Back on the road—a little lighter and with less of a plan
The last time we posted on this blog it was May, and we were just rolling into Maryland to stay with family and to celebrate our nuptials with our east coast community.
A planned month stay gracefully became two months as we enjoyed some wonderful time with family and friends, (and let’s be honest…a hot shower on the regular). Even in a time with email, Facetime, and text messages, there is nothing that replaces time together, enjoying meals, and the subtle joys of the daily routine.
Steven was able to work out of his company’s Maryland location, and I got to have a booth at a local art show. It was a productive and at the same time relaxing break from life on the road.
But the road did eventually call us back, so here we are back in the rhythm of traveling and seeing what might be next.
Before we left Maryland we lightened our load a bit by getting rid of things that we were not using. Here are a few major things that we unloaded: camping gear, random tools and electronics, clothing, art supplies, a few kitchen items (but then I added a few, so it might be a wash) and our bikes (they were broken due to the exhaust melting our tires early on in this adventure…oops).
Enjoying some quality family time with our Maryland crew. Photos by Kate Scrittore.
Lightening our belongings allowed us to get more organized so that we do not have as much packing/repacking at each stop. It feels like a game changer.
We have also changed a little bit of how we plan our next stop. For the first half of the year, we had some dates in stone for meeting up with friends and gathering to celebrate our wedding. During this time we had some flexibility in locations, but schedules held us to a general timeline.
Now back on the road, we have no scheduled dates, and some very understanding family who is willing to celebrate the holidays when we make it to the west coast…whenever that might be.
So with only our next campsite booked, and no solid plans for how we will make it back to the west coast, the road is calling and we must go.
A view from one of our evening drives in MA