It’s hard to believe this is my third December living in the van.
When I first began traveling, I told myself each year would be different. I would travel new roads, venture to new towns, and see sights I hadn’t seen before. While there were certain areas that drew me back for a second meeting, I mostly stayed true to my original idea, which had me zig-zagging all across the American West.
This past year, I unexpectedly tried something different: I stayed put.
It all began with a month-long dog-sitting stint in Breckenridge, Colorado. When that ended and it was time to move out of the house and back into my van, I didn’t drive to another state or even four hours down the road. Instead, I drove up into the mountains overlooking the town and stayed there for nearly three months. It was a great change of pace, though I still wrestled with the restlessness that arose from time to time. The open road called, but there was so much to explore right there in front of me.
I ventured around the mountain and dipped into town on my bike, so I never felt stagnant or isolated.
Staying parked in one place also allowed me to dive deeper into my artwork. While I still had to pack everything up each night due to living in a very small space, I could work on multiple paintings at once and not worry about them getting dusty or marred during travel. I simply slid them into organizing drawers where they sat until I pulled them out the next day.