Real Journey: Home

12,901.4 miles
208 days
25 states

For the past couple of weeks, Chris and I have been showing slideshows of pictures from our seven months living on the road, as we explored the terrain of this amazing country. Pictures of rivers, volcanoes, mountains, dirt of various colors, painted canyons, recognizable monuments, waterfalls, sunsets, dams, deserts, grasslands and so much more. Our friends and family have awed at our adventure, asked questions about the things we’ve seen and done. For anyone wanting a refresher of the pictures from the past seven months, I’ve set up a Technomadic Adventure Set on Flickr.

But the pictures are only but a small fraction of what the journey consisted of. They don’t even come close to reflecting the full journey.

It’s the lessons I learned along the way that better give the complete picture. A picture a camera can never capture.

So, what did Cherie learn? I’m going to start putting effort into reflecting on the various lessons that have made up my journey over the past seven months. It’ll likely be done over a series of entries.

The first topic I’ll explore tonight will be:

Lesson 1: Home

In the weeks preluding my return to Florida, I’ve had many people tell me ‘Welcome Home.’ Others have been more perceptive and followed it up with ‘Well.. is it really like coming home?’.

Let’s go back a couple years to an event that likely helped make the decision to hit the road conceivable. In September of 2004, the Melbourne area of Florida got a one two punch from hurricanes, causing two rapid succession evacuations. The first was a predicted Category 4 storm, that when we left we were not expecting to come back to a house. After the storm weakened, we returned to only minor damage and I Pondered the Concept of Home.

Home for me, has to have a feeling of being in a space of my own creation.

Before Chris and I set out on the road together, we did a lot of work on Tab and Jeep together.. making it ours. We stripped everything out, and put her back together again. From the electrical system, organizational systems, decorations, etc. Using what I learned in 2004, for Tab to feel like my home – I had to feel I was part of creating the space.

And it worked. Tab became our little egg of a home. It was only 50 sq ft of living space, but I had influenced, worked on and knew every square inch of that space. I knew all her quirks, as I had with every other space that I’ve called home in the past. My sense of home was now ready to embark from being tied to a physical address. The ultimate test to my lessons from the hurricanes of 2004.

I’ve not been away from home these past 7 months. I’ve been away from Florida, yes. A homebase for me, but not necessarily my home when I’m not here. I have been mostly at home for the past months – except for the few occasions where we stayed as guests in other people’s homes. But even then home was parked in the front driveway. Of course, we also often sleep in Tab in front of our host’s homes – because it really is easier for short term stays for us not to move, and sleep in our own bed.

And now that I’m back in Florida, and all our stuff is moved back into the house I own here, and we’ve taken effort to make our space ours – I am also at home. But I’m not back home. I’m simply back in my real estate property.

I’m simply still at home.