People keep asking if I’m ready for our RV trip. Friends, I’m asking myself the same question. Am I ready for this trip?

Well, let me answer that question with another question. Does THIS look like the face of someone who’s ready for a six-week long jaunt around the country in an RV??

That’s me. In front of our Winnebago. And it’s distorted, because there’s no actual answer to that question. It’s the night before we leave and I’m writing a blog post, which could tell you one of two things. Either I’m just SO ready to go, I don’t even know what to do with the rest of my time until I go to bed (possible), or else I’m NOT ready to go so I’m escaping from all the preparations, because the preparations are exhausting but writing is fun and cathartic. (That’s more likely.)

Maybe the question of whether or not I’m ready depends on what kind of ready you’re asking about.

Am I mentally ready? Yes, check. Ready and eager.

Am I emotionally ready? You know, I’m glad you asked. I haven’t really paused to consider my emotions, come to think of it. I know that I’m crazy excited. I also know that I’m going to miss home and family and friends. Six weeks isn’t forever but it’s not something to snuff at either. I’m a homebody, and I’m going to miss the comforts and friendliness of home. And yet….I don’t feel much at the moment. Maybe the first leg of our journey will be a journey to self-discovery, and I’ll finally get to process my emotions. Let’s say I’m emotionally pre-ready.

Am I physically ready? Well, if you mean is my body up to the task of being transported around the country in an RV, I guess the answer is yes. (Although RV life is more physically taxing than one may guess, but more on that another time.) If you mean am I ready in terms of all the practical, physical things that must be done, then yes again. The RV is packed, the house is tidy, the checklist for tomorrow morning is short. Huzzah!

Am I organizationally ready? Well, my little spell-checker is giving me a red squiggly line indicating that “organizationally” is not actually a word, so I guess not. Also, no, I don’t feel organizationally ready. I sat down at my computer to write some emails before we go and I wrote a blog post instead, so….

The dictionary defines “ready” as: “in a suitable state for an activity, action, or situation; fully prepared” and I would like to take issue with that definition, thank you very much. Being “in a suitable state for an activity” seems a smidge different than being “fully prepared.” In a suitable state? We’re pretty much packed and I’m sporting yoga pants and a positive attitude, so yep. Fully prepared? Fully prepared for six weeks of the unknown?? No! Obviously no!

As I was packing, I kept asking myself questions like: How many pairs of shoes is a normal number to take on a trip like this? What’s a normal number of books to take on a cross-country RV trip? What’s a normal amount of white cheddar Cheez-Its boxes to pack in an RV cupboard for a six-week journey? And then I looked around me at our tiny house on wheels, and at all the random stuff we’re packing — homeschool supplies and Todd’s IRONMAN training gear and clothes for every imaginable climate and scenario (what if it rains? what if it’s freezing? what if it’s hot and humid? what if we go hiking? what if we go to a beautiful church? what if we make fancy friends on the road and they invite us to a fancy party?), and I realized that any question regarding this trip that includes the word “normal” is a bad question!

Scratch “normal” out of those questions and replace it with “reasonable.” Except no, this whole thing may not even qualify as reasonable. I think I just need to replace “normal” with “Watson.” What’s a Watson amount of shoes/books/white cheddar Cheez-Its to pack? I can start answering those questions if I ditch expectations of what’s “normal” and just embrace exactly what it is we’re doing.

I don’t know what the next six weeks will actually look like, or how many shoes I’ll need or how many fancy parties we’ll get invited to. (Probably zero to that last one.) But I do know that I love Todd and the boys, I’m excited for this adventure with them, and I just spent the last sixteen hours getting prepared for tomorrow. So am I ready? Yeah. I’m ready. WE’RE ready. The Watson American RV Expedition (W.A.R.V.E.) is about to begin.

(And by the way, I’m bringing eight total pairs of shoes, I lost count of how many books I packed, and there’s only one box of white cheddar Cheez-Its in the cupboard because however many there are, that’s how many I’ll eat. As long as I can beat my kids to them.)