Fluidity

Usually before I go to sleep at night, I read a few pages of a novel. But for the past month or two, my bedtime reading has been my road atlas and various travel books. I've dreamed up a three-year itinerary that would allow me to see most of the Lower 48 states and Canada.

My plans for 2011 take me first to the Southwest to soak up the sun and get the moss off my backside. Then I want to meander east as far as Louisiana, then head north on the Great River Road, spending the summer visiting family and friends in the Midwest, before returning to the Pacific Northwest in the fall.

I figure on going to the East Coast for a large part of 2012, including spending some time in Eastern Canada, a place I've never been.

So, here I am, not yet even having gassed up the Dolphin and headed out of town, and I'm already changing my itinerary. Why? A cool opportunity to housesit at an intentional eco-village near Atlanta, Georgia, this coming May.

I'm very interested in intentional communities of all kinds. At this stage of my life, I want to travel. I want to see all of the U.S.A. and the rest of North America, although I'm pretty chicken about going to Mexico right now. I definitely want to see more of the world outside of my own continent, too. But eventually I'm going to want to settle down someplace where I have a strong sense of community and purpose. So I'll gladly drive 497 miles out of my way (New Orleans to Atlanta) to spend two weeks at Serenbe, especially for a paying housesitting client.

And now that I'm making a detour, I will have the glee of picking new routes! I like the dreams I have after falling asleep with the atlas on my lap.

My pics today are early ones of my child, Sly, who at age 18 is staying behind in Oregon to start college. I'm in the process of scanning photos before I start traveling. It was a project I dreaded, but now that I've started it, I am thoroughly enjoying it.