On Finding Home

So we left. (See story on running away here.)

Fueled by desire (and compulsion) we hit the road.

Husband + wife + dog. All nicely tucked into a conversion van. (See photo.)

We thought we’d go North in the summer and South in the winter. We did the opposite.

We crissed and crossed, up and down, left and right. We got familiar with the landscape. We saw lots and were delighted.

And we learned some things too.

Here’s the short list:

• People are mostly good. Like 99.9% of the people we met. Good. All the way through. Powered up my faith. For sure.
• Many, many people have this dream of hitting the road. But they saw Lost in America and never do it. (There are a zillion reasonable reasons not to do what we did. A zillion. But really? How do you answer your heart when it’s says yes!)
• Which brings us to…listening to your heart. Or your gut. Or the goosebumps. Or that feeling in your bones. To trusting yourself to know what’s right. You can feel it. In your body. If you need to find a new home, this is the way to do it. For sure.
• Logistics (figuring out where to sleep + eat + pee) on a daily basis is an energy suck. Structure has it’s place. Stability is a beautiful thing.
• Showers are overrated. Toilets are not. (Lest you think I don’t take showers, I’m here to assure you that I’m now happily living with modern plumbing.)
• Small is cozy and requires stellar organization. Some might say that means you really don’t need much. Which is true in a van.
• Food is about more than satisfying hunger. It fuels hope and faith. And it must be good. When it’s not, it’s heart-breaking.
• This country is beautiful. Stunning. Amazing. Paving over paradise sucks wherever it happens.
• Having a dog is an freakin’ asset. He will start conversations with strangers and introduce you to the nicest people. (Totally worth the three times he threw up on our bed.)
• I have conjuring skills. I was able to manifest Big Horn Sheep.
• I like having a home. I can make it anywhere. Nesting. It’s just what I do.

As you can see, lots of growth, affirmation, and clarification.

But 7 months in and we had yet to discover our new hometown.

Colorado was not our mecca. (I know, I know, we thought it would be too. And we’ll definitely spend more time there.)

We were still searching.

We had a short list of kind of maybes and were begrudgingly still on the road.

Winter was approaching. It was getting cold and we didn’t have a plan.

I made a plan.

Drive this route: Madison, Milwaukee, Chicago, up the east side of Lake Michigan, across Canada to Portland, Maine. Stop. Rent apartment. Pick-up in the Spring.

That was the plan. We’ll spend the winter there because I like it. And because I came up with a plan first.

Off we went.

We got as far as Milwaukee.

There we met:

• Amazing people. (Yes, I’m talking to you. You know who you are.)
• History told in the layers of industry, street names, buildings, and beer.
• Walkable neighborhoods + urban cool.
• Art. Both the street kind and the codified kind.
• A Lake. The great kind.
• Food. The tasty kind. The artisan + old school kind. The charcuterie + brats kind.
• The Packers. (Need I say more?)

We both got excited. We both felt it in our beings. A giddy excitement. A wide-eyed tingling of possibility.

So we decided to stay.

Days turned into weeks… turned into months… turned into a firm decision to root ourselves here.

It took us awhile. There were twists and turns.

Yet here we are. At the end of this circuitous path.

Home. :)