Robin and Adam’s Big Adventure

The rumors are true. Adam and I are leaving Wisconsin and going on a lengthy adventure. We’re going to live differently. And we came up with a plan, in phases. We gave these phases names, as we do with many things, mostly for fun. We have a counter in our kitchen we call “Bob.” Because if there’s a piece of mail on that one counter… in the kitchen… by the microwave… it’s a lot easier to say, “It’s on Bob.” Our Montana vacation was called “GUS.” We had no specific reason for that name – it was Adam’s first reaction to my question, “What should we call our Montana trip?” He replied, “GUS.” So it was decided.

These next steps in our life are more than a vacation, they’re going to be much bigger. So we planned it out and named it in phases.

Phase 1. Betty. This is the name we gave phase 1 of our adventure because it sounded like a household name. Betty describes our living “normal,” as society would call it. Work during the week to earn a paycheck so we can pay rent and bills, watch sitcom reruns on TV at night, and enjoy benefits like health insurance and gym memberships. During the last half of the Betty phase, we moved to a small studio apartment, dropped cable and internet, got rid of “stuff” and began to pay down small debts and save, save, save. The original Betty for us was a grind and made us feel stuck. Thankfully we planned this phase to be temporary — change had to happen. So while we had to embrace Betty for a while, we worked on our escape plan. It was… I mean, IS an exciting escape plan that will fulfill dreams and keep us close. I can’t express how excited we are for phase 2.

Phase 2. Alexander Supertramp. If you’ve seen the movie “Into The Wild,” you’ll know where we got this name from. But we aren’t mirroring our plans or travels to Mr. McCandless’ grand adventure. We just thought the name was fitting.

Phase 2 naturally split into two parts.

The first part is where Adam and I road-trip around the country to visit some family and places, then travel to Washington and drive the west coast all the way south to the Mexican border. This first part of phase 2 will take approximately one month, maybe a bit more. We will live cheaply — sleeping in the car, at friends and relatives’ houses, campgrounds, hostels… with one splurge in Bozeman, MT, while most of our meals will be cooked on our camp stoves.

The second part is when our road trip will bring us to the end of our west-coast drive, ending near Campo, California, where I will touch the wall that divides the US from Mexico, put my loaded backpack on my back and take my first steps north on my thru-hike of the Pacific Crest Trail. Its a 2,650-mile journey through California, Oregon and Washington states and I will hike it all the way to Canada. This will take between 5 and 6 months, and somewhere roughly around 6 million steps. Adam will parallel this long hike by car and meet me along the way in towns to help with chores to keep me going. Resupply, laundry, blog updates, finding good food and places to get a shower. Once we reach Canada we will begin work on phase 3.

Phase 3. Mack. We’ll start this phase with some research so we can decide where I will go to school to earn my CDL to become a truck driver. Adam already has his CDL, so we will find a fitting company to work hard for and team-drive. I get a lot of interesting looks when I tell people about this part. I’ve worked in an office for over 10 years, doing a job that I honestly love, but why not dive into something you’ve always wondered about? For the adventure! Besides, it’s just another thing for me and Adam to check off of our dream list as a couple. And it seems like a good transition after living mobile along the PCT. We’ll just be living mobile in a new and exciting way while earning some dough. How awesome is that!?

Phase 4? We have lots of ideas and possible names for it. But we’ve got a few years of phase 3 to figure out the details. So first things first.

We’re excited and ready to begin. I hope you enjoy following this crazy journey. And it’s really okay if you think it’s crazy… because it kinda is. That’s just how we’re gonna roll. :)

This quote has been hanging in my cubicle for more than a year. It’s been a daily inspiration for me.

Don’t forget to add your email address to the right, at the top of the column. You can get an email notification whenever I post a new entry. Once I’m hiking, I’ll have a new post (with photos!) for every day, but they may come in bunches, as I’ll only be able to post when I get to towns with wi-fi and some interwebs for me to take advantage of.