Start Small, Start Now
Part 2: Travel Lessons from KYD
“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”
Just like the sun rising over Moab, Utah, this road trip was the dawn of our current full-time adventures.
You’ve been dreaming of it for years – packing up the family, hitting the road, exploring the world, and living the life of adventure you've always imagined. But every time you think about starting, you hear that voice… “Not yet. Wait until the timing is better. Wait until you have more money. Wait until the kids are older. Wait until you can do it right.”
Each day, that dream feels a little further away, buried under the weight of bills, work obligations, school and extracurricular commitments, and the endless to-do lists of everyday life. The external world seems determined to keep you grounded, locked in place while your heart aches for something more.
You want to take action, but the path ahead seems too overwhelming, too uncertain. There’s that nagging feeling inside, the voice of doubt: “What if I’m not ready? What if I fail?” The perfect moment always seems just out of reach, and so you wait, hoping that someday the stars will align.
And so, the dream remains just that – a dream.
But here’s the thing: life doesn’t wait. Commitments will always be there, the kids just keep getting older, and the right time doesn’t just shout out for your attention. Perfectionism is stealing your dream from you, one day at a time. So, how do you defeat it? How do you take that first step without having everything perfectly in place?
Keep reading, and we’ll show you exactly how to overcome those barriers, defeat perfectionism, and finally take that first step toward your dream.
A Philosophy Shared by Keep Your Daydream
Marc and Tricia Leach have had a huge impact on us and how we have approached making our dream a reality. As we noted last week, they are the inspiring couple behind Keep Your Daydream. If you’ve ever watched their YouTube channel, you know that they’ve made a life of adventure and travel seem not only possible but accessible. Their quote, “Start small, start now,” has become a guiding principle for us, not just in our travels but in how we approach our dreams and daily life.
They’ve been there – stuck, waiting for the right time – until they realized that the secret to living their dream wasn’t about waiting for perfection. It was about starting small and starting now.
But what does that look like in real life? How do you take the first step when everything feels too big, too hard, too far away? And how can you find the courage to move forward when the road ahead seems filled with obstacles?
Marc and Tricia didn’t wait for the perfect moment. They didn’t wait until every star aligned, every box was checked, and every plan was flawless. They were plagued by the idea that you only have 18 summers with your kids and, in 2016, their oldest was heading into her sophomore year of high school. They knew that if they didn’t start, time would run out. They started small – and most importantly, they started right then. This mindset has deeply influenced us, pushing us to stop waiting for the “right time” and start living the life we want, little by little, day by day.
What Does “Start Small” Mean for Your Travel Dreams?
Starting small doesn’t mean shrinking your dreams – it means breaking them down into manageable steps. It’s easy to look at a big dream, like traveling full-time or starting a new career, and feel completely overwhelmed. That’s where many people get stuck. But Marc and Tricia taught us that taking even the tiniest step forward gets you closer than standing still ever will.
For Marc and Tricia, that meant trading in their dream of sailing to go RVing with their 3 kids. They started with a truck they already owned and bought their first camper and hit the road. Back in 2016, they set a goal of traveling for 6 months. Eight years later, their kids have left the nest, much richer for the experience, and Marc and Tricia are still traveling with their dog Charlie.
For us, that small step meant starting taking longer vacations during school breaks before we could commit to something bigger. It wasn’t the full-time adventure we envisioned, but it was a taste of what could come. And more importantly, it was action!
The Trap of Waiting for the Perfect Moment
How many times have you thought, “I’ll do it when…?” When the kids are older, when we have more money, when work slows down, when everything feels “just right.”
Waiting for the perfect moment is one of the most common traps we fall into when setting our dreams. But here’s the reality: the perfect moment rarely comes. Marc and Tricia have shown us that waiting often leads to inertia. Life doesn’t hand you perfect conditions – it hands you moments to take action.
We’ve been there, too. We’ve put off our dreams, waiting for that elusive “perfect time” when everything would magically fall into place. But perfectionism can be paralyzing. The lesson? There’s no perfect time, only now.
What Does “Start Now” Look Like?
So, what does it mean to start now? It doesn’t have to be drastic. Starting now could mean booking a short trip rather than waiting until you can afford a long one. It could mean cutting back on small expenses so you can save for a bigger goal. It might even mean simply taking 30 minutes a day to plan or research your dream.
For us, starting now meant making compromises. We couldn’t take months off to travel, but we could take steps to put us in a better position. We limited unnecessary spending, sold our home, downsized our possessions, and pulled our girls out of traditional school in favor of homeschooling. In the meantime, we focused on what really mattered – building experiences, not waiting for ideal conditions.
