as possible in between throwing our almost 3 year old toddler a Little Mermaid birthday party and buying that new cat carrier I promised not to talk about.
the end,
marlene
4 Comments
Katie · January 10, 2010 at 10:51 pm
Where ya’ going? And for how long?!
dan · January 10, 2010 at 11:35 pm
Hey Katie, we are headed initially to Florida. If things go well, we might head north to your neck of the woods by late spring/early summer. Maybe we will come by for a visit. We don’t have a schedule set in stone yet but we are definitely going somewhere… we will keep in touch!
Rich Luhr · January 11, 2010 at 3:17 pm
“Initially to Florida”??? Gee, where are you headed after that little jaunt — maybe France? 😉
Seriously, it sounds like you kids are about to become very close to full-timers! Congrats.
Dan/Marlene, check this blog entry: http://airstreamlife.com/maze/2008/11/11/top-11-mistakes-of-full-timers/ for tips on mail forwarding, and scheduling.
As far as Internet, the hands-down winner right now is a Verizon or AT&T wireless card plugged into a Cradlepoint cellular router. See it here: http://3gstore.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=610
Works on AC or DC power, with good speed, full security, and everyone in the family can be online at the same time.
For data backups, there’s nothing easier than a few inexpensive USB-powered hard drives. Backup early and often!
dan · January 11, 2010 at 3:20 pm
If we could drive to France we would! 🙂
Actually we did already get a Cradlepoint and have been testing it with a Sprint data card for the last few months. So far so good. I will probably write another post about it soon.
We are very excited to get on the road. The pieces are all starting to fall into place!