Deciding to leave

I was working part time as a leasing consultant while the kids were home from school due to the Covid-19 pandemic. My fiancé Ryan had told me about an amazing job opportunity that would involve traveling to some states out west. I have lived in the Midwest all my life and had only traveled to some of the southern and northeast parts of the country. I had always wanted to see the west, but the thought of leaving my best friend and a job that I absolutely loved made the decision difficult. Even so, the adventurer in me didn’t take long to decide as I’d been aching for a change of scenery and longing to break away from the hustle and bustle of city life.

A year prior to this I had already decided I wanted to live off-grid and start a homestead. I began researching and setting goals for how I’d get there. We love to camp (year round) and with 3 kids we needed a lot of space. So I had already had invested in a 12X14 wall tent and a small enclosed trailer. We also built a fantastic wood burning stove out of a 5 gal bucket for fun one day! Turns out, it’s actually functional and we use that bad boy ALL the time now!

Materially, we were good to go. Mentally, we were already there. Just a few little loose ends to tie up. Oh yeah, my job, day care, Bank account, the kids school, the house! Right around this time it was like the universe started to rearrange things for us and sort of “pave the way”. I put in my 2 week notice and to my surprise my lovely co-worker and best friend suggested that I could work remotely! I hadn’t even thought of that but I know we made it work during the lockdown so why couldn’t it work this time? Meanwhile, the day care was on some BS and I was no longer comfortable sending my 2 year old there so I immediately pulled her out. Shorty after I enrolled the kids in school I learned that it would be mostly virtual and the “back to school plan” seemed extremely complicated and unorganized. Since I had been looking into homeschooling for the last year, I took it as a sign/opportunity and pulled them out without hesitation. As far as the house goes… honestly, I’m the kind of person who likes to have something to fall back on, a plan A, B and C if you will, so I decided to keep it for now.

It took us a few weeks to completely pack up. We knew we would have limited space so we really had pack smart! Take only the necessities. I bought all of the kids totes that would fit snuggly under their cot and told them that they could take whatever would fit in it. I vacuumed sealed my clothes to ensure maximum space, and downsized everything at least 5 times before the final pack. It’s amazing how little you really need. Even though I downsized I still feel like I overpacked! I really couldn’t part with some of my plants so they had to come. A few are medicinal and the rest are food so I categorized them as necessities : )

As I pulled out of my driveway and seen my old life fading in my rear view mirror, I couldn’t help but be touched with bit of nostalgia. I knew we’d make amazing new memories on our journey ahead and I also knew that when one door closes another one waits to be opened. I’m so glad I opened and walked through this door : )