Michigan. Or Montana...? It starts with M.

You know that feeling you get after something you've dreamed about for so long has finally come & gone?  A vacation, for example... Or a party or a holiday or even a wedding. You spent time with your friends and family, you enjoyed some good food and had a few drinks, you laughed until you cried, you took some silly photos, you made some memories that will last you a lifetime.  You had FUN, and you might even be a little bit sad that it's over, but you're ready to go back to your real life.  You know it, right? That feeling?

That's how I feel about starting my road trip. Not that I'm ready to go back to my real life, but that my road trip IS my real life-- my real dream life. And I'm ready to just get back to it!

Turns out life isn't always as easy as that, and I'm going to have to wait a little while longer for the dream to start. I'm SO close... My head's already on the pillow & my eyes are squeezed shut.  I'm just waiting for sleep to take me. Or rather, the Greyhound to take me to Montana...

Ever since the beginning of my road trip planning process, I've always said that I'll start in Michigan on Monday, September 1st, 2014.  Instead, I'll be taking a bus to Bozeman, Montana on Thursday the 4th, arriving in the afternoon on the 5th, and meeting up with my dad (who's flying in from LA) to retrieve my road trip vehicle. LONG story short, I'm getting an awesome Ford E-150 van that's been converted into a camper by a company located in Montana.

My dad, being the softie that he is (aka best dad in the world), asked if he could travel with me for the first week or so just to make sure I'm comfortable (with the vehicle, with traveling, with life on the road..?) I think he's just nervous for me & my safety and wants to see for himself that I'll be okay. :)

So instead of the 1st, my journey begins on the 5th.  And instead of starting in Michigan, I'm starting in Montana.  And instead of being alone, I'll be with my dad. (He's going to do Montana and North Dakota with me, and then I'm going to drop him off at the airport in Minneapolis, Minnesota on the 11th so he can fly home.)

There are bound to be unexpected bumps and turns along the way over the next several months, so I guess now is as good a time as any to start learning how to hold on or swerve.