My Nomad Journey – Weeks 15, 16 & 17

Well this is my longest stretch so far between posts while on the road, but that’s okay (for me, I guess.) I still put a lot of pressure on myself to write and post, but don’t take action. I envy the other writers here on Substack who are posting regularly and taking advantage of the short-form posts. Where do you get the discipline, inspiration and content to write so frequently???

It’s been a busy month of March, with lots of travels. Here’s my latest update and happenings.

Here’s what I did:

On the way back from South Florida, I stayed for a few nights in Savannah, Georgia. I had been there a couple of months prior, but we didn’t get the chance to spend much time exploring. This trip, I got a motel and spent one and a half rain-filled days walking around and exploring the city. I went from 80s in Florida to 50s on the Georgia coast and rain. It was interesting to walk around the city. The blocks in the city center are much smaller than conventional, so when you’re mapping things out, the distances are much shorter. There is much history in Savannah and not a lot of it good. However, there are many historical sites and much architecture to explore. From the river front, to the downtown, to the neighborhoods and Forsyth Park, I got my walking in. I also noticed how the overall feeling it left me with was somber, because the beautiful buildings and parks that were built were on top of the bodies of indigenous and enslaved people. Much to consider when it comes to our “American Progress”.

From Savannah it was back to Atlanta for a while. I decided to take a more scenic route and see more towns in Georgia, between the two cities. My route took me across the state line into South Carolina, Although it was mostly back roads and country highways, this trip moved quickly. I traveled from lowlands and water marches up into fields, forests and rolling hills. Watching the scenery change was exciting. The weather was nice and I enjoyed having the sunroof cracked. The goal was to drive through Augusta and, if possible, also Athens, on the way back to Atlanta. I also wanted to avoid the Atlanta city traffic to the south of where my friend lives, and come in from the north.

Driving through Augusta was interesting. I’ve never been and it’s a large city with a lot of history. Even though I was only driving through, I got to see downtown and some of the neighborhoods. I also drove along the river for a stretch, where the scenery and landscape reminded me a little bit of Hwy 1 and Hwy 360 through Austin’s Barton Creek area. It was nice to see. While in Augusta, I looked up vegetarian restaurants and found one on the map to go to for lunch. When I arrived however, it turned out to be a food prep kitchen that only had some vegetarian options for customers. They said it was a map issue and apologized. Bummed, I decided to get a bean burrito at Taco Bell and keep driving. (BTW, this is a staple for road trips and being vegetarian. While it’s not the healthiest option, I can at least get a little protein and stay vegetarian while on long drives.)

As I was leaving outer Augusta, I plugged in the “scenic route” to my navigation, intending to continue the route I had originally set out on. For some reason, the nav kept rerouting me back to the interstate (that I wanted to avoid). I tried 3-4 different times to get myself back on the longer/scenic route, but it kept changing on me. I finally gave up and stuck to the interstate. The rest of the drive was unexciting. But I got back to Atlanta safely.

The rest of the week was spent preparing for a work trip and doing chores, errands and helping my friend with things around the house.

The following week I traveled to Irvine, in Southern California (Los Angeles/Orange County). I was teaching classes for a client and flew in for just the work project. My 2 days of classes went really well. I was housed in a nice hotel, adjacent to the client’s offices, where I taught the classes. This area of Irvine is really close to the airport and freeways. It is also filled with offices, apartments and amenities. In the evenings, it was nice to grab a little time walking outdoors in the beautiful weather. Once the sun set, I would grab a workout at the hotel gym and then a salad at the hotel restaurant, that I was able to customize with fried tofu, instead of meat. It was surprisingly delicious. Wednesday in Irvine was my birthday. Unfortunately, there were no celebrations due to work and the travels. However, I was so honored to receive numerous text messages, emails, InMails, and other DMs to commemorate the special day. I have a bad habit of NOT planning or getting excited about my birthday in advance. But when the day arrives, I always regret not planning something. I think a big part of it is that just going out to eat or treating myself to sweets is something I already do regularly. Nothing seems “special” anymore, when it comes to celebrating. And the things that would feel special are generally too expensive and/or ambitious. 🤣🤣🤣 Instead, I decided to do a birthday meditation for about 30 minutes to just honor my soul, spirit and self. After, I walked in the neighborhood to get something to eat and sit outdoors in the open plazas near the hotel. I noticed a parking garage right about sunset and decided to go up top for some pictures. That’s always fun and a secret I like to use when I travel. There are always extra views from up on the garages. Looking down on the restaurants below, I decided that I “have to at least have a slice of cake”. So I went down to a restaurant, sat at the bar, ordered a slice of cheesecake and had a decaf coffee. Box checked.

