As a male citizen of the United States born into an upper-middle class family, there are certain expectations that are placed on me.

I’m told that I need a good, stable 9 to 5 job. I’m told that I need to have a college education in order to find that career. After all, I’m told I can’t settle for just any job, it has to have good benefits, and a sufficient salary to provide for my family. I’m told I need to have a house. Not an apartment, no, I’m told I need a yard, property, I need to own land. This property better have a garage too, because I’m told I need to have a car. Not just any car, though. I’m told I need to have a new luxury car. I’m told it should be at least as good as, if not better than, what the neighbors drive. I’m told I need to have about two children. I’m told they should be a boy and a girl, though of course I’m told such things are up to chance.

I’m told all of these things are what it takes to be a success in life.

Of course, with all the telling going on, I’ve noticed no ever thinks to stop and ask, “What do you actually want?”

Just a quick update, we are now on Google Plus. We’re still kind of figuring out how best to use it, since both Caroline and I have accounts, we’re not sure if we should have people follow us both, and post updates through both, or if that would just be cluttered and annoying for our readers.

So, for the time being, we’ve decided to just have all the Road to Epic updates be sent out through my account, which you can find here: Adam Wik on Google Plus.

You can follow me on there for all the Road to Epic updates, as well as some extra goodies from time to time.

We just wanted to have a quick post today to wish everyone a happy 4th of July. Whether or not you’re from the United States, or whether or not you’re fond of the United States even, today is a day to celebrate freedom – something I think everyone is in favor of.

In the end, everything we’re working toward on Road to Epic has to do with freedom; the freedom to live our lives how we want, the freedom to follow our dreams and not have to conform to what society insists is best for us. So today, whether you’re an American citizen or not, take some time to think about your own freedoms. It might be freedom from debt you’re looking for, or maybe you’re ready to declare your independence from your soul-crushing dead end job – in the end it’s all founded on the same principle, we all have the right to live how we choose to live.

On a quick side note, the posting schedule may be a little irregular in the next few weeks due to some family holiday obligations, although we’ll do our best to post from the road. We’ve got several big Road to Epic projects we’re working on as well, but we’re not to going to let it interfere with our posting schedule if we can help. Keep watching for more updates on what we’ve got planned.

In the meantime, take some time to relax, have fun with your family and friends, and think a little about the ways you can make your life a little more independent.

Happy 4th of July everyone!