How?
Boondocking.
Last Sunday we took the kids to get their first Covid-19 vaccinations. The pharmacist was asking O questions to ease his anxiety while prepping his arm for the shot. During this q & a it came up that we were traveling for the year. The conversation unfolded like many conversations we have had with friends, family and also complete strangers about this whole experience. The conversations always revolved around—HOW?! How does one make this decision, actually untangle themselves from their lives and make it happen. At one point she said something like, “You all must be such free-spirits, I could never do something like that.”
Her comment has been bouncing around in my head for days. I mean, I understand why someone would think that quitting our jobs, storing our furniture, reducing our necessities to 200 sq. feet and traipsing around the country is a journey that only free-spirits undertake.
YET, I was completely surprised by the idea that we are free-spirits. Because there is absolutely NOTHING about the daily experience that feels like that.
While working through the decision to quit everything and drive around for a year we waded through the “how?” of a decision like this. That process looked like talking to similar sized families that had done something similar, browsing blogs, instagram pages and reading everything we could get our hands on about living on the road, and puzzling out finances, supplies, etc.
We did our due diligence. We labored over small details and found ourselves overwhelmed thinking about the big things.
And after letting all the information wash over us—we stopped wondering, HOW?! We just said—YES.
The exhausting AND meaningful part of the daily grind is EVERY single day we have to go through this process. The constant moving, planning, visiting requires us to dance with information all day long and multiple times throughout the day we are frozen by the “how?” and then we just have to say YES to something…anything…and just roll with however that plays out.
Some days that looks like smoothies for breakfast and supper. I suppose that is some real free-spirit living.