The Reality of Travel Dreams
One thing Marc and Tricia have made clear is that chasing your dreams isn’t always dreamy. They’ve been honest about the behind-the-scenes struggles: breakdowns, unexpected detours, and tough decisions. Dreams are messy. But those messy moments are where the real growth happens.
We’ve learned that embracing the challenges is part of the journey. It’s not all Instagram-perfect sunsets and happy kids. Sometimes, we’re road weary and hangry, or dealing with delayed flights and lost luggage. But those tough moments have been some of our greatest teachers.
7 Steps to Start Now
Feeling inspired? Here’s how you can take that energy and start today:
Identify Your Dream – What is it that you truly want? Think big! Ask the deeper questions. If your dream is to travel full-time, ask yourself why. Is it to see the world? Spend quality time together as a family? Learn about new cultures? What is at the root of your dream?
Our dream was to travel together full-time in an RV, much like KYD. This is how we found them in the first place. When we asked ourselves why, it really came down to wanting to spend more quality time together and to value experiences over things.
Break it Down – Take that big dream you identified above and find ways to break it down into small, actionable steps. What can you do today, this week, or this month?
When we focused on the why, we realized that it didn't matter if we traveled in an RV, took long road trips, or traveled the world full-time as long as we were together.
Prioritize – Look at your current life and see what you can shift or compromise on to make room for your dream. Dreams take work and they require us to feel uncomfortable at various points in time. Don’t let that stop you!
We used Trello to help us set our timeline and prioritize all the little things we needed to get done and to help keep us on the same page. Seeing your dream as a series of steps you have to prioritize makes it a goal you can accomplish rather than a dream that might never be.
Make a Timeline – Once you’ve prioritized, you can figure out the order of your steps. Determine your first step, and decide when you can reasonably accomplish it? Set a launch date!
For us, we set a date to start our full-time RV travels. Unfortunately, Covid put our plans on hold and by the time we were able to go, it was no longer the best option for us. Instead, we pivoted and decided to go international. We booked a flight to France and from there, everything else began to fall into place!
Take One Small Step – This week, commit to doing just one thing that moves you toward your dream. If that dream is full-time travel, maybe this step is listing some lesser used items for sale or donating them. Maybe it’s ensuring that your passport is still valid or identifying some National Parks you would like to visit. What can you do right now that gets you moving closer to your dream?
We started with a 21 day cross-country road trip to see how well we would do over a longer period of time. We learned so much about ourselves on that first Big Trip and we realized that we were strong enough to do this full-time.
Reflect & Adjust – Regularly check in with yourself. Is this working? Do you need to pivot? Do you simply need to think a bit more outside the box? Don’t stay stagnant for too long. If something feels off, find a way to address it as soon as possible so you can continue moving forward.
Now that we travel full-time, we are in constant need of assessing our situation. Do we need to slow down? Are the kids bored? Are work and school in need of more attention? We take all of these things into account and make adjustments along the way.
Let Go of Perfectionism – Waiting for the perfect moment or for everything to be “just right” will only delay your progress. Goldilocks was WRONG! Despite what the childhood fairytale might have taught you, "just right" is hardly ever a realistic goal. Take imperfect action and learn as you go – perfection is a myth!
Our travels aren’t always perfect. We’re always leaving a place wishing we’d have done a few more things or known a little more before we got there. When we feel regret, we remind ourselves that now we just have an excuse to come back! Instead of trying to make each destination perfect, we focus on enjoying every single moment, experience, and connection along the way. If you struggle with perfectionism, we’ve found this article by the Harvard Business Review to be helpful. While the article relates to business, the concepts can be applied to all facets of life, including travel.
Are You Ready to Start Living Your Travel Dreams?
As you sit there, thinking back to all the times you waited – for the perfect job, the perfect opportunity, the perfect timing – you realize something. Life has always been imperfect. And yet, the world keeps turning, and people keep moving forward, imperfectly but steadily.
Now, you understand that the biggest obstacle to your dream has always been your need for everything to be “just right.” But Marc and Tricia were right – starting small and starting now was always within your grasp. So, you make the decision. Not tomorrow, not when things are easier. Today!
Pull out your calendar and carve out a weekend for that short road trip you’ve been putting off. It’s not the grand adventure you’ve dreamed of, but it’s a start. And as you take that first small step, you can feel it – the weight of perfectionism lifting.
The road ahead may still be uncertain, but you’re on it now. And that’s what matters most.
We are grateful to Marc and Tricia who have been a constant source of inspiration, reminding us that living our dream life is about progress, not perfection. Their advice to “start small, start now” is more than just words – it’s a call to action.
Be sure to check back in with us next week when we’ll be wrapping up our KYD series with our most favorite quote of all from Marc and Tricia. In the meantime, what are you waiting for? What small step can you take today that will bring you closer to your dream?
