People keep saying that. “Enjoy your vacation.” I’ve stopped correcting them.
Sue has already commented on all the work going on while we travel. I wanna talk about this whole “if you’re traveling it must be a vacation” mindset.
It’s wrong.
Category: Reasons
It’s Not a Vacation! We’re Working When We Travel
So we took this whole month of May to travel from our home in Wisconsin down to Phoenix, out to San Diego, up to Northern California, and end up back up June 1. The main purpose is so we can pick up more of our stuff from storage in Roseville, California. However, since we know so many people, friends and family, in Phoenix, San Diego, and Roseville, we are taking time to visit with them as we travel.
But it’s not a vacation! No, we are working while we travel. We are still doing all our usual stuff. I work as a Virtual Assistant managing client’s social media marketing, newsletters, and blogs and am continuing to do so. We have a web design business we are continuing to run and in fact have received new work as we’ve been traveling.
And Joel’s book coaching and publishing business, Someday Box, has continued. We have one client in the final stages of editing her book, another in the U.K. that we’re working on formatting the interior of his book (in fact we had an international call with him yesterday), and yet another that signed up for the Pathfinding Session and Road Map. We had an hour call with her last Monday while here in Arizona and have scheduled another one this next Tuesday while we’re in San Diego.
So for us it’s business as usual – we did spend 18 months living as nomads with no fixed place of residence traveling and working. It’s no different now except we do have a fixed place of residence and travel less than we did.
When we do take a vacation, we’ll let you know. We do take the last two weeks of the year off from work. This year we may just end up in Arizona for most of that time. Perhaps visiting our friends and family here and taking time to see Oak Creek Canyon, Sedona, and Jerome. We did spend out honeymoon in Oak Creek Canyon and this December will be our 10th wedding anniversary!
And this trip we are getting to connect with lots of friends and family – in Phoenix it’s been Terry & Virgie, Dan & Annete, Rod on Saturday, and Sunday Sue’s Uncle Phil. In San Diego we’ll see Sue’s mom, Joel’s brother Brett and his family and Joel’s sister Lynn and her family. Also our good friend Ken. Then it’s up to Northern California to see Tom Bentley, Dave Reffkin, Pam & Phil, the Stephens family, and of course Fiona’s big sister Rachelle!
The final four days of our trip heading home Fiona and Sue will get to drive through Idaho, Montana, and North Dakota – all states they’ve never been in before. Oh, and we’re driving through Yosemite. So that will feel like a vacation – though Sue does have a big transcription project she needs to get finished that week as well. That’s when having a colleague comes in handy. Sue is very grateful to Amy in New Jersey for all the assistance she’s providing in that area.
So, don’t ask how our vacation was! We weren’t on vacation! We were traveling and working and having the time of our lives! Don’t you wish you could do this?
Are We There Yet?
Are we there yet? Have we reached our final destination? What is up with us you all wonder?
When we left California in 2010 to live a nomadic life, we had no idea how long it would last. Have we landed to put roots down, never to move again? I don’t know. It doesn’t really matter.
Life changes. Sometimes we can control the changes; most often we can’t. It’s a journey – one we are continuing to take.
Even though we have a ‘home’ now here in Rice Lake, Wisconsin – we will continue to explore new places. In fact, this coming week we’ll be spending three days in a city we’ve never visited before – Rochester, Minnesota.
I think our life is kind of like this fallen tree.
This evergreen in our front yard fell over in a storm a week or so ago. A tall tree that once fallen extended from the front yard to almost the back of the house. But the roots are still there – the core.
We sort of knocked our tree of life over on purpose back in 2010. But the roots – the core – are still there. They will grow again – though the tree may look different now.
So, what’s life like now here in Rice Lake?
Every day from my kitchen window I’m reminded of Ireland. What?! That’s right. The house next door has this moss growing on the roof and it reminds me of Ireland.
I get up every morning to here my little girl respond to my “How are you?” with “Happy!” just like she always has. Joel and I get to work together in our little office in the dining room with a view of trees, squirrels, birds and sometimes bunnies. My son, James, is with us. We have good friends and are able to do things for Joel’s mom who lives nearby.
Are we there yet? Where we’re supposed to be? For now, yes! Of course, that may change. So stay tuned…
Bridge Out on Memory Lane
In the movies, when the long-lost father/mother/brother/sister/whatever crosses paths with their kin, directors show us the visceral connection. Look in their eyes; they know something just happened. Nice for story lines, but no connection to reality.
The Long Haul: In Retrospect
A year ago I wrote about the beginnings of our adventure. Then I wasn’t sure exactly where we’d be in a year or if we’d even decide to leave behind a home and travel. I did know I wanted to do something different.
So we packed up, drove up to Vancouver and spent a glorious three weeks there. The trip made me realize the need for big change in our lives. I had gotten into a rut and the daily grind of getting up and sitting in our dark little home office wouldn’t cut it anymore. I needed to be outside, feeling the sun shine on my face, the wind blowing through my hair. I needed to spend time teaching Fiona about the great big outdoors.
