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?

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.

No Back; Only Forth

Leaving Sacramento after our daughter’s wedding, Sue pointed out that this was the real beginning of our nomadic life.

Up ’til now, everything has either been a dress rehearsal (our month in Vancouver) or a trip (to Montreal) or a temporary holding pattern until we had to go back. We always had to go back.

This time, there’s no back, only forth.

We’re not going somewhere we have to come back from. We don’t have any specific places we have to be, or be back to. Nothing to hold us to any particular spot on the planet. Nothing to do that isn’t exactly what we’ve chosen.

Joel braves 70mph winds at Bray Head, Valentia Island, Co. Kerry, Ireland
Joel braves 70mph winds at Bray Head, Valentia Island, Co. Kerry, Ireland
Forth. Only forth. We go forth to house sit for someone who wasn’t an existing connection. Forth to spend real time near the place I was born but have rarely seen since then. Forth to August in Canada (I got my wish, again.) Forth to the easternmost land on this continent, to balance our standing on the westernmost land in Europe.

Our time here in Phoenix feels all too short, but before it ends in one week, we’ll have passed the 6-month mark in our nomadic life. The past 6 months have been the greatest period of change in my life, and in my head. I didn’t know it was possible to know Sue any better, and I do. I thought I knew where I was going with our business. Turns out that the greatest leap was to something that’s not a business at all, but a reason, so April 19th I’m launching a Great Big Thing that will be our primary business focus, despite the fact that it’s not a business at all.

During the past 6 months, I’ve forgiven myself for a lot of things. I’ve found things in my head that I didn’t even know were there, and found things I thought I’d lost. If we settled down in a little village somewhere tomorrow, I would still be changed irrevocably.

When you travel, the greatest discovery is yourself.