See our full list of bucket list items here.
I called Nathan from work incredibly stressed out, yet again. "I'm not going to make it home to eat dinner with you. Just go to bed and I'll see you in the morning. I'm so sorry..." This was the 3rd night in a row. I missed my husband, my dog, my house, and my sanity.
"I can't survive like this," I thought. I have to get away from this place. I was burnt out, exhausted, and angry. I was getting migraines almost every day from stress and my back was in constant pain from knots.
When the weekend finally came, I just wanted to stay in bed for the full two days. We were laying in bed Saturday morning, and we decided I needed a change. I wasn't ready for an extreme change, like leaving my job, but what we came up with really did change our lives. I decided to go get a massage to help with my back problems, which actually took two grueling hour-long sessions, one week after the other. My masseuse said it was one of the worst cases of knots she's ever had to work through. Afterwards, through all that pain, I felt 99% better. That was a start.
The second idea we had was to take a long vacation away from work to relax and recharge. I not only needed time away from the office, but, honestly, I felt like I needed time away from the world. I didn't know what that meant for me at the time, but I learned throughout the trip that it meant time away from buildings, televisions, timelines, etc. Route 66 was exactly what I needed. It felt like a trip back in time, where everything was just a little slower and slightly more relaxed. Relatively, though, it felt like a massive change of pace.
Driving Route 66 was an unforgettable experience. We took 2 1/2 weeks off of work in December/January and drove from Chicago, Illinois to Santa Monica, California.
Preparing for the trip:
We needed to focus on our tight-ish budget since 2 1/2 weeks on the road could be extremely expensive if we ate out for every meal and stayed in hotels every night.
Nathan worked hard to transform the truck into something resembling a camper that we could sleep in. Through a lot of searching and patience, he was able to find a truck vault (basically storage drawers for the truck bed, flat on top with two drawers that pull out from the back by the tailgate) and a topper at awesome deals on Craigslist.
I'll be honest, I was slightly dreading sleeping in the back of a truck for 2 weeks. So I thought of a few things to spruce it up back there to make it a little more 'homey'.
I bought a camping queen-size mattress from Amazon. This was actually really comfortable. Since the trip, we've had a ton of guests sleep on it at our house, and they've all commented on how comfortable it is!
I also made some curtains for the back of the truck. I figured with sleeping, and changing, and everything going on back there, it would be a good idea to make sure we had some privacy. They also helped a ton to keep the heat in on cold nights. I sewed up some of this fabric into simple curtains and added some fastener to the fabric and all around the windows. It was super simple! Then just stuck them up at night and took them down in the mornings. I don't know if it's because I'm from Minnesota, or if this is a general thing, but the plaid flannel made it much more cozy back there!
We bought a tiny camping stove and a bunch of canned goods for dinners and breakfasts.
Also - no showers! The body wipes I bought aren't available anymore, but I found these body wipes that look similar. Body wipes and dry shampoo kept us smelling and feeling fresh. We just used a couple wipes and I used the dry shampoo every morning instead of a shower, and we were good to go!
We used a water jug for drinking water and brushing our teeth/splashing our faces in the morning. The one I linked is actually different from what we had. We had a normal tube shaped one, which was fine, but I think the square one would be better to help prevent leaks and stay upright.
That was basically it.
The only thing I would have changed (if I could have) is taking more time to do the trip. I didn't do a ton of research on the route, so I didn't realize that most of Route 66 is literally a road on the side of highways, which, obviously takes much more time than I anticipated.
I'll post the actual trip details on the next post.
Just a reminder: Our world
is such an amazing place. There is no reason for anyone to not enjoy their
lives they way they were meant to. We only get one life. We get one shot. Are
you wasting it, or are you living it to the fullest?
Thank you for joining us on this journey!
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