So many of you have been asking lately how this all began, so I'm posting here the original letter I sent to friends and family to assure them that we hadn't lost our minds. On the morning of the last day of this part of our journey, I am even more certain we are some of the sanest people on earth (just a little jaded-see previous post below!)
November , 2007
Dear Friends and Family,
As some of you may already know, Our family recently began an extraordinary journey. We sold our home in Orlando and purchased a new home, a 38 ft. RV. Since July we have been traveling the US and we will continue for as long as it works for us as a family. This may surprise some of you. It certainly surprised us! We made the decision to take this somewhat anomalous path for a number of reasons, the most important one being that life is short and the time we get to spend with our children in the “wonder years” even shorter. So far, we are loving the experience, enjoying the time together and are weathering the inevitable complications that you might imagine this way of life to entail.
For those of you that we’ve been out of touch with for “a while” (or for those of you we’ve yet to meet) we should assure you here that we have not completely “lost it”. We haven’t dropped out of society, gone crazy, joined a religious cult, or otherwise “flipped out”. We merely saw an opportunity and we dared to take it. We are still the same old Liz, Mike and the boys except for now our backyard changes more frequently and, wow, we’ve had some amazing ones so far. From a lake surrounded by autumn’s multihued trees in Maine to a mountain- ringed farm in Vermont to the Statue of Liberty beyond the bay in New York City… we are always excited to see what comes next. We are very comfortable in our new “home” and have many of the creature comforts we had in our more traditional one-Corian counters, double ovens, satellite radio, high-speed internet and even (ridiculously!) 4 flat panel TVs, including an outdoor entertainment center. We’ve given up some (okay, most!) square footage, but not much else. We have gained so much.
I am home schooling Gabriel and Elias, an undertaking that I never expected to attempt at all. I am both pleased and surprised to take so much pleasure from and be so gratified by the experience on an (almost:-) daily basis. For those of you who know me well, you are probably shocked that I have the patience to carry out this task. It’s amazing what one can do if the timing is right. We are also enjoying seeing the sights wherever our journeys take us and have tried to plan the boys’ curriculum to reflect our itinerary whenever possible. So far we have hit just about every Colonial/Revolutionary War-era hot spot up and down the eastern seaboard and are looking forward to heading south to Florida and west to the Four Corners region after Christmas. We plan to spend spring in California and next summer in Alaska. After that…well, who knows?
As for Mike, he is learning to balance a still busy work schedule with all the responsibilities and everyday chores (read dealing with the plumbing!) of the RV lifestyle. His company continues to be very supportive of “telecommuting’ and is aware that Mike has taken that concept to the extreme. Perhaps the most challenging for him is sitting out some of the sightseeing we have available to us in order to attend to business. However, he has made the time to “wet a line” in seven states to date and he’s planning many more! He’s on a first name basis with Fleetwood (for those non-rvers among you Fleetwood is our RV manufacturer) tech support and is becoming a better “handyman” by necessity, if not always by choice.
We’d like to invite you all to share in our experience via our website. Our web address is http://www.americandreamtraders.com/. We are working at getting up to date (I remain the Queen of Procrastination, a designation I bear proudly) with photos etc., but the blog remains sadly “unblogged”. It is on my To Do list to become the best blogger (bloggist?) EVER in ’08 [well, that didn't happen!!!]. Mike, too. Also, stay tuned for more news about MemoryStick Productions and Gallivanting Gourmet. Our entrepreneurial spirits have been fired up by this adventure. I am also in the process of writing a book about our adventures. We’ll see what happens with that.
I must emphasize here that it is one of our most fervent wishes that this site will serve as a bridge between us and those of you we have lost touch with along the way. I came across a quote (author unknown) that says,
"We may lose friends along the way. We lose them to distance and over time, but even though they may be lost, hope is not. The answer is to keep them in your heart, and when the time is right, you may well be able to pick up the friendship right where you left off. Even the lost find their way home when you leave the light on".
The light is on for all of you. We hope you are not lost to us. We also hope to strengthen the connection we have with those we communicate with on a regular basis. You are all important to us.
