Out of Commission/Perspective

[user 29503]

Hello and Happy Independence Day!
Recently, I suffered a pretty bad back injury. It's touchy but I'm mobile and again and really hoping to get back to work tomorrow.  A lot of amazing things happened while I was down for the count, parts of my personal journey, not really any nomad related context.  So though no work was being done, it was really valuable time.  I got to work on a Graphic Design project that really flexed some professionalism.  It's what I'd like to go back to school for.
The notable mention though is about how I perceived things in my head when I started a committed, full time go of building the van, and what reality is. 
I left my job, and with that was the excitement of freedom, and anxiousness, followed by my "plan".  Meaning, my plan to be at "such and such" point in the build by this date", I'm going to order "this" by "this" time, and have it in.  None of it has gone according to what I thought.  And most specifically what I'm referring to is, when I leave.

I laugh at this but, June 1st. That was the day. Then, I said by my nephew's first birthday...two days ago. I still have the interior walls, floor and ceiling and solar...and throwing in some cabinetry, whether by my own hands or I just go to Lowes and call it a day.

 I'm having a great summer and will be determined to make the best of it, but I had planned to be out on the road, going to the beach, snapping photos, flirting with cute nomad women, wrestling crocodiles, ect...  I  know there's way more to nomadic life than those things, and the things I mentioned can be done in any season, the beauty of living wherever I want. 

 My hang up is I love Summer, especially early Summer.  To me, personally, it's just got this vibe, like a bunch of great stuff's about to happen, the cusp of greatness.  Great stuff has already happened, even though I'm not on the road: I left my job/took "the leap", achieved some self-discovery, accomplished a pretty significant design project.  Regardless of all that positivity, I still wish it was June 1st and I was eating a smoked turkey leg from the Flying J, headed to Yosemite, sitting in the desert with a cooler full of Bartles and James, bird watching.  Hell, I'd even take "the knock".  Bottom line is, I did not want it to be August.  This is juvenile thinking from when I was a kid, but August is where Summer, my absolute most favorite time of year, goes to die.  But it doesn't look like I'm going to get my way.

Tomorrow, my "plan", is to go back to work.  And regardless of what order I want to go in I think its going to come down to me just picking something up that's going in there, making it fit/attaching it whatever way, then picking up the the next thing, and the next thing.  Hopefully, soon, I'll be ready.

Safe travels,
Rabbit

 

[skyl4rk]

Summer is the most challenging time to be a nomad, because of the heat. I would recommend working on your van until September, then taking off.

 

[txmnjim]

i love summers in Minnesota but wasnt crazy about them in Texas...good luck and enjoy the journey whenever that date comes!

 

[user 29503]

I understand with the heat.  That did cross my mind.  It's like hiking the Appalachian trail, I thought, you can start your journey on a good note at Springer Mountain, or beat the hell out yourself on the Approach Trail because you're ego wants to.
I have thought about how a nice cool Autumn would be to kick things off.  Thanks for making me feel better about it.

 

[bullfrog]

You really can leave anytime you want you just have to be flexible and choose locations you want to be in. Bird watching is fun but at different times of the year is better in certain locations, the same is true with other activities as well, It's always 5 o'clock somewhere.

 

[user 29503]

Love the philosophy.  Very true.  Thank you.

 

[tx2sturgis]

.... August is where Summer, my absolute most favorite time of year, goes to die.

You must be somewhere in the Great White North. Down here in Texas, July and August can be hot and miserable (usually)...March and April can be cold and windy as you-know-what and then May and June are severe storm season...but later on in August, September, and even the Fall season and into mid October can be wonderfully pleasant. 

This far south, at least for me, daytime in the summer is a time to be endured, rather than enjoyed. (summer nights here in Panhandle can be very pleasant due mainly to our higher elevation)...This summer has been the exception for the heat....just like we got record-breaking freezing weather back in February of this year, here in the Panhandle, we have had some wonderfully cool and rainy weather this May and June.

My point is that as far as the weather is concerned, the USA can be a buffet of comfortable temperatures when you have a home on wheels....you just have to chase 70 degrees and you can always stop during a warm afternoon (even in October) here in the south at a Flying J for that smoked turkey leg along the way...and all will be good. Gar-un-teed!

 

[maki2]

I fully inderstand about the delays with bad back and such preventing getting a build done. I went through a whole string of physical issues that meant years of delays. Back, then cancer, then serious eye problems. The bad back is a constant issue for me since 1983. Then when that all got through (except the back which is chronic) and I was on a roll getting stuff done I fell and broke my wrist which meant another 6 months. I ended up leaving last August with the build unfinished and am still working on wrapping up the projects a little here and a little there as I travel when the weather and my energy and enthusiasm cooperates. Today is hanging cabinet doors. I built the doors last month. But I also take time out for fun and I have an online business so it goes slowly.

There are some good graphic design classes online. I am sure you have seen some of them. It is a good career for a nomadic traveler.

