Launch Date:  July 26th

The days of the calendar have a way of peeling away, catching up to you.  As the launch date came closer and closer, I must admit, I let it happen.

The first week into not working was a luxury, something I wasn’t used to and of which I took full advantage.  I slept in, stayed up late, hung out with friends, swam, went cliff jumping, took my first kayaking trip, did a photo shoot, played music and generally just enjoyed myself.  It wasn’t all fun and games though.  I had a big task list that I was chiseling away at too.

The more I had thought about the road trip, the more the possibility that I would move to California at the outset was looking like a reality.  So I began considering moving options and how to handle all of my amassed belongings.  POD storage immediately came to mind, and so I priced out their service as well as their competitors.  It turns out that to move cross country a single bedrooms worth of stuff, up to my full apartment, it would cost anywhere between $3500-5500!

Cleaning House

It seemed like the best thing to do was get rid of as much as I could.  So I began cleaning house.

I sold my precious guitar, which had been my main axe for 8 years:

PRS CE22

It had taken the back seat to a guitar which more recently became my main guitar.

I sold my Orange amplifier, which used to be another gem of my collection:

It was better off in the hands of a friend, since I’ve been using a different amp as my primary.

I sold a bunch of other music equipment as well, stuff that was just sitting around taking up space.

Then I lucked out.  It turned out that the gentlemen who would be taking over my apartment was in need of a bunch of furniture, so we worked out a deal for him to buy much of my stuff.  It was a great deal that benefitted both of us since now neither had to move any of that stuff.  I was really ecstatic!

Goodbye Apartment

Things seemed to be falling into place quite well.  So well that when two opportunities arose for the weekend before my last week in town, I decided they absolutely had to be taken:  A skydiving B-License canopy class with Above The Poconos Skydivers, and the most epic cliff jumping road trip ever:

Epic Rope Swing Action

From 8 am Saturday July 20th to about 11 pm Sunday July 21st, I was booked.

Although I had been preparing for the move the week prior, I did NOT budget my time correctly.  When Monday came and I started really getting into the move, it was apparent that I would be stretching it, I was a little overwhelmed.

I broke down my apartment from this:

To this:

And I could not have done it without the help of some friends, and especially my family, who has been overwhelmingly supportive along the way.

If I could go back and do it again, I would have planned the move a whole week earlier, and slept on couches or at my parents house in the week leading up to my trip.  As they say, hindsight is 20/20.

Prior to leaving, I took my car for an alignment, at which point I found out the passenger side front wheel bearing was worn out and needed to be replaced!  At $430, that had me hurting.  Better safe than sorry, so there was no question it had to be done.  To finish up, I changed the transmission fluid (this time DIY to save money) to keep my gears turning smoothly.

By now my vehicle maintenance was current, all my belongings except a bed suite were boxed up in my parents attic, and I was just about ready to hit the road…

Stay tuned to read more!