What Am I Doing With My Life?

I've been at Quest for 3 weeks as of yesterday, but it sure doesn't feel like it.  Time really flies.

My last full-time day at work was Tuesday, March 24th.  On the 26th I watched as most of my possessions were loaded onto trucks to be donated or trashed, and then I closed my garage door one last time and hit the road in a car that barely had room for me to squeeze in.  I took my time with the drive, partially because I knew I would be exhausted from packing & moving and partially because it was symbolic of this new chapter of my life.  I would not be rushed.  I would take each day as it came and do what felt right to me, not what I felt obligated to do. 

I've attempted to explain to many people what I'm doing and why, and I know there are countless others who are confused.  They want to know where I'm moving to, and what I'm going to do.  When they find out I'll be traveling for a while, they want to know my itinerary.  I've always been a planner - I'm very organized and I tend to plan things out well in advance.  But right now, I am wholeheartedly opposed to having an itinerary.  

There is a plan (I'm still not that free-spirited that I could survive without one) but it's a very - intentionally - loose one. I'll be at Quest until after the Race & Rally (a hang gliding competition ending on May 23rd) and then I'll head West.  First stop will be at my friend Tracy's house near Austin, TX.  Then I'll head up to Mt. Rushmore and the Badlands.  From there I'll head West, in the general direction of Glacier National Park.  I'll be at the Big Spring, TX hang gliding competition the first week of August and at the Dinosaur, CO competition the first week of September.  In between I'll be exploring the Great American West, hiking, flying and dropping in on some friends & family.  I have a long list of places I want to go and I'm just going to see how much I can get done before it gets too cold...Wyoming, Montana, Yellowstone, Glacier, Zion, Arches, Point of the Mountain, Telluride, Grand Tetons, etc, etc...

I want to make this last as long as I possibly can, and I know myself well enough to know that living out of my car would get old very quickly.  So I'll be towing my travel trailer and living full-time in my RV.  This way I get to have my own bed every night, my own bathroom and even a small kitchen.  The kitchen is important to me because I've made such great progress these past few months since doing my Whole30 and switching to a mostly Paleo lifestyle (I even make my own kombucha now!) and one of my most important life goals is to keep myself healthy.  It can be difficult to eat well while traveling, so being able to cook my own food will really help. 

I am not independently wealthy.  I know it's hard to believe, but I will still need a source of income.  For the rest of this calendar year, I have a deal with my employer to work part-time remotely.  This benefits both sides by buying each of us time to figure out our next move, while maintaining continuity in their business operations and making sure I know where my next meal is coming from.  This won't be an option for everyone, and I worked very hard to get to a place where my employers were willing to consider this as an option for me.  It's very simple, but not at all easy.  None of us know what the future will bring or how well this will work out, but we're willing to give it our best shot.

To Blog or Not to Blog

I've been thinking about starting a blog for quite a while now.  The last time I "took a hiatus" (as I like to call it) from mainstream society, I did a bunch of traveling and hang gliding, and more than one person suggested I should maybe start a blog.  A couple of people asked if I was planning to write a book about my experiences.  At the time I felt like I had nothing to share with the world - at that point in time I considered my journey to be a very personal and private one, and I was uncomfortable sharing much of it with all but my closest friends. 

The past 2+ years have been a time of exponential personal growth for me.  I'm still very much a work in progress, but I have made great strides in my ability to trust myself and to take care of myself.  

I'm not sure exactly where this will go, but as I'm embarking on another chapter in my self-discovery, I'm compelled to share more of it with the world. It always surprises me when people tell me that I'm inspirational - I tend to think of all my epiphanies as terribly obvious ideas that it took me forEVER to realize - but I do love to be able to help anybody.  I have learned a lot through trial and error, and I know that sometimes it's not a new idea that hits home, but the exact wording someone uses can strike a chord and change the way we see things. 

Major life changes have somehow come to be my "thing".  Next up: I'm selling my house (which I just bought in May 2014) and most of my stuff, and I'm headed to live out of my travel trailer for a while.  The very loose plan right now - drive down to Quest Air Hang Gliding in FL the first week of April.  Hang out there till sometime in May, at which point I'll head out west for the summer.  I have planned stops for specific dates in Jackson Hole, WY; Big Spring, TX; and Dinosaur, CO.  Additionally, I'd like to see Mt. Rushmore, Glacier National Park, and Zion National Park - those dates are very much TBD at this point. 

I'll be sharing my journeys, both physical and spiritual.  Happy to have some company for as much or as little time as you can spare.