In the previous post, I forced myself to own up to the things I’m terrified about when it comes to changing my entire life.  Today I balance that post with a post about reasons I’m excited to be hitting the road and changing my whole life.

In no particular order, here are 10.  Just like with the fear post, the list could be a lot longer.

1. Every day is a new day.  A Saturday.  January 1st.  It means I open my eyes in the morning with the next 16 hours laid out before me, hours filled with promise and possibilities.  And, best of all, they are all mine.  Whether I climb a mountain, visit a museum or stay in bed reading, I decide.
2. Except for a couple days in Phoenix once for a conference , I haven’t been to the desert.  And, while I have no basis to say this, I have always believed I love the desert.  I’m excited for the chance to prove or disprove my hypothesis.
3. When I turned 40 a decade ago, I wrote another listicle called “40 at 40.”  It was a bucket list of 40 items.  I wanted to visit grand international icons such as the Eiffel Tower, the canals of Venice, Mona Lisa at Louvre and stroll the white sand beaches and swim the blue-green water of the Mediterranean Sea.  I even mentioned Greece in the very first post of this blog.  But there are plenty of US sites that made the list.  The Grand Canyon is my number one place in the US I want to visit.  So, at least for now, I’m giving up the idea of visiting those international places in exchange for the chance to not just see but to park the rig, stay a while and experience places in the US.  I want to live like a local.  Again and again and again.
4. I couldn’t write this list without including the entire reason I started down the path of fulltime RV living.  I’m excited for the chance to write every day, for as many or as few hours as the muse allows.
5. By now you know I’m risk-averse.  Change-averse too.  I used to image myself owning a small business, fantasized about what kind of business it would be.  But the truth is I could never stomach that much risk.  I like the security of the steady paycheck.  But since I will no longer be bound to that paycheck, I’m excited to put my toe in the water of small business ownership.  It means seeing my writing as a profession, as a business.  I want to publish articles, novels and, of course, there is this blog that I enjoy writing immensely.  In anticipation of being a business, I want to create a Limited Liability Company.  Just call me Supersize LIFE, LLC.
6. I’m looking forward to never being sleep-deprived again.  I almost said I’m most excited about naps, but who needs a nap when you get plenty of sleep at night?
7. Naps.  Just because I can.  Sometimes a good nap has nothing to do with tiredness.
8. Even thinking about being spontaneous is enough to make me break out in hives.  The world just doesn’t make sense to me without a list, an agenda, a timeline, a plan or a budget.  I’m envious and a little horrified by those who can decide to do something on a whim and then do it.  My sister is one of those people.  Remember the story of how a light bulb gets changed in my house?  She is all spontaneity and people like her make people like me crazy.  The feeling is mutual.  While I don’t expect to become a completely different person, life on the road just might be a chance for me to introduce spontaneity into my life.  It might be a leaping off point for me to do/see/experience that which cannot be planned or isn’t sitting on a list waiting to be crossed off.  Who knows?  Maybe you can teach an old dog new tricks.
9. NaNoWriMo. What the heck is that?  It’s another way to say the month of November.  Every November is National Novel Writing Month.  Their goal is to promote creativity throughout the world. From midnight on November 1 through midnight on November 30, participants try to write 50,000 words.  In case you are wondering, that’s about half of a decent-sized book.  It’s a lot of creativity in a short period of time.  Every year, I longingly peruse the website and feel writing envy toward everyone who participates.  At my work October through December is the busiest, craziest, time of year.  It’s not just the extra hours, but it’s the energy-sapping, high-stress, exhausting, never-ending task of putting on a very large fundraising event.  Did you ever read Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen?  Guess what, that was a NaNoWriMo creation which means anything is possible, including an international best seller.  I’m so excited for my very first chance to participate in that annual event.
10. I’ve come full circle.  Sort of.  When I think about the possibilities of each day, I can’t help but bask in the idea of solitude, to settle into a place to think, to write, to hear the sounds of nature, to read, to explore, to hike, to feel wholly myself.  I’m naturally a homebody, an introvert.  So more of what I already love is alluring the same way steam rising from a bubble-filled bath is alluring.

Now that my time in my current life is ending in the foreseeable future, I’ve turned contemplative.  I consider what I will be leaving.  Come back next month and I’ll share a few of the things I’m going to miss about Alaska.