When we started our blog at Technomadia, Chris used the tagline ‘Adventures in Nomadic Serendipity’.
While I’ve lived a pretty adventurous life even before him, I was an overplanner. I left little room for chance. And when plans didn’t go as intended, I was stressed.
To set off on this new adventure, I had to toss that tendency aside – because this nomadic lifestyle – will not always be predictable.
I’m not quite sure I was aware of just how much I had to learn to trust that things would work out. How much I would have to shed.
To set intentions and release them. Do our homework to be prepared. Set our foundation, know our skillsets.
But not overplan. Not overthink.
Just trust. Listen to your heart and soul, and go. And know that we have this, wherever serendipity navigates us to, the signposts will be there to let us know we’re on the right path.
Serendipity is not just throwing caution into the wind and hoping for luck and good blessings.
It’s a delicate balance of a mind space between your own intentions and faith in the universe.
In 2010 we jumped on an opportunity to park our Oliver Travel Trailer and move over to the USVI for a season. We had never heard of the island of St. John. We had little information on what was ahead of us.
It was a leap that we decided to take and shift everything towards in a few mere hours. We packed up what we could in a couple suit cases, tossed Kiki in a pet carrier and moved into an empty treehouse screenroom.
And we figured it out from there.
When we got there, we noted several of the ‘Dip’ road signs on the island had been altered. ‘Clam Dip’. ‘Skinny Dip’.
And the sign at the bottom of our steep mountain road?
serenDIPity.
We couldn’t get a more clear sign post that we were in the right place for this moment in time.
2011 would have many more adventures in tossing ourselves into Serendipity’s arms. For when we returned to the mainland we decided it was time to shake up our RV life.
Just as soon as we made the decision, we got an unsolicited offer to sell our trailer & truck with a 2-week delivery that would leave us essentially homeless.
So what did we do?
We packed everything we needed into a backpack, picked up an old RV with its own lessons to share borrowed from friend, got our stuff & Kiki to family – and then we bought a month long rail pass on Amtrak to hunt for a vintage bus.
What an adventure traveling the country by rails!
Trusting in serendipity isn’t always easy, but it all works out.
2011 was our year of mastering letting serendipity do the navigating. A lesson we still have to remind ourselves of at times to do more of.
Technomadia 15 Years Retrospective Series
In the lead up to Cherie's 15th Nomadiversary on May 10, 2022 - she shared a retrospective post for each year with a lesson about nomadic life and our own journey.
Here's a video recap of the series (caution, it's over 50m long!):
And here are the individual chapters of this series:
I remember your move to St Johns, but not the rail trip. Thanks for sharing your adventures!
You two feel like old friends even though we have never met. Your blog and channel were the first ones I began following in 2012 when I started thinking about the full time nomad life. I’m ever so grateful for all you have shared and all I have learned from you through the years. This retrospective is such good perspective, and so timely as, after a few years on the road, I’m now putting my 5th wheel on the market to pursue another way of nomadic life, by staying longer in locations to really experience the areas. I’ve grown weary of overcrowded campgrounds and am ready for a new adventure. I’m grateful for how you’ve shared your own pivot points. Thank you again for all you have done for this community. Hugs!
Good to know….that is what we are starting to do. We are in our first place for 3 months, and moving along the coast while staying at places for a minimum of one month.
I really enjoyed that tidbit. Thanks for taking the time to write it.
Thank you for sharing your reflections on your journey. I read all your posts but dont often feel compelled to comment until now! This was a great post on following your heart and trusting the universe. We are just starting out on our own full time RV adventure and I imagine I think back on your comments often. There’s always something to learn!
Really loving your reflections on the past 15 years.
So fun. Your message is a good one and we try to follow the same method.
I used to also want everything planned out. Life got in the way, changed things, and I was always anxious about what was next.
I think I’ve finally learned that there are unexpected events that change things. But – – often those new plans result in so many new experiences for us. Serendipity!