I flew back to Atlanta (without incidents, like the Sacramento trip) and spent the last week here, working, catching up and helping my friend celebrate her birthday! Since I had not really done anything significant for mine, we treated ourselves to a birthday cake from the grocery store (doing it old school), complete with frosting carrots that stuck to the lid and peeled off when I took it out. No fixing that! I booked us sessions at a salt float spa. She had never been, so it was fun to see what she thought of the experience. (Sadly, we both ended up with excess water in our ears – still battling that one!) I think we can both say we had a nice birthday weekend with too many sweets.

The following week, I was petsitting while my friend traveled on 2 different trips. It was nice to have a more quiet work week, with fewer classes, meetings and calls. I enjoy those weeks when I can work on development tasks, prepare for the next things on the calendar, and just decompress a little bit. I no longer have the energy for non-stop, go go go schedules. While I may not be wealthy, I appreciate that free time and flexibility. It was fun to petsit the dog, Bella. We went on walks on the nature trail that winds through the neighborhood. This was good for both of us and usually wore her out! I also hit the gym daily. I’m so glad I’m keeping up with that habit. I view it as more of a “vitamin” effect, for my long term health. I am not getting the body of a competitor, but I am definitely keeping strength. I am also “primed” enough from the consistency that, if I wanted to start lifting heavier and trying to grow a little mass, it wouldn’t be as difficult as if I were just starting from scratch.

And that takes us through most of March. It is very much springtime here in the south. We have mildly warm days and cool nights here. Everything is starting to bloom and there is a fine dust of pollen on everything, from all the blooms and pine trees. I’m experiencing mild allergies this spring, moreso than I usually do. I chalk this up to the travels and new types of pollens, etc. It could also be old age. 🤣

Here’s what I learned:

I continue to be honored to be able to move around like I have. I am enjoying the driving trips along with the flights. Even though I no longer have airline status or privileges anymore, I still don’t mind the flights. I enjoy being able to watch the country go by from the airplane window. I enjoy people watching at the airports. I enjoy the exhilaration of take off and landing. I enjoy the “new city, new people” vibe upon arrival. I also recognize how much I just enjoy moving around the country and being “in motion”.

Since my Sacramento trip, I have been taking advantage of the library card and the Libby app. I’ve traded more social media time with reading again. I’m reading science fiction and enjoying the escape that this provides. Rather than scrolling online, I’m opening the book. I’m back to reading in bed at night. I’m also more inclined to take “reading breaks” during the day, when I’m looking to have break from the work or business. Sometimes I think that it’s still a form of avoidance, like social media. But I believe we all need downtime – and probably a WHOLE lot more than what we are getting. Also, I find that when I immerse myself in these characters in books, I’m able to reflect on what I see, feel and believe about myself. When the character feels ambitious, I think about what I could do more of. When the character feels different emotions, I think about what I’m working through in my own life. And I’m often left wondering about how I might feel about meeting someone in a relationship sense, based on the relationships I’m reading about in these characters. My biggest challenge with reading is that I’ve ready my way through a LOT of the sci-fi genre. Rather, I’ve read my way through a lot of the books, authors and series that I have the most interest in. I think it’s time to explore…

