Four years ago, I was living out my days in Seattle, working five days a week, relaxing on the weekends. You know the pattern – lather, rinse, repeat.
If you told me then that I would someday espouse the virtues of monotonous habits, well, I would have laughed in your face. Back then, I longed to “leave my hut, dear, get out of my rut, dear,” to paraphrase Sinatra in “Let’s Get Away From It All.”
For the last four years, I have rarely been in one place more than a couple of weeks. I rely on GPS to go everywhere. I have membership saving cards for at least ten different grocery stores, depending upon where I am in the country. The animals have seen over a dozen vets, and I keep their records in the car for their next appointments. We have been to more off-leash dog parks than I can count, and I plan to write a post about our favorite ones around the nation.
Just when I find a favorite bar or restaurant, it’s time to ease on down the road. Choosing a hair stylist is a real crap shoot – even moreso when my hair was rainbow colors, and one of the biggest reasons I quit doing it; I’ll never forget that terrible dye job in Oklahoma City. My bank does not have branches in every state, so I minimize the need for a physical location with direct and telephone deposits and a no-fee account for ATM withdrawals.
I am a member of no book, wine, or fitness clubs. (Okay, you got me. I didn’t go to the gym even when I was in Seattle.) I cannot participate in those popular regular home deliveries of magazines, clothes, meals, cosmetics or pet supplies.
And Oy! Don’t we all already know about my trials and tribulations cobbling together my healthcare with a chronic disease on the road?
Who are the people in your neighborhood, in your neighborhood, in your neighborhood? Oh who are the people in your neighborhood? They’re the people that you meet when you’re walking down the street, they’re the people that you meet each day.
In Seattle I had my favorite butcher, cobbler, mechanic and chef. I was a bar fly, a regular, a loyal return customer. The java was being made as soon as my car pulled up to the coffee shack. I caught up with neighbors on walks around the neighborhood. There was even a comfort in seeing the same people every day that I did not know – guy at the bus stop, worker in the control tower on the bridge, parents at the park with their kids on Sundays.
I used to think that I would enjoy this nomadic lifestyle until my money, my health, or my rig ran out, whichever came first, in no certain order. Now, four years in, I am beginning to think I will end it eventually because I need those happy ruts, those welcome routines, and that sense of community that only comes by staying in one place. As of yet, I have no idea where that is.
To combat this fatigue, I am a part of a robust nomadic community and also have a network of non-traveling friends I see all around the country. I am learning to stay longer in the communities I visit, achieving that feeling of belonging, if only for three or four months at a time. Returning to favorite cities like New Orleans, Savannah, and Charleston also bestows a sense of the familiar and the comfortable.
This push/pull dwells within me and creates a conundrum, but I am not ready to quit exploring just yet. As I’ve said before, the worst thing about Departure Day is you have just gotten comfortable with your surroundings and no longer need the GPS to get around; the best thing about Departure Day is you have just gotten comfortable with your surroundings and no longer need the GPS to get around.
Oh my lands, how she does go on about her First World problems! (Especially because I no longer grapple with the toxic part of the rut – toiling in the salt mines.)
Fellow travelers, how do you combat this discontent, or is it just me?
This Post Has 9 Comments
Good Luck with whatever you choose. It will be the right choice for you at the right time.
We didnt do it well, and after 2.5 years we moved back to a bricks & sticks an hour north of Austin, our old home. Still have the RV… not sure we’re truly ready to give it up, but the tug toward a ‘home base,’ albeit in a new area, was too great to ignore any longer. Now we get to explore a new place, become regulars again at who-knows-where, and get our ‘Nomad on’as often as we can.
You’ll know when it’s time… we’re not done having fun, but it became clear this was our next step!
XO Donna
I have missed your ruminations, as your facility with language always causes me to use my mental skills….but like craving change to leave the work rut, I seem to see your craving change for the travel rut….you’ll choose the next adventure and hope you will let us come along for ride!
My life is not a linear line of approach but a horizontal exploration of one area of interest to another. There is no ultimate destination, no finish line to cross. It’s the way I feel about dancing; you move around a lot, not to get someplace but to be someplace in time. People have come into my life each and every month of my life, and many of those same ones leave at some point, or I leave them. The memories will always be with me. I have stayed put in areas for at least seven months, but the gypsy soul is relentless, and I find the yearning to move on and discover new faces and learn, learn each and every day, and try to live, not just exist.
👌Wonderfully put, Larry. Life’s short so everyone should do what feels good for them.
Someone emailed my this little ditty as a powerpoint presentation probably around 20+ years ago whilst I was still “nose to the grindstone” in PDX, Oregon. I still have it but could not find a way to send it to you so here’s a link to a Youtube video of it.
I thought of it as soon as I started reading your latest post. Hope you enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKMVyTNzwIs
…Gw & Crew
I always love reading your blogs. I have been on the road for 3 1/2 years solo so I could really relate to this one. Thanks for sharing.
Fulltimers going on 4 years now and we can so relate to the “rut”. We have been traveling part of the year and “sitting” Oct-March in Florida that’s when the “rut” sets in…..so we have decided to switch it up and travel all year in 2019-2020 and we hit the road April 1st.
Hang in there you are a VERY talented woman and so enjoy your writings! One day at a time…..this too shall pass.
Wow, as usual, I am months late in reading and replying, but those same months are about how long we’ve been officially nomads. But I will share my thoughts anyway. 😁
Your post was beautifully descriptive, but it was a little surprising to me. You seem to really have the nomad process down, visiting new sights, old friends, new friends, and favorite places equally. Seems perfect to me.
But then, despite 3 years of part-time travel, we are only 3 months into our new normal. We have found that work camping gives us the opportunity to stay in one place long enough (2 to 5 months) to really love a place and “belong” until we’re ready to move on, unless we love it so much that we come back. Estes Park is such a place, and I’m sure we will find others we love as much or more. So we plan to keep doing the nomad thing a) as long as it’s fun, and b) until we find a place we just can’t leave. I hope your conundrum eases or you find b). Hugs, L & J