The Freedom Tour has officially begun. I hatched the idea for this indefinite road trip to explore, teach, and inspire people to create freedom in their lives back in September. Four months later, I’m living in a Toyota Prius I’ve named Zoe. I’ve just driven 2300 miles from Buffalo, NY and as I write this I’m pulling into Phoenix, AZ. (More on the first leg of journey later.)

I spent the last four months letting go – of my apartment in Manhattan, my furniture, about two thirds of my wardrobe, all but about fifteen books, and, most significantly, my life as I know it.

I emailed my friends, posted on Facebook, Twitter, and my blog and told them to come take my stuff. As I watched my belongings walk out of my apartment in the arms of some of my favorite people I felt a combination of panic and excitement. To soften the panic I decided to make a rule that anyone who came and took my stuff had to have their picture taken with the pieces of me that were going to go live with them.

Here they are:

What remained of my belongings was packed in a Budget moving van…

…while I said goodbye to my now relatively empty apartment…

…and then drove to Maine in the snow for 9 hours with my delightful co-pilot, Danielle…

…and landed temporarily at my mom’s house in Maine.

Here’s what remained of my stuff when I got to Maine…

…and here’s what I didn’t take on the road with me and put in storage. It looks kind of lonely in there with all of that empty space.

I gotta say, it feels good to not really own anything of much significance as far as surface area and volume go.

Now instead of living in here…

…I live in here.

Join me for the first official stop on The Freedom Tour in Southern California for three events, one in San Diego, one in Orange County, and one in Los Angeles. Details are all HERE.

There’s far more to tell of my travels and musings but for now, after traversing fifteen states and more than 2600 miles, its time for this road tripper to sleep.

The journey begins…