Last Night on the Trail

So here I sit tonight, in a hotel room in Tecumari, New Mexico, contemplating the last six weeks, thousands of miles, and so many experiences. So much went according to plan, but we also coped with many surprises, changes, and new experiences. I'll share a few thoughts here . . . 

Nomad life. I love it. I could live on the road forever. Brian and I have talked about full-time RV life when we retire. This trip showed me that life on the road suits me well. While home is nice, I'm not tied to a physical place. I love seeing family and friends, learning new things, and seeing new places. Adventure and learning drive me and I'm happiest when I'm exploring the world. While I'm obviously not going to live on the road forever (yet), I will look for way to incorporate adventures into my life both through travel and through how I spend my time at home. Companions welcome! Let me know if you have an adventure in mind, I'd love to do it together.

Family. My family are my people. Both my immediate family and my extended family. Many of the best parts of this trip involved visiting people I cared about across the country. Seeing my parents, sisters, in-laws, and more were some of the most special moments. Seeing Erich's family camp brought to life so many stories he's told. Celebrating Steve's birthday with him brought Brian's childhood birthday memories full circle. Carin and Levi picking me up from the airport reminded me that crazy sister time will never lose its allure no matter how old we get. My parents pouring themselves into our home renovations demonstrated that parents' love is boundless. Knowing that the net of people supporting me in my life is there all the time no matter what is happening or where I am grounds me in a sense of safety and belonging. 

Resilience. A lot happened on this trip. Some good, some not so good (canceled flight, road closed to blasting, anaphylaxis), but through it all I watched my kids rise to the occasion. They coped with a lot of new places, bad hotels, unexpected stops, medical issues, and more with minimal complaining and a lot of helping. While I don't want to share too much of their business here, I do want to say how proud of them I am in how they handled themselves this summer. Brian, my rock, and my rockstar, navigated travel, renovation, work, and a summer graduate school class while putting up with my crazy shenanigans and keeping things fun.

This blog. Writing takes a lot of work, time, and energy. Most nights I fell into bed too tired to keep my eyes open, much less write. Writing is a way to process, to turn jumbled thoughts into ideas, and to spend time alone with myself. I used to write a lot, but as life got busy, my writing dried up. Doing a blog for this trip gave me a chance to reconnect with that, and I realize how much I miss it. Writing for an audience (you) adds a different aspect, but not necessarily a bad one, just a lens through which to view my days. While I obviously couldn't keep up with the pace on the trip, I do hope to go back and fill in the missing days as a way to remember and relive the past few weeks.

While I'm excited for tomorrow, a part of me doesn't want this time on the road to end. Living from the back of my car, waking in a new place each day, and seeing what adventures come our way fuels my soul and makes me feel alive. Tomorrow it's back to stability and routine, schedules and rules, bedtimes and classes. However, the feelings from this summer will coalesce into lessons and memories that I hope will stick with us all far longer than the sunburns and bug bites we acquired along the way.

Thank you to everyone who followed along on this trip. I appreciate you being a part of our journey.