The top of our trusty convertible down, our hair blowing in the breeze as we taste the sea air and smell the Redwoods…the movie-like West Coast road trip fantasy from Northern California to Washington that we are finally ready to drive after a lifetime in Southern California.

We planned this beautiful launch of our nomad life for a year. We even bought a new convertible top to extend our beloved 2016 Buick Cascada’s life—such a reliable car despite 187,000 miles—which only had to last a couple of months until we could sell her in Washington to travel internationally.

Two months before the launch of our full-time nomad life, a window got stuck. Fast forward through multiple weeks at our auto shop and the dealership, multiple motors and computer modules replaced, it was now the day before our launch, the day before we left home forever, and the mechanic believed a different module was needed that would take 3 days to deliver. It had also caused the seats and mirrors to freeze in place and various warnings to light up. Did I mention the roof no longer converted?

Eager to at least partially preserve the fantasy dream trip, we scheduled repair at a dealership in Washington a week away and determined to drive without the ability to put the top down. This never happened in those movies!

Three hours before walking out of our home for the very last time, becoming nomad homeless, we drove downtown for a sandwich. The stabilization system succumbed to the computer domino destruction. No longer safe to drive the car, we brainstormed through plan B, C, D, and E, even spending an hour at the dealership trying for a trade-in and purchase of a used car. No go—they just can’t negotiate quickly. So we raced home, threw everything else into a rental car and dashed to our daughter’s baby shower (half an hour late). After our amazing son-in-law Nick agreed to sell our (now fixer-upper) car, we found a two month car rental to set our budget back a chunk before we even officially began our journey, and drove off into the (now late) night. We fell asleep just 2 hours later, exhausted, at a hotel.

Waking up this morning we discussed our Plan F. Tim jokingly had a 4 letter word for it, but I decided F would stand for Forgetting what was behind, Forging ahead despite obstacles to our Freedom. Freedom which starts today.

Travel naturally goes awry. Frequently. We’ve experienced it many times. All you can do is work the problem. If it doesn’t involve serious health issues, horrific accidents or family tragedies, it’s a surmountable problem. We just didn’t expect one on the first day.

But now, one day later, we’re driving through the Bay Area after wine tasting at Wente, headed to Mendocino, just Tim and I and our tiny bit of remaining possessions in a comfortable rental car that runs great. We’re headed on our way to a future of adventure. Life is good. We still get 90% of that fantasy and that’s good enough.