It’s great to be able to go anywhere we want and to maintain our work and keep our clients happy. When our official “one year without a home” time comes at the end of September, I’ll write even more about all this has meant and how I feel. For today I want to thank all the wonderful clients we have who have worked with us even when we are so far apart. Below is just one testimonial from a satisfied client:
“I have been truly amazed that with all of Sue’s travels, I haven’t experienced any interruptions in service whatsoever. She has consistently delivered her services to the same great level I’ve come to expect, all since becoming a road warrior! I’m not sure I’d be so resilient, but she and Joel really know how to operate mobile businesses. Well done!” ~ Stephanie Chandler, Author, Speaker, Publisher,
P.S. Stephanie later emailed to say, “It really is remarkable how you’ve managed to go mobile with your businesses. That should be your next book!!” Guess we’ve got more work to do and another book to publish! :)
Finding Me: The 1st Year
I wrote that the most important thing you find when you travel is yourself. (What I said literally was the real challenges are inside us; the journey simply exposes them.) I could write about the amazing changes in Fiona (as the 7th child, I know what to expect and she’s exceeded it exponentially.) I could write about how Sue has relaxed, has developed her faith, has deepened my belief in her undying unconditional love.
But I’ll just write about me, okay?
Looking for That Ideal Place
I recently gave some thought as to why the continual moving to a new place doesn’t bother me. At least not much. Sure once in a while it can be challenging. But overall I find myself excitedly looking forward to moving on to another place, another house sitting job. Why?
I realized that many housewives, at one time myself included, enjoy moving the furniture around once in a while and redecorating their homes. Some even have a summer color scheme and a winter color scheme. My mother in law has different flower arrangements she brings out each season. Many women, wives, mothers are constantly changing their environment.
A Year of Driving; A Driving Year
One year ago today, perhaps one year ago this moment, I looked up from my tea and said, “It sure would be cheaper to live if we didn’t have a house to take care of.” And the other responsible mature adult in the family, rather than laughing at my insanity or rolling her eyes at my immaturity, looked down at her tea and said, “We can’t leave today, but we could go for a nice long drive and talk about it.”
One year later we’ve realized that we’re barely getting started. There’s so much to see and do. We’ve certainly seen and done a lot already. But just counting the predominantly English-speaking portions of North America we have passed through only 21/63 of the states, provinces and territories (which you mathematicians know can be reduced to 1/3; hey, we’re homeschoolers, we’re always teaching.) And that doesn’t even acknowledge the original goal of sharing a meal in each state, province and territory. That probably requires a complete recount which may reduce the number significantly.
Another Year—At Least
One year from now we hope to be 63 for 63.
That’s going to take planning and occasionally pushing just a little. So far we’ve let our travels take us wherever there was a place to go. During the coming year we might make choices instead of drifting on the wind.
It does not yet feel like work. We don’t feel unstable. As the bumper sticker in Taos New Mexico said, ‘all who wander are not lost.’ We wander, but not lost.
Settling In,
Not Settling Down
We’ve talked about moving our World HQ from Northern California to the frigid wasteland of Wisconsin in order to be close to my mom as much as possible. We’ve taken a few preliminary steps but it’s nothing like settling down.
That process though raised thoughts of settling down. We realized as we drove and talked that we no longer need to travel. Now we want to travel. We’re not sure we’ve seen any change in our finances. What we have seen is a great long list of changes in us.
Lessons. Friends. Wealth.
After knowing each other nearly four decades we’ve managed to learn new things about each other during the past year, even during the past month. Sue has developed greater faith that things will work out, that we will sleep indoors, eat regularly and have the things we need for our simple life. I’ve developed greater faith that I can advance confidently in the direction of my dreams. Our little one has learned that not all heights are dangerous and that outside is better than inside.
We’ve made dozens of connections and half a dozen lifelong friends. We’ve realized the power of asking and the nearly universal presence of generosity and kindness.
There are still challenges almost every day. Being a nomad doesn’t mean leaving challenges behind. It means doing battle with the challenges on our own terms. We have learned to measure our wealth not in dollars but in time spent doing what we choose.
We are rich beyond belief.
Happy 6 Months
I wrote about how this is the real beginning but didn’t explicitly congratulate myself and my family.
Go, us!
It does feel like we’re barely warming up. We’re just starting to sort out this whole house-sitting thing. I still worry every time I have to pack the van that this time it won’t all fit. I still see 2 weeks as not enough time to settle in and get something done, so I slack off.
I wanna get good at this, and I feel like we’ve barely begun.
Six whole months as nomads. That’s quite an accomplishment, I know. But, only 6 months? Second grade takes 9.
I want to get better at this; I want to be really really good at it.
That’s gonna take years. That’s okay. I’ve got ’em.
Six Months Ago Today We Left Home
It was six months ago today, September 30, 2010, that we left ‘home’. We drove away from Roseville California to start living a nomadic lifestyle. What’s it been like? Are we ready to settle down? How’s Fiona doing?
It’s been good. Sure there have been some long days when we’ve been in the van all day and Fiona wants to be in a house with a bed. There have also been other times when she’s said she’s tired of being in a house and wants to get in the van and drive somewhere. Every morning she still gets up and when we ask her how she is, she says “happy”.
We’ve enjoyed meeting new people and meeting in person many that we had only known virtually. Our address book continues to grow with contact information of new acquaintances and business associates.
Are we ready to settle down? No!