So here we are at the end of week two of Michele and Darryl’s Excellent Adventure spending a few days in Nashville, TN. It is always so wonderful to be in Nashville visiting family and friends – too much food, definitely too much wine, too much laughter (is there such a thing?), and wonderful conversation. It’s no wonder this is our third trip to Nashville in the last year – and why Nashville has moved up on our list of places to live after the trip! Many, many thanks to my Cousin Chris and his wife Marci, my Aunt Janice, and great friends Missey and Brad for taking time to get together with us during our stay! You have no idea how much your excitement for our trip and your words of encouragement mean to us!
As I’ve mentioned, we wanted to start the trip in familiar places with friends close by to help us get into the swing of things – and Nashville is the last stop on the “friends and family” section of the tour. From here, we head north into the real beginning of the adventure.
Two weeks in, and we still have our good days and bad days – I’d love to say that we are adjusted and comfortable with our new routine and raring to go into the Great White North. But I’d be lying to say that we have it all worked out just yet and that we aren’t still more than a little anxious and nervous about the next phase of the trip.
It has definitely surprised us how much time we have spent working, and how at times it feels like we have just sat in the trailer all day and worked, had dinner, watched some basketball (Go Spurs and Wizards!), and gone to bed… just like any other night. We have had to have a few honest conversations about the impact of our jobs – neither of us really expected to be working during this trip so we’ve had to reset our expectations a bit. We’ve also had to think long-term about the time commitment to work and the impact that will have – do we really WANT to work this entire year? Can we afford to? Can we afford NOT to?
We had a 10 hour drive today (because we kind of screwed up our scheduling in Nashville – still not sure how that happened!) and we spent the first few hours talking about our thoughts and feelings so far into the trip. We actually came up with a name for it – the trip-o-meter. At least once a day we check in with each other on how we are feeling that day (from 1-10 – decimal points and fractions are encouraged). I think it says a lot about the strength of our relationship that we’ve both made a real point of checking in with the other person and discussing the good and the bad of this trip – frustrations, issues, as well as what IS working for us. When you are sharing 400 square feet, communication is pretty important! LOL
This morning was a low – a 500 mile drive ahead of us, still anxious about the setup of our rig, making it to Alaska by Memorial Day… the fear that because we aren’t “settled in” yet does that mean that this isn’t for us? Or maybe we are just overthinking it? Maybe we just need to not worry so much and deal with things as they come?
By mid-day we were feeling better about things – driving through Louisville, KY in picture-perfect weather (sun shining brightly, 75 degrees) will do that for you I think.
And after a VERY long driving day we got to the campground, settled in and ate dinner, and actually started talking about how excited we are about heading into Canada to parts unknown (to us at least).
The “success” of this trip (if there is such a thing as “success” or “failure” for this kind of thing) is 100% contingent on our frame of mind and how we deal with the daily issues and challenges that will come up (and they will come up – there is no doubt about that). It’s funny – we both knew that this trip was going to be a completely new paradigm for us but somehow we are both surprised at the unexpected ways we are feeling it. But I guess that’s the good thing… we are both feeling it – and it is new, exciting and scary all wrapped up in one big silver package.
Welcome to Ride Camp Eat 