Taking a Break From the Road

After 126 days (18 weeks), it is fair to say Mike has embraced van life (although I think he embraced it from day 1). He loves it. He loves the driving, he loves talking to strangers (especially people in nice vans), he loves finding beautiful free camping areas (even if it means travelling to 2 or 3 not so nice camping areas first), he loves creating amazing dinners on a camp stove, he loves mountain biking and hiking and spending hours watching whales and bears.

I had a harder time with the transition. I left a city I loved, a job I was good at, a routine of activities that kept my calendar full, close friends who I saw regularly and a home that didn’t move around every day. I think those first few weeks on the road, I had to grieve all those things that I missed. I also struggled with the lack of purpose – what was I going to do today if I didn’t have work to go to, a house to clean, a garden to weed, a hockey game to play, books to pick up at the library and meeting up with friends.

I eventually found my rhythm. I learned to embrace quiet mornings when I got up early and Mike slept in. I appreciated warm (not hot) sunny days and hot (not warm) showers more than I ever had before. Little things made me happy – cooking bannock on the fire, my dogs running off leash on a beach, finally getting to the top of a long climb on my bike (often hiking said bike – and then writing a blog post about it).

But it certainly was challenging. There was that heat wave in Smithers and the rain in Alaska (and now in BC). There were long waits in ferry lines only to not be able to get on and there were the times we drove a long way down a road to check someplace out and kind of regretted it afterward. And there were the meltdowns (mine) that happened around 7:00 pm when I was hungry and tired but we were still driving around looking for a campsite that 1) was within our price range and 2) felt okay for us to stay in.

So after 126 days, I am ready for a break. It came to me when we got to Vancouver Island and I was no longer excited by cute coastal towns or another rain forest hike to a waterfall. I feel like you do when you’ve walked around a really big amazing museum and there is so much information but you just can’t take it all in and after 3 hours, you leave because your brain is full. Canada is like that really big museum and although Vancouver Island is full of places to explore, the fact that I can’t appreciate it tells me it is time to go home for a rest.  And yes, you don’t need to remind me that I don’t actually own a house anymore (or furniture for that matter). But my amazing parents are going to pick me up at the airport in Winnipeg and take me to their house (which when you are with your family, is always home). I will have some time out of the van and Mike and the dogs will explore Vancouver Island a little more and eventually make their way to Kenora to meet back up with me (the plan was always to come back to Kenora in mid-October so the van could fulfill its insurance obligations of being in Ontario every 6 months).

So...what this means is the blog may not have any posts for a few weeks. But I have hope that Mike’s new experience – semi solo van life (him and the dogs) - may re-inspire him to write a post or two.