Alien Landings

I'll admit it--I figured this whole thing was in the same category with alien landings and pipe dreams. Preposterous things you argue with at first, then you give up arguing because it's just not worth it. People will eventually see that aliens aren't coming and pipe dreams don't, by definition, come true, so why argue? Here's the thing:

I have a sabbatical coming up. (Sabbatical is a Latin word meaning "Long time away from work professors get that their friends both resent and envy.") When I brought this up at home my wife, Nan, immediately said, "Let's take a cross-country trip, camping our way from here to California and back over a few months." I chuckled at the thought--aliens, pipe dreams--and came up with a dozen reasons such a plan would never work. Truth be told, the primary reason it wouldn't work is that I'm a home-body. I enjoy being home, and the idea of months on the road sounded...uncomfortable. Plus, my lovely wife is a one woman economic recovery program. Adding the costs of a multi-month trip to our usual barely-managed expenses was hard to imagine.

We battled back and forth on the trip idea for a month, then two months, then more. She kept pressing, and I thwarted her best efforts with that old classic, "We can't afford it." But but but... "We can't afford it." But but... "We can't afford it." But...it was during one of these exchanges I surrendered without knowing it. Secure in the knowledge that it would never happen, I said, "If you can make it financially feasible, then fine--we'll go." (Cue the alien spacecraft...) Suddenly my wife shifted into a financial gear I didn't know she had. For months she carried around little envelopes full of cash designated for specific expenses, and she stuck to an actual budget. She scrimped and saved and pinched pennies like never before. One Thursday she said, "I put the minivan on craigslist this morning"--and it sold by Sunday afternoon. A few weeks later we found an SUV strong enough to pull a camper. Then she said, "Look! I've saved enough for us to buy a camper." And we found one that has a few stories to tell, but it's still in great shape, has a biffy, and is ready to roll. And we started looking at all the expenses we won't have while we travel, how if we camp most nights, avoid eating out, mooch off scattered friends and family where possible, and keep things under control, we could actually make this work without my having to sell a kidney to pay for it.

So the impossible became possible, the aliens have landed, the pipe dream has touched reality, and I'm well on board. Her best argument was always that the kids are the perfect age for this kind of thing. They're old enough to be useful but still young enough to be seen in public with their parents. And there's so much of this country I haven't seen, so much for the kids to see and learn, so many things for our family to experience. Endless memories to be made a mile at a time. So in a few months, if all goes as planned, we're going...

And that's how this blog was born. Nan is keeping a blog of her own that I suspect will be a bit more normal than mine (http://www.trippndowntheroad.blogspot.com). She wondered at the start why I thought I'd need one as well, but now that she's gotten hers going I think she understands that these are personal things...plus I don't think she wants me messing around with hers. So we'll each reflect as we get the chance over the months ahead, using the time now to prepare for our big trip and warm up our blogs. I'll try a few posts to see how this all works, post some pictures on occasion, and hopefully share a few of the moments that are shaping our lives and carrying us forward to and beyond our big trip. Welcome--I'm glad to have you, and I hope you enjoy being had. (Oh--and for the benefit of readers who happen to be my boss, I'm definitely bringing my writing projects with us on the road.)