I’ve been thinking about resiliency: how as a skill, a character trait, a practice, it helps you lead a satisfying life no matter what changes come your way. You plan for one thing, something else happens, and you change your plan to accommodate. You roll with the punches. This sounds so sensible, right? And I’ve “rolled with […]
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Choosing a Normal Life after Living an Extraordinary One
We’ve had a handful of big changes here in the Tracy and Shelly (and Banjo) world, and they’re happening in a mixed-up, muddled-up order. I’ll tackle them one topic per post. Topic #1: I decided I’m done with life on the road. I wrestled with this decision for ages, thinking I wanted to settle down, […]
When Housekeeping Is the Barrier-Breaker
There’s a beautifully written book entitled, Housekeeping, in which author Marilynne Robinson’s radical hero, a vagrant, estranged aunt, moves into a rural house to be the guardian of two teen girls. What could be seen as her neglect of housekeeping allows nature to slowly take over the old house. What’s really happening is a breakdown of the […]
Lifestyles of the Rebellious and Unattached
I think about this a lot. What traits do we full-timers share? I think I’ve finally nailed it: we share a lack of strong ties. Call it non-attachment, if you’d like. Either willingly or unwillingly, we no longer have connections to nearby family, to a special home, to long-standing family traditions, strong friendship circles, a […]
My Least-favorite Part of Full-timing
Today’s our final day at Lake Ray Roberts, north of Dallas/Ft Worth. We’ve spent a whopping ten days here, same site as every year, so we can visit Karen on our way to a week of annual “life garbage” (thanks, Melanie) near Houston. Man have I enjoyed these sunsets over the lake; we’ve watched them […]
The Absolute Freaking Weirdness of this Lifestyle
This hometown week on the Friends and Family Tour ‘24 has been a honking-big, tangled-up knot of red-hot emotions. It’s not just been about seeing people I haven’t seen in years. It’s been about being struck by aging (and in a flash of recognition that really should be hidden). It’s been about cramming what we’ve […]
Some Who Wander Are Lost Part 3: Insomnia
This is a personal series about how I’m particularly unsuited to travel (but do it anyway). Part 1 is about being lost in all manner of ways and part 2 is about my hatred for our trailer hitch. Exciting stuff! Full disclosure: I slept for six hours last night and the night before. This is […]
Some Who Wander Are Lost Part 2: The Hitch
This entry is part 2 in a new personal series about my life on the road; part 1 is here. Ta da! Above is the decided title for this blog series, and, heck with the fact that only one segment in it is about being lost. This title is more succinct than that long-winded one […]
How I’m Particularly Unsuited to RV Life (And Why I Choose It Anyway)
Announcement! I’m starting a new blog series with this entry. It began not as a series but as just one post about what it’s like to manage your mental health while “living the dream” (aka living on the road). I got to thinking about this when brainstorming with Shana and Marcus about their new YouTube […]
Why Do People Camp Like This?
Shana and I have a little thing going where we complain to each other about other people in our campgrounds. Because, as Julia Louis-Dreyfus says, it’s not whining—it’s telling the truth. Yesterday, Shana sends me a text describing something especially odd in her campground in California. A large group of women dressed up in white […]
