by Hope
Today my Sea Cadet graduates from his “boot camp” in Pennsylvania. The old me would have driven up the night before, gotten a hotel room…etc. The new me, well, I got up at 3:30am this morning, got dressed, got kids in the car and hit the road. Giving myself 30 extra minutes to get there based on estimated drive time.
I am planning on lunch out before we head back, because I know he’s going to have lots to tell and I want to focus on him rather than on driving before we start the 5 1/2 hour drive home.
11 hours of drive time today with a short break for his graduation and lunch, but no hotel or extra meal costs. Yahoo for the small wins, especially making hard choices for this debt payoff journey!
Wrote this earlier this week, but by the time this publishes we’ll have been on the road for almost two hours. Please send thoughts and prayers for safe travels today.
Hope is a resourceful, solutions-driven online business manager with over two decades of experience helping clients streamline operations, manage projects, and grow their businesses through digital marketing and technology.
But life has a way of rewriting your plans.
A year ago, Hope made the decision to move in with her aging parents full time – a season she wouldn’t trade, even as it came with its own financial and emotional weight. Earlier this year, she lost her mother, and is now walking the tender, disorienting path of grief while learning what “forward” looks like from here.
Hope came to the Blogging Away Debt community in 2015 as a single mom raising five foster and adoptive children. She’s written through job changes, financial setbacks, and the bittersweet transition to an empty nest. Her kids are finding their footing in the world now – and so is she.
Rooted in faith and fueled by the same perseverance she’s brought to every hard season, Hope is ready to face her finances with fresh eyes and an honest pen. She believes that clarity, courage, and community can change the trajectory of anyone’s story including her own.
She lives in Austin, TX with her dad, loves adventures with her dog Addie, and is figuring out, one step at a time, what this next chapter is meant to be.
Having done this myself from Maryland to Connecticut to drive the son #2 to his college dorm I can totally relate. Now that this stage is in our rear-view mirror I am happy to say it was worth it. Congrats to the Sea Cadet…a new stage for you and him is also in store. I am grateful for his service to our country…the whole reason everyone gets to speak their mind on blogs such as this…Not sure if you have the ability to read this on the road, but safe travels.
Congrats to the Sea Cadet, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed that if you feel yourself getting tired, please stop the car.
Hope you had a safe trip. I drove for about 9 hours yesterday too. I stopped a few times so, it wasn’t so bad.
Hi Hope, I hope you had a safe trip.
Great job Hope! Now that’s sacrifice 🙂