For all intents and purposes I’m homeless 🙂 Sleeping in a tent most nights and using whatever local coffee shop as my writing desk. I balance my days between 10 hour writing sessions and climbing mountains, swimming in Glacial lakes and reading in my hammock.

In the short term, I’ve been traveling since May. In the short-ish term I’ve been traveling since I left for India in February. In the longer term, I’ve been traveling since I left the apartment that Mitch and I shared in January of 2016. For 20 months I haven’t spent longer than 5 months at any one location. 5 months in Phoenix, 4 months in Hoboken, 2 months in India, 4 months traveling the Lower 48 and a smattering of weeks in between in my hometown of Louisville, Ohio, visiting my best friend in Austin, TX and months now in our National Parks!

In an email I received today, a colleague said, “Your vacation looks absolutely heavenly”. While that makes my heart soar, because these last months have indeed been heavenly; it’s time that I fess up. I’m not sure whether I’m fessing up to myself or others, but here is my truth:

For now, I LOVE traveling and writing with no “home base”. Canton/Louisville, Ohio is no longer where I live, but where I’m from. A place that I attribute so much of me, a place I will love and miss for the rest of my life; but no longer a community I am an active participant. It is a time of grief for me to be certain. Anyone who speaks to me for longer than 30 seconds knows how proud I am of downtown Canton, what a proud Louisville Rotarian I am and probably my 5 most favorite things about Ohio. I have my address from downtown Canton tattooed on my side for christ’s sake! My “400” aka an original tenant of 400 McKinley Ave NW Canton, Ohio 44702 were more than friends, they saved my life in more ways than they will ever know and I’m so happy we chose to immortalize that time with matching tattoos. But it’s time for me to forge my own path, in my own way, in a place that speaks to my soul as much as my familiar ties.

While I know I want to be bringing in more money so I can alleviate bills for my mom and be more generous with my friends, family and philanthropic giving; working as a freelance writer is working for me! Short form content in the form of social media posts and long form content in the form of grants, press releases and blog posts in addition to the Indiegogo for my manuscript is enough. Barely, but enough! And enough is sufficient for me with no children or mortgage or car payment. It’s worth the trade off to not be rolling in money to be adventuring the way my heart demands. So, I have no idea when this adventurer will eventually want a dog, a night stand or a man enough to settle down, but it isn’t today and this isn’t a vacation, it’s a lifestyle!