I think wanderlust has always been a part of me. As a young girl, I remember wondering why other girls that were looking forward to marriage and living in the same town they grew up in. To me it seemed like such a foreign idea. How could that be anyone’s goal? I didn’t know what I wanted or what I could do, I just knew I wanted to see more of what was out there in the world.

I manage to do a bit of traveling in my first 60 years of life although I never seemed to have money or time or someone who really shared my yearning. Having kids certainly affected some of my thought patterns and a husband with no imagination didn’t help; and then divorce and the logistics of being a single broke mom really slowed things down. There were always excuses and things holding me back from exploring and developing my own self. But underneath it all was a constant dissatisfaction with my life.

Then one day I was on my own. The kids were out of the house and there was no one holding me back except me! At the same time I finally started coming out of my shell and learning how to put myself out there regardless of my shyness & introversion. A couple of things helped: (1) my job started involving me making presentations to large groups of people. (2) Contra Dancing. (More on both of these later)

But the clock was ticking…… I felt and saw myself aging. I decided that I needed to do what made me happy before it was too late to enjoy it. I realized I was happiest when I was out in nature, hiking, kayaking,etc or dancing.

As the possibility of retirement approached, thoughts of seeing all the national parks and dancing all around the country kept filling my head. I knew I couldn’t afford to and didn’t really want to stay in fancy hotels. Not my style. Nor did I want to drive a great big RV. And since I do not have a significant other or ‘life partner’; I would have to have the courage to do it on my own. With encouragement from just a couple of friends, I started looking at trailers; pop-ups, teardrops, A-frames, Casitas, etc. But before I purchased anything, I needed to convince myself that solo travel would be something I could do and enjoy.

I retired in June 2018 and took my first extended road trip in my Subaru OutBack. And I enjoyed every minute. So I was pretty sure this was for me.

Now all I needed was an appropriate vehicle, a lot more knowledge, information and practice. Stay tuned for details about my first trip(s) and sharing of all the knowledge and information I can deliver.