Life on the Road

I am obviously behind in my posting. I do intend to get into a rhythm – probably twice a week to start, unless I become inspired to do more. I’ve been inhibited by a combination of things:

1. Pace. I haven’t stayed in one place for more than a day or two since I left North Carolina. It’s felt a little frantic and combined with the other reasons below, has left little time for writing.
2. Logistics. While I have stayed at hotels on occasion, I’m mostly vagabonding it. I have this platform bed in my car for multiple reasons – affordability, self-sufficiency, adventure, learning to live with less … this one needs its own separate blog post. There are factors involved in living out of one’s car that I either didn’t consider or didn’t think would require the kind of time and effort that they do.
3. Presence. To achieve what I want to achieve on this trip, I have to devote a lot of time to just immersing myself in the moment. Writing doesn’t require just the time to actually write and edit. It requires time to reflect on what I’m doing. I’ve found it hard to take that time (see #1.)
4. Work. I am still working (though part time), and I’ve wanted to prioritize that these past couple of weeks to ensure the people with whom I work know that I’m serious about keeping up with responsibilities while I do this.

Some of the things above have already gotten easier. Some of them will continue to do so, some of them won’t, and I’ll just have to live with it. It’s a process, and I’ll get there. The rest of this week will still be a bit frantic (though I think I’ll have a day or two to really devote to slowing down and thinking about it all.) Next week, I’m planning to stay put for a few days and will get caught up.

For today, let me say this: I haven’t showered in three days. I’ve had pretty terrible sleep (though in beautiful locations, an example of which you can see above, taken from my bed one morning) for the last three nights. I basically wiped myself down with a wet paper towel in a Starbucks bathroom this morning. My hair resembles a mop used to clean up an oil spill. I’ve eaten mostly beef jerky and salads for meals because I don’t want to take the time to actually cook something, and I don’t want to eat fast food. My car takes about five minutes to get messy again every time I think I’ve gotten in under control. I have alternately frozen my ass off and sweltered, because winter in southern America is a miserably unpredictable season, made more so when you’re not always surrounded by four solid walls.

But … I’ve seen some lovely places and had some lovely thoughts and ideas and talked a lot to lovely people, and I am having the time of my life despite being a total dirt bag much of the time. Two weeks down, 28 more to go, and I think by the end of that, if nothing else (and there will be plenty else), I’ll have some very different ideas of what “luxury” means that will – in a Stoic sort of way – utterly change for the better my sense of appreciation and gratitude.

In the meantime, I’m immensely grateful to be having this experience.