It’s service the car day which, really, only means that we are one step closer to embarking on this grand adventure. It also means I have some uninterrupted time sitting quietly in a lonely waiting room—a most excellent time for feeling myself shrink under the weight of All That Must Get Done.

The car was first. Safety and all that jazz. Oil change, kick the tires, check the spare, see if anyone can figure out what that weird ‘click’ I keep hearing in the center console might be. Next up is any one of 47 things on my list.

Some people get the heeby-jeebies when considering travel, especially an extended road trip. Me, though? Aside from that crushing sensation of stuff I never considered until just this very minute, I’m good. We have a pretty decent plan. Earl and I have written our respective lists of what we want to see. I have a general idea of what we’re packing and a working list of weird stuff we need or want to take. Atlases, yes, real, physical atlases, have been purchased, and card games have been procured.

A couple of days ago, we sat down to develop our 7 Roadtrip Agreements. Ideas were considered and nixed (no, this is not an “Earl can do whatever she wants” trip, my child) with lightning speed, but there was, through some small miracle, no disagreement. Some discussion, of course, but no discord. This bodes well. We came up with 2-7 as they sit on the list, but #1 was the last one to be put into place:

1. Be true to yourself. Be who you are, fearlessly and relentlessly.

I talked about how important this was to me, and why I thought we should bump it from its original #7 slot to the top.

“But what does it mean?” Earl asked.

“It means that I don’t want you thinking, ‘I can’t do this or say this because what will Mama think.’ It means that, while being respectful of me and of others, I want you to not be afraid to be who you are. And I’ll do the same,” I explained.

“So what if we want to dance in the Jungle Room at Graceland?”

“Then we dance.”

“But what if we get kicked out for dancing?”

“Then, my child, we have an even better story to tell.”

Just like that, “Be true to yourself” sailed to its rightful spot at the top of our list. Earl is gung-ho. Also perhaps a little afraid to see what happens when Mama decides to cut loose. And I will. It may take me a little bit; it won’t be easy at all. But I will.

After all, that’s kinda the point of this whole journey, no?

The next few days are about taking care of the minutiae that must be handled so we can put Rule #1 into effect full force, without worries that there’s something else we should be attending to. The weird ‘click’ has been identified as a rogue screw, oil has been changed, and the tires are being checked as we speak. Momentarily, I can mark “Service car” off of list and move on to “Find black laptop bag” and “Figure out how to use GoPro.”

You know. The important, mission critical stuff.