I realized that my one month stay in Reno was just a practice run. I had the luxury of having as much of my stuff as I wanted knowing that when the time came, I could just take the extras to my storage unit. Well, that time came. This morning I had to load my car for real and could take only what fits in my car right now instead of several loads! It took me several hours this morning to organize, pack, and load — sacrifices had to be made. What was left behind, you might ask? Well, it was a tough decision, but I left my kitchen behind — my spices, my cooking oils, my pantry — very sad.

One important lesson I’m learning is to live one day at a time, at least as far as eating, anyways. For the next couple of weeks, I won’t have my own kitchen to cook in, so it will have to be simple meals and eating out. Any grocery shopping will be minimal. This is a lot harder to do than I would have imagined. It’s so hard for me not to impulse shop in the grocery store. My imagine runs wild in the grocery store, haha!

The emotional aspect of leaving Reno also hit me. Even though Reno isn’t my home of Incline Village, I was anchored here because of my office and the great team I work with here. I am sad to be leaving them after spending the last couple of weeks in the office together. I was developing a daily routine even if it wasn’t in the neighborhood that I would want to be in permanently. I started to feel quite anxious last night, like falling off the cliff again, knowing I was really being uprooted this time. I know geographically where I’m headed, but what does that really mean?

My bags are packed, my car is loaded, and my belly is full of a warm breakfast. I’m ready to hit the road! Next destination, San Francisco here I come….