My Nomad Journey – Atlanta

[November & December, 2025] We are sliding into the final stretch of the year: the holidays! I’ve come to care less about these times than I once did. However, when I’m visiting friends who DO celebrate, I enjoy spending time with them and sharing in their enjoyment. The rest of the year is in Atlanta, with a potential road trip or two from there.

Here’s what I did:

I drove up from Cocoa Beach, Florida in a long day’s journey. It’s a pretty easy and nice drive, without any major cities between the two spots to slow down the trip. However, as I got closer to Atlanta, I started experiencing some significant back-ups on the freeways. As I navigated these traffic jams with the map app, I realized – it is the weekend before Thanksgiving! Everyone is on the road! Otherwise, it was a smooth day’s drive. Until…

Car situation #2… As I pulled into Heidi’s neighborhood, after driving 450 miles, my car stalled out. AGAIN. The exact same symptoms and situation as the prior time in Florida. It has now been about 2 weeks since getting that fixed. I pulled into her neighborhood and my spirits fell as my power died, the gas pedal stopped working and the wheel stiffened up. I was able to coast a block or so and come to a stop just around the corner from her house. Holy HELL! You can only imagine my mental state. I’ll keep the story short and summarize: I called Heidi, we transferred my bags to her car and got them to the house. I called a tow truck and had it towed to her driveway. The next day I made calls and found an auto shop. I had the car towed to the shop and dropped it for diagnostics and repair. Since it was Thanksgiving week, they kept it from Monday, then they were closed Thursday-Sunday. Finally completing the repair the following week. Once again, we thought it would be the alternator. But after running diagnostics, a different problem was found (an electronic module that regulates power). This time, the repairs (and a small routine maintenance) cost about $1,200!!! Relieved to finally pick it up, I was glad to have the problem finally solved. $1,700 is a LOT of money to pay for fixing a problem twice. You might be asking, why don’t you just trade it in on a newer car? A car payment is not in the budget. Also, after getting screwed by my insurance company after the bumper tap in Alabama last winter, I cannot afford to insure a financed new car. So, I keep this one running. Oh, and sadly, we will revisit this one again…

Thanksgiving week… Setting the car situation aside, the week of Thanksgiving was a mix of wrapping up some work projects and enjoying time with Heidi and her family. We spent the week cooking, eating, playing cards and having a good time. I also took advantage of opportunities to nap and sleep in! One of the things I enjoy about visiting Heidi is helping her with small house projects. For us boys who were visiting, there were a few things for us to tackle and we took care of those for her during the week. I carried a few of my chores over to the month of December, since I had the time.

December… The month of December was pretty mundane, as I had hoped. Heidi had a few work and personal trips through the month, so I took care of Bella and the house, while having a place to crash. I took care of work commitments, podcast recordings, and also got to take care of some things I had been holding off on, such as continuing education and certification tracking, writing, setting 2026 business goals, and more. I kept up with my gym workouts on a regular frequency. We went through cold winter weather and occasional warm-ups. Bella and I took walks and I mostly stayed close to the house. Because I had intentionally planned to lay low during this month, I enjoyed continuing the naps and sleeping in, where I was able. I read a lot of books that aren’t worth listing. Watched television shows and hung out with Heidi in the evenings and weekends when she wasn’t traveling. We both mostly tended to our commitments and schedules.

Holidays… During the christmas and new year’s holidays, I was watching the house and petsitting. I made my own plans and stayed to myself. I’ve been asked if I’m a Grinch during this time of year. I don’t think so, because the Grinch likes to ruin other people’s plans. I just remove myself. I greatly enjoyed the peace and quiet. I enjoyed doing exactly what I wanted to do, which meant very little. I enjoyed being lazy and, when I got bored, I told myself that was the plan, so go back to being bored!!! Yes, there was an occasional moment where a social post or TV show made me wonder if I should have done something. But I reminded myself of my intention. And, when the holidays were over, I was rested and ready to get back into the routine. I was so glad it wasn’t like years past where I was tired, fat, full, hungover and drained. What a treat this was!

I’m super grateful to Heidi for letting me stay and sharing her end of year with me. I enjoyed meeting some of her people and getting out to do some things with her and Bella too.

Here’s what I learned:

I think I should acknowledge myself again for this FUCKING car situation. To have the same problem surface again was beyond stressful and infuriating. There’s so much I can say, but the important thing to acknowledge is, once again, it could have been worse. I drove 450 miles and it waited to stall on me until I arrived at Heidi’s house, almost! Of all the places it could have died on me, it brought me to a safe place. I’m grateful for that. I’m grateful I had a place to stay while it was getting fixed. And I’m grateful to Heidi who let me drive her car to the few places I needed to go over those few days. In case you’re wondering, the money spent on the first repair in Florida wasn’t wasted. The battery was due to be replaced anyway and the other items they fixed needed doing. I probably paid too much money, but I supported a local business. Nothing there was wasted – it just didn’t solve the actual problem. For the shop in Georgia, I trusted that this really unusual diagnosis had to be the right answer. I was also grateful that the $1,200 I spent was less than the $2,000+ I could have spent. I was grateful to have my car back.

Here’s what’s next:

After Atlanta, my next “milestone” destinations are a teaching gig in Las Vegas in Florida, followed by another gig in Los Angeles in March. In April I need to be back home in Sacramento for several gigs, commitments and other needs. That gets me through the spring.

This year, I’ll start with some time back in Florida, then drive west, where I’ll spend the spring and part of summer. For some of my work commitments, I’ll fly to them from where I’m staying out west. The rest of the year has a few things already committed, but the rest of the year is still being worked out. I’m letting it unfold a month or so at a time!

As always, please interact with this post. I love getting your questions, your thoughts, and your comments. I’ll reply when I’m able.

Please enjoy yourselves in this week ahead and look for another update from me about the adventures of the journey. Be well my friends!

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