Also during this month, I have had a lot of opportunities come my way. Some new clients, new workshop opportunities and some additional sessions of workshops I’m already teaching. It has been good to update my income and budget projections for the year with the new work. I’ve also been working with my coach to explore additional business opportunities that I can create for myself. One thing I realized over the past month with my coach is that, while I may still be aspiring to some as-yet-unknown product or service that I want to create and present, I also need to keep watering the garden of work that I’ve already built. There’s lots of opportunity for me to just ask for more of what I’m already doing. I am continuing to develop my mindset around what work I want to do, how much income I want to make and what kind of impact I want to leave with the work that I do. It’s tough times out there for lots of people and I certainly have my challenges with being self employed and having lots of expenses. For this reason, I want to help other people (and myself) continue to see possibility and curate the ability to claim (or reclaim) their lives.

I think a lot about the future. As I travel and as I spend time with my friends in their homes, I wonder what I might do someday when I’m ready to settle down again. I’m wondering if it might make more sense to explore a roommate situation. There could be a lot of benefits – having friends/housemates, lower cost of living and also just having a smaller footprint and less crap to manage. I don’t mind doing chores and spending on bills, etc. But I have to tell you, after years of doing it on my own, I’m damn tired of having to take care of everything by myself (up to the point of hitting the road). Although there might be less privacy, maybe moving into a roommate situation at some point will allow me to continue my nomad lifestyle while ALSO maintaining a home base and a place to leave my important things. All that said, I continue to think about the idea of having a van or camper, as well. Still way too early to decide, but it’s always on my mind.

I think it’s important to acknowledge something here. Inspired by another author I follow here on Substack, I want to share some of the other “real” aspects of nomad life. While I enjoy my freedom, flexibility and travels, it also comes with a persistent sense of being unsettled. I don’t really know where the future will take me. I don’t always feel great about asking my friends to let me stay with them (I’m getting in the way, I’m a nuisance, I should pay rent, etc. ). I have “road” expenses, like car repairs/maintenance, traffic tickets 😳, and more. I don’t have a big budget for nice hotels or Airbnbs. And I don’t always have clever or inspired ideas about what to do when I get to a new place. Often, I find myself going to the most commonly known spots or sticking to restaurants that I know and enjoy already. I’m not being as daring as I fantasized about. I’m often not finding the interesting or unique places until it’s almost time to leave. And I still wish I could somehow get all of my belongings down to a single bag. For every adventure and moment of excitements, I have lots of worry and doubts. It’s still the life I choose and I’m grateful for it. But just like any other life, it’s not glamorous or all that brave, in the grand scheme.

Here’s what’s next:

Next week I fly to Las Vegas to teach classes for a client. I’ll just fly in and out. In case you’re wondering, I’ve been to Vegas enough in the past. I don’t really care for it now. There’s not much there for me. I don’t gamble, I don’t drink and I really can’t stand being around cigarette smoke. Also, the noise and activity is just too much! It’s overstimulation. At some point if I drive through, I’ll go explore the outskirts: the lakes, mountains and neighborhoods. I think that might be interesting. But I’m glad I’m teaching for 2 days. There will be no time for any of the craziness of the strip and casinos.

During April, I’ll be doing a lot of virtual work. I have lots of commitments for virtual classes and programs for several clients. I also have some new coaching clients coming up. During April, I’ll stay close to Atlanta to do some more petsitting for my friend, while also exploring other road trips I might make from this hub. Perhaps Charleston, Raleigh-Durham, Nashville, or places in Alabama? We shall see.

In May, I will head to the northeast and spend a couple of months working through the northern states.

So that’s another three weeks in the life of this nomad. Nothing crazy to report. What would you like to hear more about?

I hope this post finds you healthy, cared for and protected. If you’re in the US, take care of yourself and check in on your friends. These are wild times! If you’re elsewhere in the world, drop a note and let me know how things are in your part of the world.

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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