My wife and I are finishing up our first month of vanlife. For the past month we've been in one spot. It's an out of the way RV park in a small town with a population of less than 300. There's nothing here. It's the epitome of a one horse town. (though there are more than a few horses)
We could have spent the whole month travelling and seeing new places. But after decades of busting our asses and years of taking no days off to build our business, we're inclined to slow down a bit.
So the RV park suits us just fine. Right now it seems like the world wants to burn itself down. But we're blissfully separate from it. And that was by design.
For a long time we worked hard in our industry (as personal trainers and gym owners) to do well by our clients and our employees. And honestly, we sacrificed more for the sake of others than is healthy to do.
So now we've had a few weeks to relax. We're still working as personal trainers, but doing so online. We're not making decisions based on getting landlords or loan officers paid. We're not doing dumb things from a marketing standpoint that go against our values simply to hit conversion rates and attrition numbers.
Our lives are starting to be much more driven by our own values. And one thing that we're starting to find is that maybe our values around how we want to earn a living are changing. We're removing ourselves further and further from consumerism and considering our place in the world more. These changes are expected and welcome.
We have planned on being rent-free for long enough to save up for a plot of land to homestead on. And during that time we figured we'd continue to work as online personal trainers.
But we're reconsidering if that's the route we want to take anymore. By eliminating most of our bills and expenses, we're free to explore new ways of earning money and making our way in this world. And as I approach 50 years of age, trying to get grown ass adults to do their push ups just might not be the way.
The pandemic has created more online work opportunities, and many of which just might suit our nomadic lifestyle better than continuing to teach live fitness classes from various outdoor places around the country.
It might be that we can just chill out even more, do a job we can clock out of for a while, and enjoy life without the "always on" that comes from being self employed.
We're heading further east from the RV park we're in next week, and I'm sure the open road, and the further distance from the familiar will be giving us new ideas and perspectives on who we want to be in this next chapter of our lives.
We're open to evolve. Who do you become when you don't need to be what others expect you to be. We'll find out.