Travel

It’s Sunday morning in Salt Lake City, Utah. It’s not just fun and games out here as I’m preparing to go to my last day of a course to update my Wilderness First Responder certification. We have been on the road for close to a month now and the realities of that are just starting to settle in. First and foremost of these is this: when engaged in long term travel, it’s no longer a vacation, it’s a life.

Vacation is easy, or at least it should be. There is a set amount of time during which a person’s only purpose is to engage in activities they find fulfilling or give them joy. When traveling long-term, the things we do during vacation are a part of the equation, but there is also the aspects of daily living that must also be figured in. For me, these include figuring out how to maintain the habits and rituals that I know provide me with an internal stability, a sense of home I can feel no matter where I am, things like a daily practice of meditation, time to write, and regular intervals of exercise. When living out of a tent, a car, or staying with friends, finding the space, time, and motivation to fit in these activities can be challenging. For example since the Bryce 100, already 2 weeks in my rearview mirror, I’ve only gotten it 3 short runs. My personal journal is also woefully short on entries during a time period when it should have been full of them.

How will I figure out how to fit in the daily activities that make up a rewarding life for me? I don’t have any answers yet. All I know is I’ve got to keep trying and this morning is a good start. The habits and rituals that enrich my life are so important to me and maintaining them no matter where I end up laying my head down each night will go a long way in making this adventure we are on be more sustainable.

What about you?

What are the daily habits, routines, and activities that help you feel grounded?

What do you do about these things when you are traveling or in unfamiliar situations?

This morning we awoke in Flagstaff, Arizona. It’s hard to know what time it is because the time zones keep changing on us. Just as I was getting used to the idea of Mountain Time, we crossed into Arizona, a state that did not like Daylight Savings Time and so repealed it. Except for the Navajo, they decided to keep it. Either way it’s currently either 5:30 or 6:30 in the morning and I’m wide awake.

I am growing weary of driving. Though the scenery we have been passing through has grown progressively more stunning, the confinement of the automobile is starting to wear on me. Today we should be able to spend more of our time enjoying this place. Our objective is to get into Grand Canyon National Park and hopefully find a place to camp, a tricky proposition this time of year it sounds like.

We are slowly adapting to living out of the car, though we still have not quite got our systems worked out for how to organize and access the things that we need. For me, having a system of organization is an important part of making life feel more manageable. I like to know where things are and for those places to make logical sense. Having a good organizational system means there is one less thing I have to think about, so that I can focus on more important or interesting things. We’ll get it all sorted out after a few more days I’m sure, but for now, it’s time for me to figure out where I put my toothbrush.

Do any of you have tips or strategies you use to stay organized while traveling?