oh wait! - did I forget to tell you?!...

...we had our first experience camping in a Walmart parking lot overnight. And we planned it this way! It's an RV tradition. When you're traveling and want to break up the trip, but you don't know how far you'll make it and don't have a reservation, you can pull off the road at any rest area, OR a Walmart parking lot. Walmart welcomes this because there is always plenty of space and it encourages shopping. RVers appreciate this because there's always an item or two we need on the go and we also appreciate the well lit lot with 24 hour security.

Samantha has a current fixation with sticks. Here she is, playing who knows what at a stand of trees next to Walmart. 

If you're gonna do Walmart, there's nothing like the early morning Waffle House tradition before getting back on the road. To be honest, sometimes we go for Waffle House even when we're not traveling. We love the diner atmosphere. Furthermore, the employees at Waffle House are consistently some of the most down to earth, pleasant people to take your order... even when they're hustling, bustling and sort of stressed. On this particular Sunday morning, it wasn't busy. Worship music filled the diner and all three waitresses were soulfully singing and dancing their way to each table.

Finally, there is nothing like good conversation over breakfast with this expressive little person...

For the Men

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, this post is also for my girlfriends who love grilling and watching sports. Love you gals too.

In our home, grilling and watching sports is mainly my husband's cup of tea...or strong coffee (as he prefers). 

Yep. He's grillin' and watchin the Masters. 

Day 4 - At Home on the Road - Under the Trees

That's right. Just minutes ago, I was on my back, basking in this vision of trees, upside down, in my "living room." 

Seems like vacation, doesn't it. But my responsibilities are the same as they have been for the last 4 years as a Stay at Home Mom. Nothing has changed, other than the location. I'm learning to take these 5 minute, upside down, breaks.  At roughly 11:00, every morning, I start to feel like the urgent tasks and demands are becoming a runaway train. And the day is not half over. And I've completely lost steam. And...

... and that's when I go upside down. Five minutes like this and I'm ok again, ready for another round. I could have been doing this a long time ago, but it's just doesn't inspire me to stare at the ceiling of a typical living room.

This was yesterday around 11:00... same routine. Re-directing blood flow to my brain. Resting. Letting it all go for a moment. Doctors can explain the health benefits of this pose, but this five minute simple new habit is changing my life. At the end of the day, I feel like I'm living part work, part vacation, and I'm happier all the way around.

Chris and I knew we had to try this RV lifestyle, but we also knew we might try it and dislike it. It's day 4 and I'm here to tell you we are still in SET UP MODE. We are still shouldering the extra work of unpacking and organizing, on TOP of normal life with babies, and I'm still in love with this new life! If I'm going to have moments of sheer exhaustion and emotional freak out, I'd much rather do it out here under a canopy of trees in 73 degree weather, than in suburbia. 

I know RV life isn't for all of you. RV life is meant for some, but not all, so I hope my posts inspire ALL of you to pursue what makes you happy. I'm talking about deep down, soul healthy, type of happy. Make it realistic and attainable, then pursue it and DO IT. Be patient. My dream of living as a nomad started 7 years ago. (If truth be told, it really started 30 years ago, when I was reading the Boxcar Children series.) So be patient when it seems like your dream will never happen.

My three year old took this photo yesterday. Usually I praise her up and down for her camera learning skills and then quietly delete, but this one captures a joy that is not staged.

Images from Day 2, 3 & 4.....

Installing rain gutter extentions

(isn't he awesome??? He is a highly successful desk nerd with numbers and he is also an eager and skilled handy-man, tackling outdoor living and a huge diesel beast of a machine!)

It is GOOD to have a Mommy who likes to do face painting EVERY DAY!

I know. It looks staged for a Gander Mountain ad. But there was nothing staged here except the part where I told them to re-create the part where they looked at each other adoringly just moments before. 

Samantha's new favorite activity... Mommy and Daddy story telling. (Stay tuned for more details about this in a future post)

Coming soon: Specific practical solutions for doing RV life with babies...

Some of you have asked for inside pics. Stay tuned...

Always Moving - Always at Home - We are now RVing!

Have you ever heard the saying, "Not all those who wander are lost?"
As I write to you today, I am in an RV, traveling down the road with my husband, toddler and infant. This mobile moving vehicle is, for the next four months, our only home. And we planned it this way!

How did we get here.

