Day 22 - Life Ain't Always Easy

Day 22, Thursday, September 11, 2014 - NYC 

This trip has been remarkable. Difficult, but remarkable. I realize from the Framer reading my writings that in his point of view it seems that I have portrayed all as lovely and simple and peachy-keen. I told him that I didn’t want to write and gripe about the challenges, but perhaps I should paint a picture of life in a caravan a little more clearly. 

Everything I have written has been very accurate. I am a cup half full person, so even when things are hard I can see the positive in the situation. There is always something to gain from difficult circumstances, and this trip is no exception. 

The first week or so was filled with working out the bumps with regard to so many small things that in and of themselves would have been minor, but when put together they added up to frustrating inconveniences. When I look back, I think that I have spoken accurately of complications, and perhaps he just reads them from my cup half full point of view: 

Yes, I had hard times connecting, and because this journey is about a few important things, this was paramount to me. I wanted to get away to see the world, to relax, to spend time with my children, but also, very importantly - to write. I love to write, and at home the writing does not take place because I am so busy with running a house, farm, school, and helping the Framer with the accounts for the business, not to mention the times when work calls him away from home, and it is me and the kids running the show. 

I figured, silly me, that hitting the road would be a sanguine affair of me driving casually across the country, stopping at pleasant campgrounds, the children happily playing and me writing. Not quite so simple, my dear!

I know that if I do not write within a day or so of events taking place that I will forget what transpired or was said, and I don’t want that, so I compose early or late, but of course, if I am too tired, that is when it waits a day or so. I also edit my photos when I have no connection, and then when we manage to get WIFI, that is when the upload takes place. 

But really that is not what he was referring to when the Framer spoke of me writing only of the lovely. I think he was speaking of children in the backseat poking each other, not to be mean, but because they could, or seven people in a wee tiny caravan trying to work around each other as we make dinner, and someone’s foot gets stepped on, or a child is told to go ‘upstairs’ to the bedroom - which is all of 3x6 in size with a height of 18”, so that we have room to clean up, and them landing on another person’s head as they try to make the ascent. Or bigger boys not learning the way of the road, and having to be corrected because younger ones do the set-up or take-down of the campsite, or a child with chores deciding that even a small job such as washing the floor is too much. Or the fact that the pace of our trek across the West side of America was a little too fast, and there was not enough breathing room, and to really, truly enjoy it all one must add in a few more days, or stores not taking a debit card, making it necessary to use credit, or finding leaks in the caravan, or computer’s breaking down.

There are so many more little niggling problems, but the way I feel is that the incidents might be annoying, but it is no different than a hiker of the Pacific Crest Trail experiencing a blister on a foot, or a rock stuck in a shoe, or a broken shoe lace, or the food not coming into the next pit stop, or a friendly driver giving one a ride from one location to another, and being dropped at the wrong entry point, causing an extra few miles of miles walking to be necessary. In the grand scheme of things, those are just drops of water in an ocean of unbelievable adventure! 

Yes, I am hoping that now we have worked out a semblance of life on the road, and we have passed through most of the United States, where we had too much to see, in too little time, with too many deadlines, that we will now hopefully, Lord willing, encounter a little more smooth sailing.

I can guarantee, though, that when my aunt and uncle sailed the world for four years, in the 41 foot Pieces of Eight when I was a child, that it was not as glamorous as it sounds. There was the nitty gritty of being in the middle of the ocean, miles from anywhere and running low on supplies, of having parts break down and being stranded in marinas for days or weeks on end as they made repairs, or storms coming in while out at sea, but we at home got postcards from all parts of the globe, and all we saw were visions of Tahiti, Fiji, the Cook Islands and more. 

Oh, well, to me it is all good stuff. No, it is not all that I envisioned, but it has taught me something important. I might have thought that being on the road unfettered would leave me free from the struggles of life, but not so. What I do think is that God has allowed me to see that no matter where I am life will create challenges, but the critical thing is that I continue to trust Him. 

At home, on the road - He is there. Leaving, running out into the wide blue yonder is not the answer to life’s hard times. Leaning on Him is, because no matter where I go transmissions will blow-up, crisis’ will arise, and home is still a wonderful place to return to! But for now, the road calls, and we are already plotting our next Wanderlust Adventure! It might be a year or two in the making, but with this many kids and airfares being so expensive, we need to make use of our continent, and there is so much more to experience. Next time, though, I will know a little more about what to expect!