I thought about doing the same thing but realized very early on in the planning stage that, like you, I'm a "highly introverted" woman. I went online and followed a couple women in their travels and while the thought of traveling alone, seeing North America first hand carried some real disadvantages with it that I wasn't equipped to manage well. So, my daughter who wanted to upgrade her living space, and I sold our homes and bought a couple acres "out of town" but within 15 minutes of "people" and here we are....we agreed I was mostly in charge of the outdoors because that's where I love being and she works full-time so doesn't have the extra hours or energy to manage 2 acres of land. I converted part of a huge, well-built shop to a one-bedroom apartment and it's working out great for both of us. We take care of each other's dogs when one of us wants to travel etc. What I realized with the covid epidemic and quarantine is I am a hermit and I love living alone. Do I get lonely, yes I do, but I get over it pretty fast when I go out into the public arena and experience the MAGA masses. My only real aggravation, in my happy place, are the moles and deer but I've found organic ways of reminding them they are not appreciated when ravaging my gardens. It's give and take, I leave the elderberries in the top of the bush for the birds and the lowest for the deer. I appreciate the earth movers underground but encourage them to move to areas....next door. Thinking outside the box helps make the world go round...
Linda, that sounds like a beautiful partnership. Moles and deer are part of the equation, but I am happy that you escaped the winds and heat of the high prairie. And I agree - thinking outside of the box is always a better way to go through life.
I know a few people who live in their RV either full or part time. I couldn’t do it for many of the reasons you give, but mostly because I’m a homebody through and through. I had to smile at this: “I am highly introverted, and meeting new people each week would be exhausting. Even thinking about it right now gives me the willies.” Sister, I am with you!
Loved the essay. I would like to share an experience I had in a seminar years ago, where you drew/wrote out your fantasy "place/s". The discussions and presentations that followed explored how you might define the wants and desires in terms of what is already there or in reach. One man talked about how he reframed the river landscape near his apartment as his garden, the library and other activities as his entertainment, and the transit and other resources as his supports. (What I liked about it was that it asked for noticing and less striving and consumption. While his invention would not have been perfect for me, it has been inspirational.)
Recently I found the "place" I would most love to have for my own - 112 miles from the nearest town, a lovely wood built yurt on the desert with solar and other elements. It is more than I now feel up for, but I'm loving that someone created it and it is out there. And the desert is there when I want it. (This is poignant as the ranch I grew up on is in the evacuation area of the Firestone Fire. I have known since childhood that that location was always likely to be lost to fire, and to accept that choices have consequences. That actually isn't as fatalistic as it sounds, oddly.)
In the life here, I notice that my choices provide me with some of the things in my daydreams. The neighbor chickens come visit. I have fruit trees (they weren't here when I moved here) for wildlife habitat. I have invented ephemeral pond structures for birds and pollinators. I volunteer at a community organic garden because I'm not a skilled gardener but I love helping and learning and sharing produce with my community. At one point I wanted a riding horse but was dithering over cost. I wound up fostering a retiree horse who was fine for my purposes, especially because I like the tending as much as the riding... his person paid his bills, I did the work and it was delightful. (This is an example of something I've been trying to attend to: the many ways you can have what you want without striving - just by noticing the opportunities and invitations that slide by.)
I used to travel a lot, and daydream about going back to the desert because it's "home". Now that I completed a hospital procedure, I could do that by investing a couple of days while ensuring all is well here, even without someone else to stick with the chores.
So... dream on. And remember... either/or can be and.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I love the idea of a fantasy place. Observation and reframing for abundance rather than scarcity was a key component of my permaculture education. I analyzed my homestead and my surrounding community and realized that I didn't need farm animals or fruit trees (there are hundreds of historical orchards in my region). I support the food producers in my area because I want them to stay and prosper. There is much to appreciate in the here and now. BTW - we had a small place in Troy for five years that we thought we might retire to but sold it because it was too remote for us. I love the landscape of eastern Oregon.
I don't have any kind of fantasy life about being on the road in a RV, but I do think about traveling solo again; somewhere in Europe, German-speaking preferably, or in the UK (both places where I've I had wonderful solo trips in the past.)
I live with my husband in two beautiful parts of the world, the Southern Appalachians in Western North Carolina and the Northern Appalachian in Eastern Quebec. I'm grateful for that.
We're off to Austria in December, for our first trip abroad post-pandemic times.
But I also wish for the opportunity to be free to explore on my schedule, too. Without meals to cook, vegetables and fruits to harvest, and seeds to plant.
Yes! The opportunity to be free of the mundane is what I want - at times. I remind myself how fortunate I am to have the freedom to create and live my lifestyle.
I can soooo much relate to that vanlife fantasy. But I like a sense of community, too.
My solution: Cultivate a belief in a fun kind of reincarnation, wherein we live multiple lives and get to do all the things we want to do.
How's that for a fantasy?
LOL - I am counting on reincarnation, too!
