My (First) Travel Story

Four years ago, my husband Charlie and I decided to quit our jobs and travel the country. When we left, I claimed I was going to document the whole thing in a blog. But I never did it. In fact, I’ve been reluctant to tell “my travel story” up until this point. I guess it’s because I thought I failed. What a predictable thing for an overachiever to say. I didn’t fail…I’m just still on my journey. 

The Beginning

My story begins like so many other traveling stories. I was a professor at a large Midwest university. And even though I was still fairly young, I was climbing that academic ladder fast. My classes were (usually) full, and I was speaking to standing-room only crowds at national conferences. In academia, that practically makes you a rock star. 

Charlie, on the other hand, was an actual rock star and played in a popular local band. I mean, he didn’t have paparazzi following him or anything. But so many people knew him that he felt the need to use a fake stage name. Which made things awkward when “Mr. & Mrs. Carlito Esperanza” got so many generous checks on our wedding day.

Everyone thought we had the perfect life. From the outside, maybe it looked that way. But the reality was very different. Our beautiful Midcentury Modern house on the golf course? We couldn’t afford it. Those big dinner parties we threw? They actually masked a lot of depression. Besides, professors and rock stars don’t exactly have the same schedules. Most weeks, Charlie and I barely spent any time together.

Our wedding was on a very hot and rainy day in May 2015.

The Breaking Point

Like so many Americans, our lives needed an adjustment. One thing led to another, and…blah, blah, blah…honestly, the details don’t matter. At one point, every traveler reaches a breaking point in “normal” life, and we reached ours about 4 years ago. 

I left the university, and Charlie gave the bad news to the band. And then, we sold most of our belongings, stored what we kept in my sister’s basement (thanks, Kathy), and left our old life behind. That oversized house was traded for a tiny pop-camper and an SUV. We told the cat that he was living in a camper now and set out for a life of travel and adventure.

California or Bust

Before we left, we read the travel magazines and watched all of the videos from full-timers on YouTube. We thought we had it all figured out. Of course, we didn’t! But still, we had some pretty amazing adventures. We went from Indiana to California and back, twice. I won’t brag about the places we saw, but I’ve put a bunch of photos from our trip on this website. 

And we met the most amazing people, too. I can’t wait to tell you about Beth, the homeless women who lives in a vintage VW Beatle on a California beach. Or Esther, a free living hippy with a thick Boston accent who loves sea anemones almost as much as I do. Hell…I’m even looking forward to telling you about Pam, a hard-headed campground owner who always thinks she’s right and doesn’t take a single bit of shit from anyone. 

These people and the places where they live changed me. 

With Charlie at Arches National Park near Moab, Utah, in 2017

Always Waiting for that Moment

Before we starting traveling, I followed a lot of travel bloggers that boasted about some special moment that changed their lives. That is, I was expecting an epiphany of sorts. An awakening. Or at least an awareness of my place in this world. Some key moment that made me a little wiser. 

I kept waiting for “that moment” to happen to me. I looked for it in the mountains of Colorado, in the red rocks of Utah, and on the beaches of California. I never found it. 

 Frankly, I was putting a lot of unneeded pressure on myself. Like always.

One of many rainbows we saw in 2017 and 2018 along Highway 1 in California.

Going Back to the Midwest

We were workamping in Sonoma County, California, when the big Camp Fire started. It was the biggest and most deadly wildfire California ever had. And even though we were workamping 100 miles away, it still rained ashes for two days in our valley. As a result, my poor asthmatic lungs caught some sort of viral infection that just wouldn’t go away. So after too many trips to the emergency room, we decided our travel adventures were over. 

We sold the pop-up to a nice couple from San Francisco and packed the cat in the SUV. And then we started the long journey home. Unfortunately, my “moment” or awakening or whatever never came. We were almost broke and didn’t have jobs lined up back in the Midwest. And now I was sick, too. 

On top of everything else, the cat died as soon as we got back to Indiana. I felt like a total and complete failure.

Charlie hanging out with Oscar sometime in 2018.

Things Get Better with Time

Eventually, Charlie and I started to find our way back into the real world. I took up freelance writing and editing, and Charlie landed a job with a building maintenance company. About a year ago, Charlie’s company asked us to move to Ohio. Of course, we said yes—we might be getting older, but we’re still up for an adventure! So here we are, living in Ohio, trying to avoid a pandemic, and figuring out how we fit into this world. And I guess that brings you up-to-date. We are two travelers solidly planted in the Midwest…for the time being.

Bringing Everything Full Circle

I finally had my big moment, though. It didn’t happen on the top of a mountain. And it wasn’t loud and thunderous like I thought it would be. Instead, it was almost a whisper. I was sitting in my living room on a cold Thursday morning a few weeks ago. The world seemed particularly bleak that day—the pandemic was killing thousands of Americans a week, and I felt isolated and lonely. The day before, rioters broke into the U.S. Capitol. The newspaper was nothing but bad news on top of bad news. And I wasn’t sure how much more I could take. 

But then it hit me. 

 I can get through this. 

We got stuck in a sand dune in Michigan and dug ourselves out. 

 We broke down in Nowhere, Colorado, and managed to come across a friendly tow truck driver with a big heart (and an even bigger belt buckle).

We blew a camper tire in the Mohave Desert and had to walk several miles to get a cell signal to call for help. Turned out fine. 

I got lost on a hike somewhere between Utah and Colorado. But managed to find my way back to the camper just before dark. 

And I mean (in my best Dennis Hopper voice), we’ve been dehydrated in the desert in a windstorm, man…Have you ever been dehydrated in the desert in a windstorm? It changes you, man… 

Hiking on the Utah/Colorado border in 2017.

My Epiphany, Finally

Traveling taught me that everything will be OK and that the world is a beautiful place with amazing people, if you can just break through the bullshit. The rain always ends. Cold nights always break into dawn. The sun always comes up. Things DO get better. It sounds like a cliché, but it’s true. I learned that the hard way while we traveled those 2 years. 

So finally, I’m getting around to starting a blog and sharing my travel stories. In part, I need to remind myself that this world is beautiful, if you know where to look. I’ll share some old memories and some new ones. Many I’ll throw in a few stories about the places I’m discovering in the Midwest while we live in Ohio, too. And if I find good places to hike or camp, I’ll definitely pass them on.

Wonder, Wander, and Roam

But most importantly, I hope that this blog encourages you to find what you love to do and build a life that lets you do it. I hope these stories give you the inspiration to wonder, wander, and roam. 

Sunrise on Buck Creek Reservoir in 2020.