Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
There are many roads in life. Most people take the conventional road of school, job, marriage, home, children and two weeks of vacation a year. Many visit exotic and foreign places but I hear people say, “I can’t wait to get home.” Why? Do people not think it is possible to live near the beach or in the mountains? There is no right or wrong place to live your life. Finding your own inner happiness is your life’s goal. For many it is living this conventional life but there are people living life a very different way. Take for example the hashtag on Instagram named #vanlife. They have over 300,000 pictures of people living and exploring America mostly in vans seeing National parks, scenic highways and breathtaking views. They have given up the life of cubicles, morning commutes and $5.00 coffees. Seeing the freedom they enjoy, I can see how this would make most people a little uncomfortable.
I started out this life in the conventional way but things change, people change. You can bury your head in the sand for a while when the train is moving at full speed but eventually you have to move and get on with life. I was pretty attached to the idea that a physical home and the city you grew up in was the center of your universe. The notion that everything else will fall into place if you are there and have that in order. Not the case. Moving on for me meant creating a life very different from what I had known. For the last sixteen years my life has been about unattaching from material things and creating a life more filled with happiness, love for people and animals, and more life experiences. Being more conscience of what makes me truly happy. For me it is living near the ocean, sharing my life with my family and friends and laughing till our stomachs hurt.
For almost the last five years we have been living in The Florida Keys. While I am not quite living in a van by the river there are some things to get use to. For instance: no dishwasher, 635 square feet of living space, sweating even though you are in the shower, snow birds that come upon us each year (people that own houses here that only come from Dec – April) and giving up a lot of modern conveniences that we believe as Americans we can’t live without. Did I mention, no dishwasher? We have and there are many more like us, people that have chosen to give up these things to be in one of the most beautiful places in the world. The endless summers, the ever changing colors of the water and the over 325 days a year of beautiful Florida sunshine. The sunrises here are what artist’s palettes are made of and the sunsets stop time till every drop has passes over the horizon. Every day is a new discovery and a new adventure.
This blog will record our past and present travels, my photography along the way and many life lessons learned. Thank you for following along on our journey.
Barbara