Heading to south Arizona in the fall means you will have summer year around. Flagstaff has plenty of lumber and hardware stores and free boondocking nearby. It is good for summer and early fall. But at the moment the forest are closed due to fires in the area. They might well reopen by the time you would arrive. As it gets cooler you just keep moving further south in the state. Some people keep going south on to the beach camping in Baja. That is not free camping but not super expensive. Get a passport before you head out on the road.

 

[GypsyJan]

Life would be rather dull if things always went according to the plan. I enjoy the challenge of a changing plan.

 

[user 29503]

You must be somewhere in the Great White North. 

I was actually raised in the Chicago suburbs, so yes.  I actually live in Arkansas, so you'd probably say "Well what'ya complaining for!?".  I'm not a fan of the area I live in, all the lake activities exist three hours away.  The river is "Eh..".  The feeling's actually just from when I was a kid.  
I LOVE Corpus Christi.  Could definitely see myself settling down there.

 

[user 29503]

[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]I ended up leaving last August with the build unfinished and am still working on wrapping up the projects a little here and a little there as I travel when the weather and my energy and enthusiasm cooperates.[/font]

There are some good graphic design classes online. I am sure you have seen some of them. It is a good career for a nomadic traveler.

I think you're my Van Dweller apparition, lol.  I was thinking about leaving and just taking setting aside a "Work Weekend".  Though I got all the rust, there are bare metal places on the floors with the doors rub, I have storage solutions I want to apply from my Submariner days.  I'll see after the Solar how I feel.  

I love to also manifest my creativity.  I'd like to have an Etsy store online for some ideas I have.  While my back's been out I've been doing research.  But my plan is to end up in a school of some time with my GI bill, centrally to be thorough with the adobe suite.  Off topic but I've been using free software, not the industry standard.

 

[user 29503]

Life would be rather dull if things always went according to the plan. I enjoy the challenge of a changing plan.

I agree.  I worked quite a bit before and during owning the van, it really robbed me of my time and energy.  Plus, my living situation is "Eh." so I'm ready.  The "change" I'm looking for is in the van's odometer reading, lol.

 

[bullfrog]

I was stationed at Little Rock AFB in the 1970s. Bought a van and lived at Greers Ferry Lake and eventually lived at Tumbling Shoals while attending college at Conway. Loved it but missed the desert with no bugs, bitter cold weather or poison oak, ivy or sumac.

 

[MrNoodly]

As the old saying goes: Man plans and God laughs.

I think one of the keys to happy nomad life is flexibility. Sometimes we become conditioned to believe we are failures if we can't constantly bend reality to our will. I think that's why there are so many miserable people.

I chuckled a little. You said you quit your job, but then you talked about all the jobs you need to complete in your rig. You've substituted one job for another, complete with arbitrary deadlines and onerous deliverables. The only difference is now you are the taskmaster instead of someone else. It's sort of self-directed oppression. Ease up a little. Allow things to happen at an unforced, natural pace. There have been many times in my past that I struggled to make something happen by a self-imposed deadline only to realize all my extra work and anxiety didn't make the thing happen any sooner — or better — than if I hadn't tried to force things.

 

[user 423]

Life would be rather dull if things always went according to the plan. I enjoy the challenge of a changing plan.

-X2!

 

[user 29503]

I was stationed at Little Rock AFB in the 1970s. Bought a van and lived at Greers Ferry Lake and eventually lived at Tumbling Shoals while attending college at Conway. Loved it but missed the desert with no bugs, bitter cold weather or poison oak, ivy or sumac.

I bought my van in Perryville, on a lake front.  I live in the North East corner.  Arkansas is a beautiful state, and my family is from here so I the people were nice.  But the southern culture is decaying here, including hospitality.  Materialism, status, and the brainwashing the general public is exposed to has done the decaying. Plus meth is a big hobby here.  I miss when I was younger and people waved at you all the time, and people were more old fashioned, wholesome. To be more concise, it's changed.  I was in the Navy, Submarines.  Thank you for defending my freedom.

 

[user 29503]

As the old saying goes: Man plans and God laughs.

Yeah it was stressful before my back gave out. I felt like I wasn't doing anything.  I had to modify my battery compartment and I felt it took too long. Then I'd think about the rest of the items on the list I wrote and though, man I have a little ways to go still. Plus the heat here has been pretty bad.  I said to myself yesterday I wanted it to be less "heavy", and it will be.  My back was a blessing, I got a lot of good down time. And the van's potential perks weren't the methods to procure that.  Thank you for the relatable words.

 

[desert_sailing]

Life would be rather dull if things always went according to the plan. I enjoy the challenge of a changing plan.

I like dull. Like a pancake without syrup.

 

[user 29503]

i love summers in Minnesota but wasnt crazy about them in Texas...good luck and enjoy the journey whenever that date comes!

Thank you.  I will.