Discover home:
Some days you wake up ready to face the world, other days you wake up with a desire to hibernate and hunker down. I don’t believe I’m unique in this. Recently, my husband emerged from the other room with a smile a mile wide and informed me that I was embracing my Cinderella era. I love a good house cleaning day; mopping floors and wiping baseboards may very well be my love language. As I sat in my reading nook with the early morning sunlight streaming in the open blinds, the birds chirping wildly outside, he determined happily that I reminded him of Cinderella. [Thanks, love! I’ll take it!] My point is, some days we wake up with a renewed energy and focus, and other days require a bit of inspiration. That is when I lean into a good book, a Pinterest board, or simply begin to day dream about the life I want to create [and live] for myself that day.
Well laid plans…
When John and I began this crazy journey in 2023, our plan was to move somewhere new every 12-18 months. We never dreamed our first move would land us smack-dab in the middle of a resort location. We have two pools that seat 100-150 people, a hot tub for 15-20 at least, pickle ball courts, shuffle board, a reading Zen garden, Bocce ball court, a huge Central Park, a dog park, and a walking trail. That doesn’t even begin to mention the two club houses and the on-sight bistro that accounts for the fifteen pounds I’ve gained since 2023. But that’s another story for another day.
Now that we are truly empty nesters [our son just moved into his own place last weekend], I’m finding life feels a little strange. It isn’t that I am doing anything differently; I wasn’t doing his laundry or his dishes. I wasn’t managing his schedule or his social life. But the apartment feels different now.
While we were planning on only being here for a year, we are going on our fourth summer here. And to be completely honest, I could stay here…indefinitely. I truly love our neighbors, we love the social aspect of gathering around the fire pits in the evening and spending afternoons by the pool.
But why settle?
Then, in a single solitary moment, I picked up a book I’ve owned for years and began to flip through the pages again. The book is Nomad at Home by Hilary Robertson. I’ll link it in the resources if I can find it.
Hilary talks about moving to places like France, and Marrakech, Morocco, and Spain. Each place has its own unique design flavor, and its own unique social flavor. While John and I have talked about living in places like Toronto or the UK (short term of course), I do believe we can experience this nomad lifestyle within our own country. That is the plan, anyway.
Sometimes, all it takes is the inspiration of a day dream to get the ball rolling and the juices flowing again. This book, with its beautiful photography and Hilary’s story-telling ability, really reminded me again of our dream.
Day dreams and life plans…
Our story began similarly several years ago. Our daughter was beginning her junior year of high school; our son was entering eighth grade. We were driving to Daytona beach for vacation, and on our route we passed multiple billboards for Charleston, SC. Having visited before I remember thinking, “We saw that. We didn’t see that. We went there… we didn’t get to go there.” And I said to my husband, “You know, you can’t see it all in a week or two weeks. You would need to live somewhere for a year to see everything a place has to offer.” And his wheels immediately started turning.
All it took was a little day dream to change the course of our life. We started assessing our belongings, our house, our life, and our work. And we started to lean into the inspiration of the day dream. Here we are, almost ten years later, and we are seeing our dreams come to reality.
Chapters and headlines…
The chapters in Hilary’s book are titled things like, “The Borrowers, The Wanderers, and How to Nomad…” My favorite is “The Wanderers.” It reminds me of what Tolkien wrote, “Not all who wander are lost…” It also reminds me that we too can headline the chapters of our own lives, as well. Last week I would have titled that chapter “Preparation.” This week feels more like “Leaning into the Day Dream.”
We’ve found a renewed sense of curiosity and I’m continually looking for inspiration. When people enter our home I want them to feel a sense of intrigue and interest, but I want them to also feel that this place, wherever this place is, is still home.
We are ready to put on our traveling boots again, folks. We don’t know yet where we will go, or how long it will take us to get there, but we are most definitely going. There’s no time like the present, and no better inspiration than a good day dream.
xo, Billie
resources:
- The Story that Started it All: https://forwardourmail.com/what-a-story/
- Semi-Nomad Lifestyle: https://forwardourmail.com/semi-nomadic-lifesstyle/
- Nomad at Home Book [affiliate link]: https://amzn.to/4ssS4bA
