It's time ... time to do something new and different.
This last year has been a journey and a struggle for me, not really related to our shared experience of being in the middle of a global pandemic, but probably exacerbated by it. I have been trying to understand myself better, to acknowledge and accept myself, and to integrate myself into a better and more whole version of myself. And it's really, really, really hard work - the hardest I have ever worked on anything. And as we approached the end of 2021, I kept finding myself saying "I feel like I need to be somewhere else!", despite the fact that I had no real idea what that meant to me.
This next paragraph may seem unrelated, but I promise to connect it up in a couple of minutes.
I have, for most of my adult life, had pets at home. It was always tough to leave them, and I always looked forward to coming home to them. Most recently, and when I say recently I mean just a few weeks short of 17 years, that coming home was to my dachshund, Samantha Josephine (aka Sammi the Wonder Dog or tWD). Or a lot of other names as well! Sammi reached the end of her long, and I hope very happy, life just a couple of weeks ago.
As much as this has devastated me, it has also given me a freedom I haven't had for about 40 years, most of my adult life. I don't have a pet at home. I work from home. With modern technology, I can stay in touch with everyone and also do pretty much anything I need or want to do. And, as I mentioned above, I need to be somewhere else. So that's what I am going to do.
I am packing the car with laptops and other technology, books and my Kindle(s), all of my painting supplies (although only an assortments of papers and canvases), and other daily necessities (clothing, for example), and I am going somewhere else. While I do know where I am going when I leave the house on Monday, and I (at least tentatively) know where I am spending Monday night, that is as far ahead as I have planned at this point in time.
The rest of the trip, including where else I will go, how long I will stay in each place, who I will see, what I will do, what the route is going to be, how long I will be gone, and anything else in the way of definite plans ... well, we will see what happens. I figure I will be on this trip anywhere from 3 weeks to 3 months. There are a couple of things starting in April and extending a few months, that will necessitate me coming back to NH - unless they change or I change my mind, of course.
So this is it. My on-the-road journey, and also my internal psychological, emotional, and perhaps spiritual journey toward becoming a more whole person. I hope both are entertaining, educational and ultimately successful.
And I invite you to follow along, if you are interested. I can't promise to post every day, but I can promise that I will share my travels (from both perspectives), including any experiences, photos, poetry, paintings, or anything else that seems like it may be of interest.
Countdown to starting the car starts now - planned departure Monday, 3 January 2022 at 1:00pm.
Bon voyage!