I thought about doing the same thing but realized very early on in the planning stage that, like you, I'm a "highly introverted" woman. I went online and followed a couple women in their travels and while the thought of traveling alone, seeing North America first hand carried some real disadvantages with it that I wasn't equipped to manage well. So, my daughter who wanted to upgrade her living space, and I sold our homes and bought a couple acres "out of town" but within 15 minutes of "people" and here we are....we agreed I was mostly in charge of the outdoors because that's where I love being and she works full-time so doesn't have the extra hours or energy to manage 2 acres of land. I converted part of a huge, well-built shop to a one-bedroom apartment and it's working out great for both of us. We take care of each other's dogs when one of us wants to travel etc. What I realized with the covid epidemic and quarantine is I am a hermit and I love living alone. Do I get lonely, yes I do, but I get over it pretty fast when I go out into the public arena and experience the MAGA masses. My only real aggravation, in my happy place, are the moles and deer but I've found organic ways of reminding them they are not appreciated when ravaging my gardens. It's give and take, I leave the elderberries in the top of the bush for the birds and the lowest for the deer. I appreciate the earth movers underground but encourage them to move to areas....next door. Thinking outside the box helps make the world go round...
Linda, that sounds like a beautiful partnership. Moles and deer are part of the equation, but I am happy that you escaped the winds and heat of the high prairie. And I agree - thinking outside of the box is always a better way to go through life.
If I was 20 years younger, I might give van life a shot, with planning you can stay safe, lots of people doing it and what an adventure if you do.
I know a few people who live in their RV either full or part time. I couldn’t do it for many of the reasons you give, but mostly because I’m a homebody through and through. I had to smile at this: “I am highly introverted, and meeting new people each week would be exhausting. Even thinking about it right now gives me the willies.” Sister, I am with you!
Yes! Introversion and homebodiness seem to go together.
There's so much to think about here, Sue, especially the role that breakdown of community plays in our longing. Thinking of you & of us all....
I only fully appreciated my sense of community once I couldn't access it during the pandemic. We are herd animals!
Loved the essay. I would like to share an experience I had in a seminar years ago, where you drew/wrote out your fantasy "place/s". The discussions and presentations that followed explored how you might define the wants and desires in terms of what is already there or in reach. One man talked about how he reframed the river landscape near his apartment as his garden, the library and other activities as his entertainment, and the transit and other resources as his supports. (What I liked about it was that it asked for noticing and less striving and consumption. While his invention would not have been perfect for me, it has been inspirational.)
Recently I found the "place" I would most love to have for my own - 112 miles from the nearest town, a lovely wood built yurt on the desert with solar and other elements. It is more than I now feel up for, but I'm loving that someone created it and it is out there. And the desert is there when I want it. (This is poignant as the ranch I grew up on is in the evacuation area of the Firestone Fire. I have known since childhood that that location was always likely to be lost to fire, and to accept that choices have consequences. That actually isn't as fatalistic as it sounds, oddly.)
In the life here, I notice that my choices provide me with some of the things in my daydreams. The neighbor chickens come visit. I have fruit trees (they weren't here when I moved here) for wildlife habitat. I have invented ephemeral pond structures for birds and pollinators. I volunteer at a community organic garden because I'm not a skilled gardener but I love helping and learning and sharing produce with my community. At one point I wanted a riding horse but was dithering over cost. I wound up fostering a retiree horse who was fine for my purposes, especially because I like the tending as much as the riding... his person paid his bills, I did the work and it was delightful. (This is an example of something I've been trying to attend to: the many ways you can have what you want without striving - just by noticing the opportunities and invitations that slide by.)
I used to travel a lot, and daydream about going back to the desert because it's "home". Now that I completed a hospital procedure, I could do that by investing a couple of days while ensuring all is well here, even without someone else to stick with the chores.
So... dream on. And remember... either/or can be and.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I love the idea of a fantasy place. Observation and reframing for abundance rather than scarcity was a key component of my permaculture education. I analyzed my homestead and my surrounding community and realized that I didn't need farm animals or fruit trees (there are hundreds of historical orchards in my region). I support the food producers in my area because I want them to stay and prosper. There is much to appreciate in the here and now. BTW - we had a small place in Troy for five years that we thought we might retire to but sold it because it was too remote for us. I love the landscape of eastern Oregon.
We're keeping some landscape just for you on the chance you would like some for a treat or an amuse bouche :)
Thanks for all your writing and thinking, and sharing how the permaculture abundance thinking plays into your choices.
I love a good inspiration.
I don't have any kind of fantasy life about being on the road in a RV, but I do think about traveling solo again; somewhere in Europe, German-speaking preferably, or in the UK (both places where I've I had wonderful solo trips in the past.)
I live with my husband in two beautiful parts of the world, the Southern Appalachians in Western North Carolina and the Northern Appalachian in Eastern Quebec. I'm grateful for that.
We're off to Austria in December, for our first trip abroad post-pandemic times.
But I also wish for the opportunity to be free to explore on my schedule, too. Without meals to cook, vegetables and fruits to harvest, and seeds to plant.
Yes! The opportunity to be free of the mundane is what I want - at times. I remind myself how fortunate I am to have the freedom to create and live my lifestyle.