Real Talk

Last night I had a dream where I was in an airplane. But it was more like just sitting in a seat that was hurtling through mid-air; there was no body to the plane itself. I was LOVING the ride – the view was amazing (open air! tons of leg room! no shared armrests! 10K feet above land!) – the whole experience was exhilarating! But … I had the feeling that my seat was tipping forward. That I might fall out of it and plummet to Earth (!!!)- which was pretty scary. And …. I was having the hardest time holding onto my stuff. Y’know, like, my water bottle, my magazine, the peanuts the flight attendant handed to me* .. all of it was succumbing to gravity and I was trying desperately to keep my hands on it. It felt like a lot of things to keep track of, and I was pretty nervous.

I don’t think it takes a professional dream interpreter to figure out what this is about. We are really truly super close to actually doing this thing! This thing where we use a trailer that we built from scratch (FROM SCRATCH) to be our primary dwelling (!!!) as we string together points A-B-C-D-E-F (etc). It totally feels like jumping into the air, enjoying the view and the ride, but all the while scrambling to make sure we hold onto our stuff. I … (and when I say “I” … I’m pretty sure it means “we”) … have a fair amount of anxiety about what it means to dive into this unconventional lifestyle. Every night I wake up trying to solve how we will do this or that in the future. “How will I figure out cell/internet coverage everywhere to make sure I can make it to all my meetings?” or “What if there is an uncomfortable amount of condensation inside the trailer – will the fan really help with all that?” or “What will I do with my shoes and outside clothes at night when I tuck inside the camper?” or “What app(s) should we be watching to avoid scary storms?”

But, wow, how exhilarating it is, as well! We’ve sketched out a 9-month scheme where we reconnect with loved ones and explore interesting places in MS, AZ, CA, OR, WA, CO, IA, MN, and MI! And if it works (i.e., if the camper is working, if we find a happy balance of camping/housesitting/friend-visiting/work AND we’re still enjoying it) …. how many more states and friends/family might we be able to visit in the next 8-12 months?!?!

As a side note: we’ve been watching “All Creatures Great and Small” and here’s a quote that played heavily into the episode we watched last night: “Without fear there can be no courage.” (Also, we’re taking to heart some recent fortune cookie advisements — see attached photo below.)

So …. yes. We’re actually making it happen. There are still a number of things to put in place in the next few days (gasket on the hatch door, sealing the fan [haha see what I did there?], attaching a bike rack, installing a countertop) but **if they all come together** we’re aiming to vacate this lovely family home 0n Saturday and set off on our great adventure.

Oh! By the way, we took the BettyMobile out for a test run last Thursday — we drove out to “our bar” (the one we worked at this summer/fall) and had some of our coworker and bar regulars have a look-see. Video below as evidence.

*PS I have no idea how the flight attendants were navigating this free-form flight and distributing comfort (nuts) and safety (prevention from plummeting to Earth). Surely it’s a sign of providence and proof that it’s possible.