No. The end.
Ha ha! But seriously, the answer really is no. I thought I'd address this question because we've had several people ask it. While 50 states is A LOT of ground to cover and it seems like you'd have to go at it full-time in order to make it happen, we have no intentions of doing so. We love our home and we love being home. One of the absolute best feelings in life is coming HOME after being gone. Walking in the door to the smell of familiarity, wrapping up in grandma's homemade quilt, re-visiting the pictures your children drew, so proudly displayed on the frig, watching a movie from your favorite spot on the couch and last but certainly not least, sleeping in your OWN bed! If those reasons alone aren't enough.....
Chet loves his job (realtor/self-employed), we have a great community of friends (some are more like family), we are involved at our local church and most importantly, live near family. Even if we only took a year to be on the road, that is still a year's worth of things we'd be missing out on at home. For the time being, it isn't what we want. There definitely may come a day when traveling full-time fits the bill but that day is not today, nor is it in our foreseeable future.
For those full-time traveling families out there that might read this, please don't take this as a knock on what you do! We think you are awesome and what you are doing with your families is truly amazing and inspiring. We follow many full-time, on-the-go families via Instagram and absolutely love watching their adventures unfold!
So what is our plan?
I'm glad you asked! We'd like to consider ourselves more like a part-time traveling family. However, that does not mean we will be gone 6 months out of the year. We will probably hit the road roughly every 2-3 months, for 10-14 days at a time. When we aren't on the road, we will continue our normal routine at home while also adventuring in our home state of Montana. If you've never been, trust me when I say, there is plenty to explore right here in our own backyard!
And there you have it, the answer to everyone's #1 question!
The "adventure scene", we'll call it, can be very intimidating. There are so many people out there traveling the world and posting the most epic pictures to show for it. While it is SO COOL it can also be SO DEFEATING, as in, "Wow, if that's what adventure looks like, I guess I'll never be an adventurer." I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume that the majority of us just don't have the option of dedicating our lives to travel and seeking out the world's most majestic wonders. One of our main goals in our hiking journey is to make it relatable & doable. We don't want anyone to look at our lifestyle and say, "That's cool but I could never do that" but rather say, "Sweet! I could do that too!" Granted, hiking all 50 states isn't on everyone's agenda but it doesn't have to be in order to find adventure. Bottom line, there's something for everyone and we just want to motivate & inspire others to find what that is.
Please connect with us and let us know if there is anything we can do to help direct you & your family in the right direction! Be of the mindset to explore whenever & wherever you can! Adventure on!!
Shoot us an email at thebackpackingblotskes@gmail.com. We'd love to chat with you!
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