The real first day was Saturday July 2nd. It was the day I was going to sell my car, check out of my apartment, and I'd been unemployed since yesterday.
Everything closed up quick by design and it was mostly because of an error. I've worked in Health Insurance for the better part of a decade and every plan I've ever worked with (or had, for that matter) allowed members to have their insurance until the end of the calendar month.
The plan was to have my last day July 1st, a Friday, and I'd have health insurance for the rest of the calendar month. Until July 31st. I thought I was a genius. I then found out it only went until the following Sunday. So much for planning.
Move-out day was hectic. I moved big furniture to two locations with the help of a friend's truck, turned in some documents to the bank, then got home. I had to make 3 piles of my belongings before cleaning: Car, Bike, or Trash.
-Trash is thrown away permanently. No time to sell it to anyone.
-Car means it's going in the storage locker (image attached)
-Bike means it's going on Lechuza and it going to be one of my personal belongings "in perpetuity".
It's a lot of pressure.
After hyperventilating a bit, I threw everything in the car, brought trash to the trash, then loaded the bike. I cleaned and cleaned. Dusted, swept, vacuumed, wiped down, and mopped.
Finally it was done. At 4PM Saturday 7/2, I had my 'check out' walkthrough and I handed over my keys.
Speaking of keys, my friends were outside waiting to purchase my car. We ran the last load of my belongings to the locker and then I handed the car keys over to them too. I was finally left with just the key to my locker.
Effectively I'm without a permanent residence and no car. My shelter from 7/2 onward will be with family, friends, lodging and my tent.
I spent the next few days saying my goodbyes. I even saw a lot of my family for the 4th of July, handed out a bunch of my business cards to family and friends there. After waking up the next day, it was time. I put on the Typhoon's album by Royal Blood and rolled the throttle.
I was headed west into the great plains. If you know anything about me, You know I'm not a fan. The wind jostles you constantly, it's loud on the ears without ear plugs, you get blown either off the road or into oncoming traffic, and it's just not eventful. You go over hill after hill and guess what you see? More hills.
None of that matters, though. It's what I signed up for. Riding toward the horizon.
Boy Howdy.
JT - 7/8/2022