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| Sleeping Ute Mountain - Colorado You know it's cold when the mountain puts on it's blanket. |
We are 9 months into
#vanlife now, and it's time to recap some lessons learned on the road
– ones you won't find in all those preparatory YouTube videos you
may be watching. There's so much more to it than learning how to
potty in every possible outdoor environment--more to it than having
the right cook stove and a generous supply of babywipes.
Although I would
never, ever, dis on the babywipes.
This train runs on them, no
doubt.
When I left on this
journey I was a stressed out-crust of a person, crumbs crumbling
right and left. I was fat and out of shape, with a host of bad
habits. Walking a mile was a stretch assignment. Climbing a hill
was out of my league.
This life has
changed me, physically, mentally, spiritually. It has washed me in cold creek water, rung me out, and hung me up to dry in the hot desert sun. It has taught me gratitude and frugality.
Most of all, it has made me strong.
Climbing a rocky
desert hill at 5000 feet was the first challenge. In order to get to
the gold panning grounds, we had to walk this hill, everyday, (both ways!) carrying all of
our equipment. Pounds of it and my own extra padding dragged at my every step. I couldn't breathe.
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| Anasazi ruins, Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, CO. |
My heart beat at a speed it never
attained no matter how stressful the business meeting.
I started by praying
for strength, when I wasn't berating myself for a wuss or worrying
about which arm aches in a heart attack. But it wasn't long before I
realized that you don't pray for strength, you earn it.
You pray for
determination and strength will come. I stopped saying “Please make me
strong enough to climb this mountain” and started repeating
“Mountain, make me
strong.”
And it did. Every
step up that mountain rebuilt me. Now I scamper around on cliffsides
and hop from rock to rock.
Yesterday we forded a creek and hiked to
ancient Anasazi ruins on an unmarked trail. We found untouched
ruins, hand tools, petroglyphs, and shards of black and white pottery.
We drank a jug of water where the ancients sat on the “steps”
outside their home. We looked at the view they saw with not a work
of modern man in sight.
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| An ancient Anasazi dwelling, Water storage? Canyons of the Ancients NM |
By the time I was
strong enough to do it, I was ready to be blown away by the
experience. You will be, too, if you have the right chance and the
right stuff to jump off.
By the way, we left all of the artifacts there for you to see when you come this way. Canyon of the Ancients, add it to your "must boondock" list.
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| Anasazi Pottery Shards, Canyons of the Ancients. Left onsite as the law and good stewardship requires. |
To experience freedom for a year, or the
rest of your life -- consider it.
There's no life like this one, I participate and am present in every day of my life now - and it has made me
strong, thrifty, grateful and wise.
What #vanlife challenges have transformed you?
If you haven't jumped off yet, what do you expect to change?
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