Exactly six weeks from now, evening as I write this, we will have completed our first day on the Appalachian Trail.

Our preparation is nearing a close.

The walls are bare, pictures and artwork taken down and put into storage.

Two of our four closets are now empty, while the other two are nearly so.

We sold the Prius yesterday, and we are down to a single vehicle, our van.

Our last rent payment has been made, and the monthly autopay has been stopped.

We have set up a mail service to receive our mail, since we will be homeless after March 31.

I have acquired a new phone - the first I've ever owned - and have been preparing to give up my company-issued phone, a perk I've enjoyed for many years.

Our travel plans for getting from here to the trail are locked in; driving, lodging and flights. This includes a viewing of the eclipse on the 8th of April.

We have piled our "camper-van" gear in the corner of my office. This will make up our final home-on-wheels for the few days we will have between leaving the apartment and arriving in Detroit for our travel to the AT.

We've test-packed our packs a couple times now and are mostly satisfied with contents and weights. We'll pack them at least once more and carry them through airports and on airplanes on our trek to the trail.

We set out on this adventure six years ago, not knowing quite how it would happen. Now we know, and it is happening.