Here. We. Go.

📍 Written from: Dallas, TX USA

The days leading up to the start of our digital nomad adventure were a whirlwind of excitement and stress. If you’ve ever packed for a trip, you know the feeling of trying to remember everything—except in our case, imagine that feeling multiplied by a thousand. We weren’t just packing for a trip; we were also moving out of our 1,800 sq. ft. townhome into a tiny 80 sq. ft. storage unit, all while preparing for the adventure of a lifetime!

Picture the last day of a big move: walking through the empty house, double-checking that nothing’s been left behind. Now, layer that on top of packing for months on the road. It was a lot, to say the least.

September 1st: Go Time!

We woke up bright and early on September 1st, ready to conquer the day. There was still a mountain of tasks ahead before we could hit the road. Despite months of downsizing—selling or donating nearly all our furniture and belongings—we still had so much to pack. In the end, we had over 30 Costco storage bins (the ones with the trusty yellow lids—highly recommend!), a stack of framed pictures, and some oversized items that didn’t fit in the bins. Our storage unit was filled to the brim, and we still had to squeeze in a few last-minute bags.

Even after moving everything into storage, there was one last emergency trip later that night—but we’ll get to that!

The Great Car Pack Crisis

After the final donation drop-off and loading up our storage unit, it was time to pack the car for the road. We’d planned to leave in the early afternoon, but things don’t always go as planned. As the sun began to set, we were finishing dinner, feeling pretty good about our progress. All that was left in the garage was a small pile of donations and the essentials we were bringing with us.

But when we did a final test pack of the car, panic struck. Despite all our previous trial runs, it wasn’t all going to fit. Even with Boomer’s seat down, the car was still overflowing!

In that moment, we had to act fast—our storage unit was closing in just an hour and a half. We quickly divided everything into two piles: necessities and wants. With 45 minutes on the clock, we set a stopwatch and got to work. Laura tackled her business supplies, while Dirk sorted through personal items, eliminating duplicates and unnecessary things. When the timer went off, we had a much more manageable load for the road, with a few “wants” like a bag of board games making the cut.

With the clock ticking, we made one last dash to the storage unit, returned, and left a small pile of donations by the local center. Mission accomplished!

A Timely Goodbye

As we returned home, our neighbor and friend Jim pulled into the driveway. He noticed we looked a bit flustered and was surprised we hadn’t left yet, but he was happy to see us one more time. His enthusiasm for our adventure and words of encouragement were exactly what we needed to hear.

With a final boost of energy and a fully loaded car (board games included!), we set off into the night, heading toward our first destination: Dallas, Texas.