In the Beginning...

Barbara's version:
Inspiration often comes to me in dreams or from books. Travelogues, many self-published ones, have helped us to develop our trip ideas. Wisdom gained from dreaming and reading, and reading about travel dreams.

Alan's and my initial discussion about taking an extended time off to travel started in a West Marine store in Key West where I perused a book while patiently waiting for him to select some boat gadgets. Even though we already owned a boat, I found the book, Honey, Let's Get a Boat... A Cruising Adventure of America's Great Loop.

A number of months later, I was introduced to Live Your Road Trip Dream: Travel for a Year for the Cost of Staying Home, the story of the White's land trip across the country. Alan and I both liked the idea of an extended, mostly unscheduled, decide-what's-next-when-you-wake-up-in-the-morning kind of journey and were intrigued by their description of Class B RVs. We had our stereotypes and so never envisioned ourselves as "the RVer types." But on another FL vacation we stopped at an RV show to look at these vehicles. You almost couldn't find them in the large arena full of tow-behinds, cab-overs, and rockstar-band-sized buses.

But we found a few Canadian made 2008 baby-boomer luxury versions of the 1960s vw vans that whet our appetite and curiosity. So next we spent months searching the internet and locally to find more of them. And ended up outside Syracuse at Seven-Os purchasing a Roadtrek 210 Popular (check out the Roadtrek website for the guided tour - http://roadtrek.com/default.aspx#) -- built on a van chassis, it is a bumped up, out, and down van with a Chevy engine. Very fancy "camping" with a queen-size bed, a bathroom with toilet and handheld shower, kitchenette, and a fancier TV than we have at home (a 19-inch flatscreen, in case you are wondering).

And so here we are, in the last month of preparation for a one-year sabbatical. A bittersweet transition time for me as I say good-bye to many people and look forward to the adventures ahead.

What's your story, Alan?