Saturday, July 7, 2012

My Gypsy Heart

Today's an alright, decent fellow
I do enjoy his company
But Tomorrow is my favorite chap
For he's bringing adventure and change to me

Unlike a few years ago, I'm really pretty happy with life right now. I am pleased (most days) with where we are at in this season. That said, if this season were to drag on for the rest of our lives, I probably wouldn't be. As a season, this is great. We love Austin. 

Perhaps this is contrary to the norm, but I am a person of change. I need seasons, and I need them to change. As much as I love Austin, I have no desire to stay here for the rest of my life. Maybe it comes from having moved an average of once a year, maybe it something deeper in my blood. I cannot fathom staying in one place that long. I get antsy and discontent once things become too familiar. I crave change. I want to see the world. Experience different places and people. Taste their foods, sing their songs, walk their paths. This feels like one of those things that is a core essential to my being.

We have clear direction, a plan, to make this happen, and so I am content(ish) to wait another couple years in an awesome city like Austin while things unfold. We're actively taking steps to make that dream a reality. Our plan is to (eventually) sell the house and live in a travel trailer/RV so that we can move whenever and wherever God leads us. To live a mobile lifestyle. My desire is to join with various Christian communities and outreaches across the nation to learn and serve alongside them.

It brings up a number of valid questions and concerns:


How did you come up with this? Is it even possible?  I'll thank my parents for giving us the idea. Now that my dad is retired, my family is getting ready to do just this, and we anticipate being able to travel with them. There are quite a few people who are nomads, living in buses, RVs, boats, vans, you name it. Many have families, several with many more children than we have. Oh, and their blogs are amazing.

Does Robert want to do this, too? Yes, he does! He's amazing like that.


Small living space? Yup. But we don't need most our junk anyway. Besides, the idea is that we will do most of our living outside and with the people we are partnering with in that city.

Kids' schooling? We were going to homeschool anyway. Now we will be able to show them the world instead of just telling them about it.

Income? We've got a couple ideas there. Robert's field (software engineering) has ample opportunities for telecommuting positions. We do have dreams for making money pursuing our passions. Mine is to have a family circus to perform at Renaissance Faires as we travel. (Hence my hobbies of slacklining, songwriting, diabolo, dragon sticks, fire poi, etc.) Robert's is to record and mix music. His will probably make more money. But until we see if either one will be able to support us, he is a genius coder and we can fall back on that. One of the benefits of minimal living is that (in theory) it will be much cheaper, so it's possible we'll be able to get by with Robert only having to work part time.

If you have any other questions, do bring them up! We do need to address things, so if you come up with a problem we haven't thought of, we'd appreciate it.