As full-time travelers, many say we are living the life – perhaps we are, but living the life has its own challenges. To begin with, it’s more work than anyone can imagine. It’s not just merrily going from point A to point B, but figuring out a general route, and trying to connect all the dots – and there are a lot of dots! There’s plane and train schedules and canceled connections while en route, car rentals, length of stays, and of course finding beds within our budget criteria. Oh, and don’t forget making all these plans while working with subpar internet connections. And, it’s not about just finding the beds but determining best location for local transportation, what we might want to see and do, how close the market is, nearby restaurants, and on and on. Connecting the dots takes a huge amount of time and energy, granted it’s time and energy we have now, but it is tedious work nonetheless - and quite frankly at times has my head spinning. Don’t even get me started on what happens when we actually live the planned dots by schlepping our
bags through crowds and hopping on the train connections, hauling them over cobblestone streets, and up several flights of narrow spiral staircases.
You might be surprised to find that we seldom have the time to research the things to do and see in locations we are traveling to until we are actually there!
The main thing is that this type of living is not for people who have issues with detailed planning or adapting to change. This type of living is not for
come what may attitudes because the results would vary greatly and create unnecessary levels of stress. In short,
living the life is mentally and physically challenging, exhausting, and wonderful all at the same time! Fortunately, there are two of us
living the life and connecting the dots as a team. With every change, there comes a certain amount of stress even for the most unflappable laid-back type – I’m thinking of my husband Dennis here.
For me, the key is to move through any stress I may feel while living the life and get to the other side of the situation as soon as possible – and of course, believe I can. I wasn’t always able to embrace adapting to change in this manner.
I’ve learned what I am capable of and trust I can get through whatever is ahead as we continue to connect the dots and live the life.
Michelle
Some cheerful data photo courtesy of Dirkcuys
