Moving from an established, rooted lifestyle is NOT easy!  Amy and I bought a house in South Philly in 2010 – between then and now (7/2015) we’ve accumulated a whole lot of crap and got a dog, Chica (who is one of the most badass dogs ever).

First Action Item was to book the place.  We decided on Western Colorado for its proximity to so many beautiful locations, both in Colorado and Utah.  I went on one of the popular vacation rental sites, searched for houses that met my needs, including the need for pet friendly places which is a pain in the ass.

Popular Vacation Rental Sites:

airbnb
VRBO
HomeAway
TripAdvisor

Usually vacation rental sites rent for a few days to a week, not months at a time so the prices initially seem crazy.  Just email your top ten spots, let them know you want to stay for a few months and they’re usually open to charging accordingly. 

Keeping the momentum going was so important.  Hypothetically, if we backed out of the lease in Palisade and lost the down payment it wouldn’t have been the end of the world.  Amy and I knew we needed to create momentum to drive us over the edge.  What better way than another major financial commitment?

The next step was to buy a vehicle that suited our travel needs: cargo space and utility.  We picked the 2013 Toyota 4Runner; this truck is official.  It’s got the capacity to carry and haul heavier loads compared to most of its class.  I would have liked a little more cubic feet with the seats down, GMC’s Acadia almost won out based on that alone, but it turned out to be a piece of crap; soooo happy I didn’t buy it.

This took over a month, so if you’re making this happen get on buying your vehicle ASAP.

From this point forward we started focusing on closing down our life in Philly like fixing odds and ends in our house and getting it rented out.  It’s unbelievable the amount of small items we needed to cover.  Simple things like insuring your car becomes an issue when you don’t have a permanent residence.

Update (11/22/15):

Regarding vehicles, we’re still very satisfied with the 4Runner.  One thing to consider is not to  attempt packing everything in the back of the truck and cargo box.  While making an effort not to haul too much is recommended,  renting a trailer made our trip from CO to TX much more comfortable at a very affordable price.

So the recommendation is to still purchase a vehicle with towing capacity, but don’t base your decision on cargo space alone.