BITTERSWEET

We are officially homeless; our lives reduced to our bikes, everything we're taking with us and a duffel bag to get us through the next 5 days. I'm still in shock that we can count our remaining days on one hand! A couple of nights ago I was at the house while Mike was out. I sat on our vacant living room floor where the sofa used to be, looked out our big windows at the beautiful setting we've been so lucky to live in for the past year and listened to the squirrels I have come to dislike for their obnoxious screech and their persistent desire to mutilate my plants. As I enjoyed my picnic of what tidbits of food remained in our fridge, I thought about the bitter-sweetness of this whole situation. This is a big transition; a major chapter in my life is almost over and although I don't want it to end, at the same time I can't wait for the new chapter to begin.

I have been lucky enough to establish a network of friendships that will hold strong regardless of where this adventure takes us, find a job that I truly love, have coworkers who have come to be as close as family and clients who have become the very best of friends. I am sad to leave this life, these people, this location and miss out on all of the major events, birthdays, weddings and holidays that will happen in the next year, but there is an adventure counterbalancing all of this sadness. At the same time, I fantasize about not having to go to work everyday, waking up whenever we want (definitely not before 5 a.m.!), doing whatever we desire and going wherever we please. I imagine we will meet new people and make new friends along the way, expanding our network of friends all around the world. I think about all of the new places we will see and all of the things we will experience and learn that we might otherwise never know – about ourselves, about each other, about the world. This really is a fantasy life we about to live and I am so excited for this epic adventure, but oh, the bitter-sweetness!