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It takes about a half hour to pack the van. Not bad, considering how I tend to explode out of it when I settle somewhere. A mat, table, camp chair, water jug, dog kennel and my solar panels all need to find their places once again. I take time to tidy as I go. Each … Continue reading DAY 17: On the Move
The Slow Food Road Trip had some health issues from the get-go. I had a hard time leaving family to hit the road again. I’d been away a year; I missed them and they seemed to miss me too. I had a garden insisting to be planted in Ottawa; it felt unusually urgent my son have kale. It … Continue reading Here Lies the Slow Food Road Trip
Here are some ways I’ve tackled fears about “letting go of things” that I wrote about in my last post: “Downsizing for Vanlife: Naked & Afraid.” 1. Our things represent “who we are.” This may be true, but we are not our things; we’re so much more. During downsizing, it helped to think in … Continue reading Thriving In Downsizing
A completely routine sort of day here in the desert. Wake. Breakfast. 5 km walk. Write. Nap. Another 5 km walk. Town. Smoothie Treat. Dog Park. Recovery Meeting. Home. Write. So, I’m going to write about “Freedom” instead of those things. Because I’ve been thinking about it all day. I recently asked a great bunch … Continue reading A Month in a Minivan: Day 8
Today, I began writing even before getting out of bed. Taking on this daily writing project has given my creative energy a tremendous boost; but I wake with the ache of “writer’s labour pains” knowing that words insist on being born before noon. There is an persistence about the process; a preoccupation/obsessiveness that is a … Continue reading A Month in a Minivan: Day 6
I didn’t make morning coffee because it was Yoga Day, and coffee stimulates my digestive system in the same way Yoga does; taken together they can be quite an insistent force. So, I ate a small apple with a bit of peanut butter for energy and joined a quiet procession of others crossing the desert to … Continue reading A Month in a Minivan: Day 5
I woke up feeling disappointed and tight-chested about needing to move camp; mostly upset with myself for getting caught up in my excited -insistence on needing to be here, to the exclusion of the more practical issues, like camping regulations. Man, I hate waking up in this state and oh, do I hate making “mistakes”. … Continue reading A Month in a Minivan: Day 3
After journeying through eastern Canada, I took ten days in Ottawa to prepare for the second chapter of our journey. It was time to assess and make a few ”small” changes. I suspect I might be living on the road for long periods over the next few years, so I want to create a tiny home … Continue reading Little Changes For Living Large