May 4th, 2022
It’s fully spring here in Massachusetts, and I am packing boxes of “garage sale things”, working on home improvement projects such as new flooring ion our basement, and …. worrying about the transition to Van Life. I gotta say I am feeling the crazy a little more than the brave today.
When our shift to “Van life” was a far-in-the-future dream, it seemed simple to earn money on the road. Quit my job, thought I, why not? I’ve taught school for 30 years (30 YEARS!) surely I can make something work.
Oh, past me, you were so breezily confident.
Current me, two months away from our summer shakedown, has a case of the what-ifs:
What if this remote work thing doesn’t quite, well, work?
What if we can’t support our van life… while sometimes supporting our three young adult children?
What if there are expenses we don’t foresee– trouble with the van, or our house or our health…?
Sometimes, it is all so daunting.
But then I tell myself that all (well, MOST) of these things could happen just the same if we stayed at home and worked until we were 70. And we would always have wondered what if we had gone off in search of a free(er) lifestyle.
In our 23 years of marriage, Dan and I have faced many challenges. We struggled mightily with finances, working our way out of significant debt. We struggled mightily in raising three children while working fulltime jobs in far flung places and managing a farm.
We struggled with all sorts of unforeseen things that we did (alas!) see.
And we muddled through it. So why would our crazy/brave adventure be any different?
And so, when my thoughts tilt toward “What, are we crazy?” I can tell myself “Maybe a little crazy, but that’s okay, it will all be fine.”