Road Life Endures
My extended stay in Texas is coming to an end, and I don’t know how I feel about it.
This is my new Ram 1500 4x4. Keep reading to find out why I bought it and about my new path to road life.
Many of you know, I wasn’t supposed to be here this long. My original plan was to be here while I waited for my van to finish being built, then spend the holidays and early winter here, and then spend the rest of winter in Arizona and/or New Mexico and continue north up the west coast. After the accident, that was still the plan once the van was repaired—but of course, that was never to be. For those of you who don’t follow me on Instagram where I post more frequent updates, my insurance company (which is no longer my insurance company, for good reason) decided to declare my van a total loss after I waited five months for it to be fixed.
I’ve been in Texas for over six months now. While I always intended to make Texas my state of residence again while I traveled, I never thought I’d be here this long. It’s been interesting to confront the ideals and beliefs I grew up with and around, as well as who I used to be and what I thought I wanted out of life compared to who I am and what I want out of life now—all while dealing with a very tumultuous series of events. It was hard leaving Texas, and it was hard coming back.
I hinted in my Instagram stories a couple of weeks ago that another path was unfolding, and you may have seen some developments in my stories. After losing the van, I thought I’d get another one (already built rather than custom to me, since I was tired of waiting), but then I started to wonder if I should just buy some land and a tiny house and live a simple, minimalist, off-grid life. I was craving stability after so much chaos. I was even looking at property up in northern Arizona.
Ultimately, I couldn’t imagine skipping this road life adventure. It’s what I truly crave, deep in my soul. No van spoke to me, though (not to mention how expensive they’ve gotten because of the demand—van life seems to be at its peak). So, I decided to get a little more creative.
I’ve known about Kimbo for a while. Their truck campers are rugged, unique, off-grid ready, and thoughtfully designed. I put a deposit down last month, and it will be ready in January (they have quite a waitlist, and they’re built to order). I’m putting less emphasis on the method of travel and more emphasis on the journey itself. It will have far less amenities than the van, but it will challenge me in ways I want to be challenged, and it will take me to places the van never could have. I’ve spent the last few weeks learning more about trucks and payload capacities and tire load ratings than I thought I’d ever know!
In the meantime, I have more travel planned. I’ll be spending August and September in northern New Mexico (about an hour from Santa Fe), and I’m trying to decide where to spend July and October. Now that a new plan is coming together, I’m feeling inspired and creative again, and all of this has made me realize…
The journey is about how you handle and how you grow from the things that try to stop you. Just remember: another path is already unfolding.
