Last week the Canada geese began to honk their way through Vermont. Although there is plenty to do before the Tiny House is “finished”, and our personalities are such that we could continue working indefinitely, the time has come for us to follow the calling of the geese, to pack it up and head in a southerly direction.
There was a moment that we considered house sitting in Vermont through the winter, which would allow us time to decompress after all our hard work, to leave in the Spring in a more relaxed pace, and to ride the route that we originally intended (into Canada and then down through the Northwestern states and along the California coastline) but that idea was short lived. After delaying our launch date by 12 months in 2010, and then another 6 months this year, we could not bear the thought of sitting out another season before leaving.
Celebrating Lessons Learned
Four years ago we began taking small steps to fulfill our dreams of living more intentionally and of cycling around the world together. It’s been a wild ride, one that has been simultaneously stressful and exhilarating. We’re really proud of all that we’ve accomplished in such a short time and it proves that we are capable of achieving anything we set our minds to.
That being said, if we had to do it all over again, we would have put less pressure on ourselves and destroyed any notion of maintaining a preconceived schedule during the building of our Tiny House. From this experience, we have begrudgingly learned to let go – of imaginary deadlines, of outside pressure to achieve, and of the societal notion that one must always be “busy” to be moving forward. It’s a timely lesson, considering we’ll need to incorporate the tactic of “letting go” into our upcoming life on the road.
September 30th = GO!
We are both ready to find personal freedom and strengthen our bodies and spirits by Riding Our Bicycles Around the World!
But before we go, we want to slow down a bit, to take note of where we are today, admire our Tiny House, and be thankful for each other, our endurance, and our community of friends and supporters who have helped us get this far in realizing our dream of a better life.
We’re finishing up on our final tasks this weekend, next week we’ll have a “Leave No Trace Open House Farewell Party” with local friends, and on Friday, September 30th, almost a full year after parking the Tiny House trailer in our backyard, we will ride into the next phase of our lives.
🙂
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Like, Like, Like! Congrats you two .There is always a long list of to-do’s but the moment you pedal away will be the most freeing! Enjoy these last few days, they will be a whirl wind and we raise a glass to you in honor of your upcoming journey.
Thanks Karen! 🙂 Yes, we’re looking forward to that “freeing” part for sure!
Congrats on completing your tiny house and your rapidly approaching launch day!
Your blog has been a source of inspiration over the last year as I went from wishing I could do a long-term bicycle tour “someday” to realizing it could be soon; my own launch day is October 9th.
I look forward to seeing how your adventure unfolds.
Thanks for the kind words Sean! Can’t wait to check out your blog. Congratulations on your own launch date. Perhaps we’ll run into each other on the road!
Blessings to y’all on your journey! Isn’t this what life is about? Adventures? Pursuits? Freedom? Go forth and enjoy, my friends!
Thank you so much Andrew!