Like I said in my other post, I’m not really sure vacation
is supposed to be a life changing event, but maybe it is…I mean, there is a
whole genre of books and movies about (mostly) white women going to exotic places
and having their whole worlds change (see “Under the Tuscan Sun”, “Eat, Pray,
Love”, “The Holiday”, “Wild”- ok, maybe not a vacation, “How Stella Got Her
Groove Back”, “Tracks”- also not a vacation and seriously one of my favorite
movies etc etc etc. I think part of the reason why I truly enjoyed Arizona was
because we didn’t do anything extravagant yet everything was special. I like to
focus on where I am when I am on a
trip, not what I am doing. I want to spend more of my life like this.
James and I have been exploring minimalism recently and
really want to simplify every aspect of our lives. It sort of started in a
material sense when we sold our house in Woodstock and “downsized”. Honestly the house we have now still feels too big. We don’t
have a lot of “stuff” anyway, but have slowly been getting rid of things we
don’t need. Being vegan also helps; I skip ¾ of the grocery store when shopping and use much simpler recipes.
Our ultimate form of minimalism will come when
my student loans are paid off and we can sell our house, thus having no debt.
After 10 years at my job, I will be able to qualify for loan forgiveness (Dear
Jesus please do not let the political powers that be discontinue the public
services student loan forgiveness program). I have 3 years to go. In 2020, I would like to quit my job, sell our house, buy a travel trailer
and figure out something new to do for a while. Maybe we'll move a new place, maybe we won't. Maybe I'll still be a social worker, maybe I won't. Maybe I'll be a fire watcher like I wanted to be when I was a kid. Who knows...