We used to go on road trips all the time. During which, I would always be so focused on the destination... it would be all about how we could get there as quickly as possible. I can't count the number of times we've done a shotgun run from Colorado to Orange County CA. We would drive through the night and usually make it in about 16 hours.

I see this as a kind of metaphor for my life. Sometimes I can get so wrapped up in focusing on a goal or a future event that I completely lose sight of what I should be focusing on in the "here and now". I've lost whole days/weeks/months of my life wrapped up in the planning for or expectation of some future event.

Why? Why is it so easy to run quickly through life and miss the good stuff? It's one of those flaws in myself that I'm painfully aware of but have been so far unwilling or unable to address.

“Life is a journey, not a destination.”

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

While we all have goals and things in life we aim for, if you really look at the sum total of your life, it's the small "in between" stuff that really matters.

Was I too busy today to stop and pray? Did I spend time on the computer working that one evening when I really should have been just enjoying time with my wife?

As we've been sitting down to write out some goals for our (not so) little adventure, this topic has really been on my mind.

One trend I've noticed with other fulltiming families is that many seem to start off with a really aggressive schedule. They would move their home on wheels every few days, try to cover a couple thousand miles each month, and just see as much as possible. But, over time, realized that they had fallen into the trap of not enjoying the stuff in between and eventually decided to start slowing down.

We don't want to make the same mistake. in fact, our goal for the first 60 days or so is to hardly move at all. Once we travel into some warmer weather, the goal is to stay put for a few weeks at a time to simply get used to life in a small space and really just enjoy each others company.

Our ultimate desire is to just slow down a little and start enjoying life a little more. More time together as a family, more time with God, more time thinking about and focusing on what really matters in life. It may be a big dream and an unrealistic one, but nevertheless, it's a dream... and one we hope to realize very soon.

Just have to get this dang house rented.