…For those of you who don’t know me, I’ll share a little background. 

Not to bore you with the details, I’ll keep it short.  I’m a soon to be 45 year old, divorced woman.  In my previous life, I worked in the bar/restaurant business.  Twenty Five years of that life, fuck…time flies! After my divorce, I went back to school and became a nurse.  I worked in a high volume, very urban emergency room.  Needless to say, I started to get burned out.

I don’t like labels, however, if I had to give myself one…I think it would include words such as “outdoorsy”, “hippie”, “wilderness”, “adventurous”, “trauma junkie”, “emergency first responder”, “healer”, “animal lover”, “organic”, “environmental”, “honest”….

I needed a change from the ER, that encompassed all of these and more.  I went on a couple medical missions.  One to Kenya, Africa.  I stayed in the Alendu Village, helped set up and run a clinic.  We assessed symptoms and administered medications.  We also educated, women especially, how to stay healthy and live in wellness within their means.  I was there for about 1 month.  That trip changed my life!!

 

I also traveled to Haiti.  This was a shorter trip, as my job wouldn’t allow me the time off.  This trip was about 2 weeks.  It was more of a community service mission.

After these trips, and some soul searching…I realized I’m in charge of my own happiness.  Nothing changes if nothing changes.  I had to initiate the change.  Scary, for sure…but at the same time exhilarating.

I thought about what makes me the happiest…Eureka!…being in the woods with my dog.  I only had Jannali, at that time.  Her happiness rules my life.  She loves to be outside, hiking, playing in creeks, and anything else outside.  She’s addicted to being outside.

 

I thought I would take out my retirement and buy a home, on some land, so she could have her own acreage to run, however, nothing worked out.  I resigned from my job and started to explore other options.

Then my second girl, Jirakee, came into my life. She brought a different energy to our little family.  Our family dynamic had changed, for the better.   It is my responsibility, to my girls and me, to fill our world with positive energy.

I’ve had dogs all my life, however, this is the first time I’ve had 2 at the same time.  We needed to move on…

 

Since nothing was working out with the home buying, I decided to take our family “on the road”…had a yard sale, threw out/purged, and with the help of some very dear friends and family…we now live in our camper. It needed some major repairs after the Winter.  A new water heater tank/new faucet/random seam sealing…just to name a few. It’s a modest 17′ – 19′ Bantam Trail Lite Hybrid.  LOL…I was told it was 17′ when I bought it, but after looking it up, it could be 19’….anyway…only relevance to size is that …we’ve been “practicing” at a friend’s for the past month.  She has a campground on her property.  We are on a cement camper pad able to plug in and have a water hook up.  I thought practicing before we go out on the road was a good idea.  It was a good idea!  It’s a tad bit cramped, however, you don’t need much room INSIDE if the world is OUTSIDE, right?

 

We’ve been practicing for the past month and I already feel the energy and excitement.  I’m not naive, I also feel the stress/apprehension/fear, but no growth comes from staying in your comfort zone.

THIS, is the last weekend we’ll be here in Pennsylvania, for a while.  On Monday we depart for Lake Michigan.  I’m going to be a camp nurse, at a Wilderness Camp for the next 7 weeks…Camp Miniwanca  Here We Come….