My Adventures Began Yesterday

Friends, family, strangers, they've all seemed to have one of the following thoughts regarding me quitting my job, relinquishing my home, and living out of a car for 60+days: (1) I wish I could join you/I've always wanted to do what you're doing (2) Have you been saving/How can you afford this? (3) If only I didn't have my spouse, kids, mortgage, student loans, etc...  I’ve also been called many names over the last month (and even over the last 15 years). N omad. Hippie. Free soul. People trying to define me, put me in a box, or assign a word to describe who I am, how I feel, what I’ve seen and done. Well, this is me: I enjoy traveling, seeing new destinations, meeting people. I become bored with the same place and after visiting a spot, I always prefer to visit some place new. And now, after years of talking about it, planning it in my head, and dreaming about it, I've taken the leap. I’m officially a wanderer, aimlessly traveling. The journey has finally be...

Left Phoenix late afternoon on Friday and aimed to drive as far as we could before finding a place to sleep. On the way, we passed through Saguaro National Park and took pictures of large cacti (love) and raced a little roadrunner across the road.  So darling. Continued driving until about 3:00am (we did have a jump forward on time when we entered Texas, but it was still a long, late drive), then crashed in the car at Guadalupe Mountains National Park. I didn’t know that Texas had two National Parks; I only knew about Big Bend. How exciting to accidentally find our way to another!  After watching the sun rise, we stopped at Carlsbad National Park to tour the caverns. Striking. Loved the effects that millions of years of continually mixing rain water and hydrogen-sulfide rich water (had to google the exact term) had on the limestone. The structures, streams, ponds, etc. were artistic and gorgeous. The 50 degree weather was wonderful as well! Continued our driv...