I keep checking my calendar and reviewing my dates because it just doesn’t seem possible that 5 years ago we walked away from “normal” and into this world of roaming about the country. Is it what I expected in 2009? What is my favorite place? What do you do all day? How long are you going to do this? are some of the questions that I get asked often and mostly I can’t answer them.
Pretty nice place to call ‘home” for a few days!
Is it what I expected? I don’t know because I am not sure what I expected. We were at an interesting part of our lives, I love to travel, our kids were off in college, Paul worked 80 miles from home and the economy was going to Hell! I do know it was the right decision and I have no regrets.
What is my favorite place? This one is the hardest because “home” was/is a pretty amazing place. It is a big city with lots of congestion, people from all walks of life and political problems but the weather is spectacular and that is where my kids have chosen to make their lives! So, home will always be San Jose but being able to visit all these other amazing places is an experience I cherish. I love the south for the amazing food, I love the northeast for the beautiful nature, New York City is an amazing place to just hang out, the northwest is very peaceful. The southwest can’t be beat January- March. The beauty of this lifestyle is that I don’t have to choose because my home has wheels and Paul will drive me anywhere I want to go.
What do you do all day? Hmmm…. walk, read, sit in the sun, watch the birds, play fetch with Duke, laugh, write this blog, take pictures, sew, crochet, play games on the computer, watch tv, clean house, make dinner – mostly what everyone else does except I don’t go to a job. We have done some jobs on the road but mostly I enjoy life without being especially productive. Of course we do some amazing thing but there is so much more to do.
How long are you going to do this? The original commitment was 5 years but within the first year we both knew that was not going to be enough. There is just so much to see – we have been across the USA twice and will be working on our third trip this spring, we have traveled to the northwest twice and into Canada, we have spent several winters in the warmth of Arizona, seen many NP’s, swam in the Great Lakes, climbed tall mountains, driven on some beautiful roads, but we haven’t seen every state or everything in most states so we are now thinking we will stop when we are tired of seeing and doing new things – maybe never but who knows!
So after 5 years the questions are still unanswered but there are some things I do know: I love being able to discover new places; take a walk at 11 am, sleep until 10 every day or wake up at 6 (that doesn’t happen often other than to pee!); decide to move to a new area whenever I want; I need to see my girls often and as soon as I leave I miss them even more; my friends will always be there for me and seem to enjoy seeing me as much as I do; life is simple, the stuff in it makes it hard; I don’t have to be busy; two people can live in 350 sq. ft and not kill each other – it does help that we like each other!; and I don’t have time to clean this house anymore than I did a big 22oo sq. ft one!
This year is the first year that we left San Jose and don’t know exactly where we are going. We have a sketch but only a couple commitments so I am thinking we will see and try lots of new things this year. Currently we are in Parker, AZ – actually across the river from Parker in California! The weather is beautiful and my view is amazing.
When things start thawing out in the rest of the country we will head east where we have tickets to Charlotte Motor Speedway for Allstar week and then we head north to cooler temps for the summer where the girls will join us for a week in Old Forge and then it is to Maine for the fall. After that we think we may try Florida for the winter! See, it is a very busy lifestyle!
It is a different way to live and once you start it is hard to even think about going back to “normal” so for now this is my normal and I look forward to another 5 years.
