I am a forty-something woman with a forty-something husband of over 20 years.  Like many people of my generation, I have had several careers.  I have been a high school teacher and an event planner/special event facility manager.  Today, I am a freelance writer specializing in travel, art, culture and food. In short, I am middle-class and just plain “average.” 

During one of the 9,999 times that I watched Dead Poet’s Society I fell in love with the expression “carpe diem.”  For the uninitiated, this means “seize the day.”  I have always wanted to do this, but in a cruel twist of fate, I came out of the womb as a do-gooder introvert with an “overdeveloped sense of responsibility” (this expression is courtesy of my husband).  This makes me a terrific employee but a lousy adventure-seeker. 

I am not brave.  I am a chicken.

This blog is about the fact that leaving my job and living on the road full-time with my husband as he travels for his job, is the first truly carpe diem thing I have done.  Unlike many people who try this, I did not first have career that earned me six figures and gave me a huge safety net. It took planning to leave my old life and start a new one. I believe it is possible to seize the day and plan for the future at the same time. This blog is also about building a life where we chose priorities, gave some things up in favor of others, and endeavor daily to pave a road that we hope will lead to a financial freedom mecca when we are old(er) and gray(er).