Right now the warm water is pressing up to my toes, as my heels sink down in the sand. The mountains are green from the fresh snowmelt and somewhere in them are my two oldest children, away at their first overnight camp.
I am not gonna lie, we’ve been struggling with our kids getting older. It isn’t what you think. We aren’t sentimental about the little years passing away. We are stoked at how the world and opportunities are opening up to us now that they are older and more able.
I realized last week that we have less years with them than we’ve already had.Ā
It seems like yesterday when we would sit in the living room as I nursed our youngest and chat about how awesome it would be to someday hit the road for 2-6 months at a time, visiting places like the Pacific Northwest, Washington DC, Canada, and the Great Lakes. We weren’t sure if it would ever happen and even less sure how it possibly could.
Fast forward 7 years. And suddenly we don’t have as much time for “someday.” Homeschooling and my husband’s job currently allows us to travel, doing work and school from the road part time. So why not take advantage of it now, while we can?
As parents we need to embrace change
I’ll admit the tendency for “steady state living” is strong. What I mean is this: there seems to be a strong pull in our culture to find this steady state of nirvana. The perfect job that we can have till we retire, the perfect house we can living in for the next 20 years, the perfect schools for our kid’s entire education, the perfect city for our needs, and even the perfect gear for all our outdoor adventures.
Don’t keep coloring the picture the same color. Embrace your next chapter.
And so that leads me to where I sit now, laptop open inside a 25′ Safari SS Airstream 2005 that we purchased in CA two weeks ago. We have many “work-on-the-road” systems to iron out over the next 4 months, but our hope is to start making good on some of our long-term travel dreams. To continue takingĀ these kids of ours with us on a new adventure. To head out into the world, show them new places, and be able to stay on the road long enough to taste it, smell it and touch it with our own two hands.
Now you know the why behind us buying a larger travel trailer. Barring anymore family chaos (think flooded basements and kids needing stitches) I will have time this week to give you a tour of the Airstream. Stay tuned!
Great post. Love the metaphor.
So glad to have found you! We have five kids who we homeschool and they range from 7-16 … time is running out for our outdoor adventures but we’re working on it! Can’t wait to binge-read your blog and get new posts in email! I’m a proofreader and writer from home but my husband is an engineer so our travel time is limited … we dream of taking the kids backpacking in Europe!