Some people are meant to live in one house or one town for a lifetime. There are pleasures that can only be experienced by staying for decades, such as watching one tree start from a sapling and grow for 70 years. Nothing can replace the knowledge and expertise about the culture and rhythms of one location available only in the brain of someone who has lived there 50 years, except maybe someone who has lived there 100 years.

In 2016, in the United States, I do not often bump into someone who has lived in one location for 70 years or more. When I do meet these people, I am fascinated. Talking for only a few minutes, I find these are deeply interesting people.

Most of my friends, and most of the people I read or hear about, fall into a second category. They move a handful of times during their lifetime. Typically they have one or two childhood homes, another home (or dorm) in a college town, and three more homes throughout the remainder of their life. I have spent my first 37 years of life primarily hanging out with these type of people.

Then there is a third group of people; people I bump into as rarely as the first group; these folks move or travel constantly. I am not fascinated by those who live this lifestyle and hate it and feel trapped by it or do it because they are running from life's problems. I am fascinated by those who have intentionally embraced this lifestyle and are genuinely happy living it. This is the group of people who fascinate me more than anyone. Maybe it's because I want to be like them. Or maybe I feel a unique connection with them because my soul was born to be part of this group.

I started my life deeply upset by change. From age one to four I lived in a green house with my parents. My sister was born and a year later we moved to a bigger house across town, a pretty white house with black shutters. At first I thought the move was exciting, but within a few days I realized we were never going back to the green house and I went into a state of mourning. For weeks I visited Mom and Dad's upstairs bedroom to gaze out the window longingly at the roof of our old house, which I could see across town. I remember the pain of this distinctly. The confusion. The disillusionment. Mom claims I rocked back and forth, back and forth, back and forth in my child size rocker, searching for comfort. As time went on, I learned to love my new home. We stayed for 13 years. By the time we left that house, I felt ready to go. I was 17, reaching adulthood, ready for new adventure. But the girl in the rocking chair was not gone. I still had a deep desire to find a place my soul most connected with and put down roots and build a home for life. At 24, I sobbed my heart out when my husband's job moved us for the third time in 3 years. 

Today I can say we have moved 12 times in 15 years together. It wasn't until a year and a half ago I finally realized I was living the life of a gypsy and I actually like this life. (See September 2014 post) Instead of feeling trapped in this lifestyle or pushing hard to change it, my heart finally embraced it... or at least part of it. For me, when I'm constantly on the move, setting up and tearing down in big stationary houses is frustrating and feels like a waste of time. Thus, we are headed towards making our nomadic life more efficient.

We sold our house in Alabama a month ago. A few days later we bought a house in Virginia, where we will live for four years while Chris gets his PHD at Virginia Tech. While embracing the nomadic life, simultaneously we are making changes to build a healthier lifestyle for children, meaning less work related travel separating us and more travel together as a family. We bought an RV and are hitting the road for 4 months! Our dream is to eventually take a year off from work to travel the country. For now we are starting with four months. If we love it as much as we expect, we will hop in our mobile home every summer during school break and explore everything possible. The ironic reality is, by embracing the nomadic lifestyle, we have finally come "home." There is now more potential for a sense of permanent residence in this "home" which moves with us, intact, wherever we go. After years of moves, paring down a little more each time, we have finally pared down (almost) enough for full time RV life.  My dream is full time RVing, working on the road. For now it is part time. Somehow, by sheer luck and blessing, I happened to marry a guy who shares these dreams even though we never discussed it before marriage. Our attraction was pretty basic 21 year old priorities.

Chris and I have been living the life of nomads, for 15 years, without aiming to and without knowing what this type of life is all about and how to flourish in it. Career just kept sending us somewhere new. It's about time we learned how to make the best of who we are and what we've been given. 

Our intention is to learn over the next few years and beyond. For example, we've all been told humans need community to thrive. What does community look like when you frequently move and travel? What do you do when you love to plant a garden, but you're never home long enough to see the entire process through from planting to harvest? These are questions we will be exploring along the way, over the next few years. Please join me on this journey. Be part of my community. Please? I need you. Read, write, post comments, etc. Give advice if you have experience with this lifestyle.

I've always been perplexed by that phrase on mugs and bumper stickers, "Not all those who wander are lost." I think I understand now; I am a wanderer and I feel more sense of "belonging" in the last month, with this identity and in my new mobile home, than I ever have in my entire life.  

As a teenager, I confided to my Dad that I felt "lost." I couldn't explain why and he didn't question me or try to fix it. He seemed to understand what I meant even though he didn't have a solution for me.  

I no longer belong to any one city or state, but Dad... I'm no longer lost.