What Is Different About Our Days On The Road…

‘What is different about our days on the road?‘, I thought to myself as I tucked myself into bed on the evening of our return home.

On the road we wake up not knowing what the day will unveil.

We have no ‘must do’ lists in our heads, no places we must be.

On the road we wake up in new places. We breathe in a new view almost every morning.

We go to sleep under a different blanket of stars.

On the road our minds aren’t clogged by a zillion thoughts. It isn’t in auto-drive. There is no routine, no usual route.

We can absorb the freshness of everything. We can think clearly.

On the road our days are longer, fuller… everything is slower.

We are not running anywhere. We can do one thing at a time. We can enjoy the NOW without thinking about the LATER.

On the road we are free of distractions.

We can stop and watch a bird, a tree, a lake… and actually observe what is in front of us… we can linger on it.

 

On the road we have time to really listen.

My daughters speak to me and I can stop and look into their eyes. They can feel that I am 100% there.

On the road we hold more hands, kiss more lips, offer more hugs...

In our camper, intimacy is found at a different level. Our family wakes up together and shuts off the lights together… we cuddle and lounge in close quarters… everything is lived so much more intensely. We have time to express our emotions. Morning, afternoon and night… we love in four.

 

On the road, we witness endless skies, glowing bodies of water, we watch the sun go down almost every day…

at home… almost never... how profoundly sad.

As I pulled the covers closer to me on that evening of our return, I wondered why we allow our lifestyles to get in the way of the newness, the slowness, the freedom, the time, the listening, the hugs, the sunsets. All of these things are available to us each and every day, whether we are on the road or at home.

Why then, are most of us not available to truly live our lives most of the time?

When I am not available, am I profoundly wrong… or is it something that I am not able to control?

When we aren’t available, is it us… or is it the way we were taught to live… the way we believe we have to live?

On the road, I don’t want to return home… (none of us do)

and even when I do… even when I miss what I don’t have on the road… the feeling doesn’t last too long.

When I return home I am reminded very quickly that the most profoundly wrong thing about me is that when I am not on the road I limit my life, I often live my life as if I don’t have a choice… I deny myself of the things that make me feel most ALIVE…

and, this is why,  the syndrome of THE  RETURN quickly hits every single time.

If you have time, watch this video… I LOVE IT! It precisely expresses my feeling of going and returning and wanting to go once again!

Hugs from home (but not for too long!),