|
||||||
|
Families who want to travel or are traveling often get asked this question. We have multiple streams of income and the one that’s been around the longest is Spinhead Web Design. In paradoxical leap worthy of Dr. Who, the Spinhead website has reverted to our design from September of 2002, based on Joel’s favorite Dr. Seuss book [...] A year ago today we left Roseville California to head to Montreal. It’s been quite a year. We’ve driven through a lot of states and stayed with lots of interesting people. What have we learned? For one thing, I don’t want to live in a big city ever again. I don’t want to move back to California. [...] Joel and I are not coffee drinkers usually. We do have a morning cup of tea – every morning. It’s our daily morning routine. It was reinforced in 2005 when we went to Ireland and had Irish breakfast tea every morning. Actually throughout the day. Since we’ve come to Minnesota I’m finding I want tea throughout [...] We’ve enjoyed house sitting again for Rita in Colorado. They are coming back one day early so we’re leaving a day early. That’s okay. Nomads must be flexible! We’re so flexible that a week or so ago we changed our plans entirely and decided to head back to California for a short visit. Fiona hasn’t seen her [...] 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 [...]  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? The challenge: maintaining a routine. Many wonder how it is possible to maintain a routine while traveling. There are especially concerns about some sort of routine for Fiona and her schooling. And of course our work. So what’s our routine and how do we maintain it? We’ve always had a rather flexible routine in our way of life. Important things get done while allowing ourselves lots of spontaneity in life. One of the most challenging things is arriving at a new place where we know we’re going to be for a few weeks and getting settled in. If we can settle in quickly, in a day or so, we can maintain our routine and get more done. We continue to work on that. One of the first things we do when we get to a new place is find the place we’re going to work and get our computers set up. Next we need to find a place for the books and materials Joel needs to refer to for his work. Continue reading Challenge: Routine Fiona got her first pet when she was about five. They were two small zebra fish that a friend of ours gave us. Of course when we decided to travel, taking the fish along wasn’t an option. So I found a friend willing to take them. Fiona does miss them at times. And like any child sometimes wishes she had a pet cat or dog. So it’s been kind of nice for her to have pets to care for as we house sit. So far everyone we’ve house sat for has had pets. Our very first house sitting job for friends in Roseville included caring for their two mini dachshunds, Bob and Bentley. We made sure they got fresh water, food, treats and lots of play time with Fiona. Our second house sitting job in British Columbia included caring for their dog Brodie. Brodie is the ‘perfect’ dog. He and Fiona loved to play and go for walks. Last month as we were preparing to come to Albuquerque, I read the Boyink’s blog post about their time here. (We got to meet the Boyink family in Arizona back in March.) They mentioned Tinkertown so I decided we had to check it out as well. It’s close to where we’re staying and the price was right. I had a hard time explaining to Joel what Tinkertown was so at first he wasn’t that excited about going. After looking it up though he realized he’d heard of this guy Ross Ward and yes, wanted to see his place. It’s a fun little place to visit. Fiona enjoyed it immensely! In the little gift shop they had two travel activity books for children published by Rand McNally. One has a page for each state with an activity and the other is just fun stuff to do in the car while traveling. So on our next long drive Fiona will have plenty to keep her entertained. 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! Continue reading Six Months Ago Today We Left Home |
||||||
|
Copyright © 2012 Canfield of Dreams - All Rights Reserved |
||||||
Twitter
Facebook
Our Fans Say . . .