We strategically planned to spend the first few weeks living and working on the bus in Georgia. We wanted to make sure that we could maintain our business responsibilities, while working from the bus, before we incorporated visits with customers. Primarily, we needed to make sure that internet was spotless and that our scanner/printer/fax situation was all happy.
Additionally, we wanted to make sure that we established daily routines centered around operating the business. Yes, we are traveling the country. We are also running a business. Just the two of us. The business is the priority. Our goal is to grow the business, so we took a few weeks to make sure that all of our processes and procedures were working flawlessly.
We spent a week just outside of Savannah, Georgia at Savannah Oaks RV Park. It was a nice, tree covered park a couple of miles off the interstate, so it was nice and quiet. There was a fitness room that I enjoyed and the dogs really enjoyed exploring the park there. We went into historic Savannah a couple of times, once for a ghost tour, and once for just general sight seeing. The highlight of that week though was the gift of having Yelp lead us to the very best Mexican food we ever had at La Parilla. If traffic weren't such a beast around it, I would have pressed for eating there several more times.
The second week we spent just outside of Thomasville, GA. I have always been fond of Thomasville. Less than an hour from my hometown, we day tripped there from time to time for shopping and dining. Thomasville defines quaint with a great little, yet alive, downtown scene complete with a variety of locally owned shops and restaurants. A couple of years ago we went on the Taste of Thomasville tour, so we both knew what we were in for when we booked a week there at Sugar Mill RV Park. Although the park was little more than a glorified trailer park, we enjoyed the week there eating our way through some of our favorite restaurants.
And finally, a week at home. We have a small family farm just north of Valdosta, GA, that is truly home to me. Prior to us planning the road trip, we had planned to be there with our friends from Florida for a race the weekend of February 20th, so it worked out perfectly to get back there for a week before really getting out on the road. Being there gave us a chance to catch our breath for a minute, spend some QT with our best friends from Florida and allowed me to get to spend some time with my Mom, who, though supportive, doesn't love the idea of us spending the next six months out on the road.
By the time we left Georgia, on February 21, 2016, we were ready. Ready to run the biz from the bus, ready to leave home and ready to see this great country of ours and many of our business associates along the way.