It usually starts when you retire. You look at your savings, think about the free time you’ll have and start weighing the pros and cons of various campers, trailers and vehicles for purchase to take off and see the country. You plan out each stop, putting tacks on a map, calling ahead. You thought about this for years, waiting until your pension came in like any respectable, responsible adult.

But for us, our adventure started on Craigslist, and we were far from retirement.

It was my 28^th birthday and we were driving north of Duluth, where the tamarack trees take over and traffic means there’s more than one car on the road. We were on our way to pick up our new camper and truck. Well, it was far from new, but new to us. Its a ten year old 5^th wheel Scamp-deluxe version (meaning there is wood inside rather than plastic), kept in my-grandma-owned-it condition. New hand-made curtains, scrubbed-clean interior, and all the original appliance manuals kept in the original plastic. As you walk in there is a painting with the saying ‘home is where you plug in’. We thought – why not?

Mikey haggled, signed the paperwork and then we drove off like thieves. Step one: get a camper. Check. Step two: quit our jobs. Step three: take off into the Great Unkown.

Here we go!