The Polar Steps app showed me that I was away from home 256 days in 2024. Just reading that number caused me to stop and think about my life a little. Was I really traveling that much?
I was. I had spent three months in South Africa, 3 weeks on a road trip with friends from Germany, 19 days camping through National Parks in Utah and Nevada, and then left home August 25th for what would turn into a 5-month trip around the world. Wow! Go me!
Now I am starting to settle in, back home, and wondering what’s next. Some people tell me I should stay home and relax. Other people have asked what it’s like to be away on vacation for so long. Some of the new friends I met while traveling are still traveling, posting from Malaysia and New Zealand and Thailand. I have to admit, I am a little jealous.
What I know for certain is that exploring the world is a lifestyle, not a holiday. It’s possible that my age makes that a little more difficult to understand. There are plenty of people in their 20s and 30s who are exploring the world for extended periods of time. They get asked when they are going to settle down, get a real job and maybe start a family. I did that part already, now I get to play.
There are so many possibilities calling to me. For now, I am staying close to home to take care of some of the personal maintenance chores that are simpler at home – dental work, medical checkups, maybe find a roommate who will look after the house when I leave again. I am also really enjoying how easy it is to see friends and family. Without the barrier of time zone differences, phone calls are simple. Being in town allows or last-minute invitations to join and outing or meet for a meal. At the same time, not a day goes by that I haven’t checked workaway for new opportunities. Planning is on hold until I know where my daughter and her husband will be the coming months. For now, it is fun to look for where I might be able to paint the next mural.
Here at home, I want to connect with other travelers in the area. There are a couple of Meetup groups to check out. I also want to improve as a writer so I plan to attend a few Meetups with that focus, too. Maybe I will attend a Spanish conversation group again. After my unsuccessful efforts to practice Spanish in Andalusia, my confidence is pretty low so it will take some internal pep talks to get me to attend those groups.
Now that I have some experience with pet sitting through Trusted Housesitters, I am ready to put the platform to work in Oregon and Washington. Housesitting is a way to explore interesting locations closer to home without paying for accommodation. There are so many places I would like to experience, just to see if maybe there is a place I would want to call home. Unlike a hotel or even vacation rental, housesitting lets me try a place on. I am just finishing a 2 week sit in Gig Harbor, a place I thought about moving to in the past. I liked the idea of being close to the water. I liked the idea of a smaller community. What I didn’t realize was how much of the activities are in Tacoma or that there is a $4.50 toll to cross the bridge to go anywhere east of town. It has also been forbiddingly grey here which makes me wonder if I am ready to consider moving somewhere with more sun. I still like the area; I just don’t have any desire to live here.
To be completely transparent, I am not back to living in my house, yet. The change in travel plans meant the house would still be occupied for several weeks, after I arrived in Portland. Even though I am near my house, I haven’t actually stayed there, yet. Thanks to the generosity of family and friends, I have lots of options for places to stay. I did pick up a few things from the house so I have twice the inventory of clothes to choose from and I have my car. Home, but not home, has been just one more phase of being a nomad.
I am curious about how I will feel, one week from today, when I actually settle back into my house. What is clear is that I don’t yearn to be sleeping in my bed or to wake up surrounded by my stuff. Home is in my heart. Home is the vibrations I share with like-minded people. Decoupling house and home might be part of a nomad’s spirit. For now, I want to be fully present in how I settled into my house. I want to avoid the bad habits that tend to take over such as inactivity, isolation and mental drifting.
There will come a day when I am not physically able to explore the planet the way I do now. When the day comes for me to wander less, I want to be prepared with a lifestyle that will continue to feed my curiosity at whatever energy level I can manage. So, I set this challenge for myself – to find ways to engage with people, to contribute and to encourage those around me, whether I am in a far-off land or sleeping in my own bed each night.
Wish me luck!
One Response
Thank you for this reading Anne, it is exactly what I needed to read. “Spot on”, this new expression I learnt describes perfectly what I felt while reading this lines of yours. You really made my day!