Lizzie’s Big Adventure

Our dream is finally about to come true. After five years of planning, we are thrilled to announce our inaugural month-at-a-time expedition. On our maiden voyage, we will spend February in Pismo Beach, California, March in San Diego, California, and April in Tucson, Arizona. By staying fairly close to home, we can drive our trusty old Subaru, get back home easily if necessary, and bring along our best friend Lizzie, a 12 year old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.

With our tails wagging eagerly, we will kick off our big adventure in Pismo Beach, on California’s central coast. For the month of February 2016, we have rented a single-wide trailer in a beachside mobile home park. From there, we will pull on the leash to go for long walks on the beach, sniff-out the nearby coastal sand dunes, chase after shorebirds, and bark at the other marine wildlife. With any luck, we will weather the incoming monster El Niño, and then head 300 miles south in search of the sun.

Nicknamed “America’s Finest City”, San Diego has some of the world’s best weather. For the month of March 2016, we will move into a modern high-rise condo in the well-situated Bankers Hill neighborhood. We will live a block from Balboa Park, close to the downtown heart of the nation’s eighth largest city, and not far from the laid-back vibe of its colorful beach scene. At the end of March, we will exchange our flip-flops for hiking boots, trade our tide tables for star charts, and drive 400 miles east across the desert.

During the month of April 2016, we will trek the trails by day and look to the heavens by night in Tucson, Arizona. There, we have rented an apartment in the shadow of the Santa Catalina Mountains, where the Sonoran Desert cacti will be blooming and the clear night skies will be twinkling. When the mercury skyrockets at the end of April, we will migrate home to take a break from our career break.

Over the next three months, we will live as Pismo Beach bums, San Diego urban high-rise tenants, and southern Arizona snowbirds. At long last, our month-at-a-time travel lifestyle has become a reality. In just three days, we will load Lizzie in the car, and begin living our dream.