Let the Road Trip Begin

We're going on a road trip! Our house is rented out, our van buildout is done (the neighbors are still rejoicing), and the wireless hotspot for my work needs is blinking green. In fact, I'm typing this from sunny Bandon, Oregon in the Mobile Office Rig while overlooking the ocean.

This post almost was entitled Boomeranging Millennials Return Home. As Chelsea's dad Steve (mostly) jokingly reminded us, 1/3 of our age group is currently living with their parents. Thanks for the hospitality while we finished the van buildout, Steve and Linda...and for watching our cat Oliver while we're gone. I appreciate you letting me use every single tool in your garage workshop to finish out the van buildout. Couldn't have done it without all 1,323 tools that I left strewn about in my wake. You'll find the jigsaw blade guide eventually, I promise.

Nope, moving home is not the plan. After over a year of talking about it, plus the purchase and build out of a road trip vehicle (our Sprinter van), Chelsea and I are hitting the road for a few months (edit March 24, 2014: open-ended timeline) of discovery, visiting friends and family, making new friends, and rolling around the California coast (and beyond) in our van. It isn't a full-time party, as I'll be working remotely and checking in with two six (as of May 2014) employees back home, but it should be a fun adventure.

A great run along the coast in Bandon, Oregon.

What's coming up? Stories of the fun of living in a 6x12 foot space, and the headaches since that's often the funny stuff. (I suspect some of you are thinking only of the inconveniences of a tiny space like that.) I'll also include shots of me hard at work in my remote office locations to prove that I can't get away with just disappearing entirely.

The plan? To head south from Portland, sleeping in our van along the way. We'll spend Thanksgiving in the redwoods on the border of California and Oregon, then onward down the coast of California. Straight south via highway 1 and 101 through the Bay Area, stopping many times along the way, eventually ending up in San Diego. From there...we shall see.

Goals for the trip are few...and yet probably still too many. After a long break, I want to write more and take more photos. (Hence, the blog.) I want to play my guitar. And run. And ride my bikes (mountain and road versions are with us). And visit friends and family along the way, and talk to random strangers. And I want to enjoy it all with Chelsea while overlooking the ocean while sea lions bark down below, or big redwoods sway in the winter breeze, or waves crash on a sunny (<--key word) beach. Slow down, relax a little, and take it all in.

We are looking forward to connecting with you along the way. Drop us a line, we're around. Just don't mail us anything.

Onward!

Finishing up the work week at sunset.

Chelsea in a plastic whale rib cage at the Washed Ashore project.