I used to be nomadical.
Or was it diabolical? I forget.
No wait. I remember now. The diabolical was revoked in 1988 after that nude beach "incident". Nomad it is.
At one point everything I owned fit into a 1974 metallic green flake Plymouth Duster. On a moments notice I could slip out of one place and into another faster than you can say Witness Relocation. I meandered to Montana and back with only a box of books, a tent, a toothbrush and a couple changes of clothing. I was gone three weeks. I would drive to Chicago or the Smokies for the weekend on a whim for pizza or mountain air.
The Duster gave way to a pink Sundance (much cooler sounding than the piece of shit lemon it turned out to be), then a little white Honda Civic that racked up almost 200,000 miles of American backroads before calling it quits, and now a kinda tan CRV closing in on 80K.
My stuff stopped fitting in my car somewhere back in the early '90's. Probably about the same time that I settled in one location for longer than a year. The amount of stuff, it turns out, is directly proportional to how long I have lived in one place.
It was probably about that same time that the nomadic adventures stopped. I missed those. And I am trying to see if I can coax them back. About a week ago, I saw something about the cherry trees in DC and thought how much I had always wanted to see them. A little Bedouin voice asked "What's stopping you?" Ironically this year - absolutely nothing. Oh there are the usual budget concerns, but really compared to the absolute zen of the cherry trees, the budget pales.
So, after debating it ad naseum, I just said WTF, threw some stuff in my car - as little as possible - and left. Not quite as sleek a caravan as I used to be able to do, but better than any trip in YEARS. Yes, I brought the laptop so I didn't get behind in the writing. And the GPS, so I didn't get too lost.
I imagined an uneventful drive thru OH, WV, PA and MD jamming to my favorite travel tunes, which it mostly was.....except for the BLIZZARD I drove thru on the PA turnpike. Really?!? A blizzard in April? Part of me wanting to wimp out, pull in to a hotel, and quit the adventure. Luckily the rest of me mutinied and kicked that part out.
So here I am in Frederick, MD. About 45 minutes from DC where, I will now embarrass myself by admitting, I have been only once. Unintentionally, on my way thru to Delaware. Kinda jacked about having a whole day to explore or just park my ass under a tree and let the blossoms cascade around me. Mostly excited to be somewhere new.
That bedouin is nodding his head.
I hope the only additional snow you encounter is the cherry blossom kind! Happy travels!
ReplyDeleteOh, lucky you - to be free to pack yourself up and take off wherever, whenever.....!
ReplyDeleteThanks for this post - felt like I was on the journey with you! :-)
SueH I refuse to go quietly!
I'd love to free enough to park myself under a tree and let the blossoms cascade. love your post
ReplyDeleteI used to dream of living in a camper so I could just wander wherever the road takes me ... now I'd need a semi truck just to haul my books. :-)
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