I leave you with that and with our love,
Liz, Mike, Gabriel, Elias and Julian
November , 2007
Dear Friends and Family,
As some of you may already know, Our family recently began an extraordinary journey. We sold our home in Orlando and purchased a new home, a 38 ft. RV. Since July we have been traveling the US and we will continue for as long as it works for us as a family. This may surprise some of you. It certainly surprised us! We made the decision to take this somewhat anomalous path for a number of reasons, the most important one being that life is short and the time we get to spend with our children in the “wonder years” even shorter. So far, we are loving the experience, enjoying the time together and are weathering the inevitable complications that you might imagine this way of life to entail.
For those of you that we’ve been out of touch with for “a while” (or for those of you we’ve yet to meet) we should assure you here that we have not completely “lost it”. We haven’t dropped out of society, gone crazy, joined a religious cult, or otherwise “flipped out”. We merely saw an opportunity and we dared to take it. We are still the same old Liz, Mike and the boys except for now our backyard changes more frequently and, wow, we’ve had some amazing ones so far. From a lake surrounded by autumn’s multihued trees in Maine to a mountain- ringed farm in Vermont to the Statue of Liberty beyond the bay in New York City… we are always excited to see what comes next. We are very comfortable in our new “home” and have many of the creature comforts we had in our more traditional one-Corian counters, double ovens, satellite radio, high-speed internet and even (ridiculously!) 4 flat panel TVs, including an outdoor entertainment center. We’ve given up some (okay, most!) square footage, but not much else. We have gained so much.
I am home schooling Gabriel and Elias, an undertaking that I never expected to attempt at all. I am both pleased and surprised to take so much pleasure from and be so gratified by the experience on an (almost:-) daily basis. For those of you who know me well, you are probably shocked that I have the patience to carry out this task. It’s amazing what one can do if the timing is right. We are also enjoying seeing the sights wherever our journeys take us and have tried to plan the boys’ curriculum to reflect our itinerary whenever possible. So far we have hit just about every Colonial/Revolutionary War-era hot spot up and down the eastern seaboard and are looking forward to heading south to Florida and west to the Four Corners region after Christmas. We plan to spend spring in California and next summer in Alaska. After that…well, who knows?
As for Mike, he is learning to balance a still busy work schedule with all the responsibilities and everyday chores (read dealing with the plumbing!) of the RV lifestyle. His company continues to be very supportive of “telecommuting’ and is aware that Mike has taken that concept to the extreme. Perhaps the most challenging for him is sitting out some of the sightseeing we have available to us in order to attend to business. However, he has made the time to “wet a line” in seven states to date and he’s planning many more! He’s on a first name basis with Fleetwood (for those non-rvers among you Fleetwood is our RV manufacturer) tech support and is becoming a better “handyman” by necessity, if not always by choice.
We’d like to invite you all to share in our experience via our website. Our web address is http://www.americandreamtraders.com/. We are working at getting up to date (I remain the Queen of Procrastination, a designation I bear proudly) with photos etc., but the blog remains sadly “unblogged”. It is on my To Do list to become the best blogger (bloggist?) EVER in ’08 [well, that didn't happen!!!]. Mike, too. Also, stay tuned for more news about MemoryStick Productions and Gallivanting Gourmet. Our entrepreneurial spirits have been fired up by this adventure. I am also in the process of writing a book about our adventures. We’ll see what happens with that.
I must emphasize here that it is one of our most fervent wishes that this site will serve as a bridge between us and those of you we have lost touch with along the way. I came across a quote (author unknown) that says,
"We may lose friends along the way. We lose them to distance and over time, but even though they may be lost, hope is not. The answer is to keep them in your heart, and when the time is right, you may well be able to pick up the friendship right where you left off. Even the lost find their way home when you leave the light on".
The light is on for all of you. We hope you are not lost to us. We also hope to strengthen the connection we have with those we communicate with on a regular basis. You are all important to us.
I leave you with that and with our love,
Liz, Mike, Gabriel, Elias and Julian
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