My first week on the road and on my own has been liberating and invigorating! I’m in Park City, Utah, for a couple months at 7000 feet, enjoying the fresh mountain air. While I work my job during the week, I look out my window and smile at gorgeous views. When I get off work, I head up to the trails, smiling. On the weekend, I drive to more distant, longer trails. And of course, I’m smiling! A part of me, I feel, is waking up after a long sleep. I love learning the town and exploring the networks of trails all over. Oh man, I love getting back outside and back into shape after the lockdown. Above all, I love having a place of my own that is safe and quiet.

I am filled with gratitude, peace, and a certainty that this is where I’m supposed to be.

Why do this?

There are the naysayers. One person told me that there is no point in me traveling while I’m working because I will never have time, outside of my job, to get to know the place I visit. In Week 1, I already proved that wrong. 

Others express a vague discomfort or confusion about why I would voluntarily give up the security of a paid-off home and a known community and life, or turn down less flexible jobs for this.

My answer: that conventional life leaves me unfulfilled. It tells me I must wait until I’m 65 to do what I really want to do, while I am completely capable of curating the life I want now — one of travel, new experiences, and more good/less bad.

I DARE TO SEEK MY CURATED LIFE

Last week, I arrived in a new place with my pared-down, favorite possessions in my car and a remote job. After 23 years in Idaho raising my children, now I’m here with no obligations to fulfill, nor established routines to be rutted in. I have a blank page, and I can choose what I do after work each day and all weekend long. So I choose happiness, adventure, nature, music, and exploration.

PURPOSE AND CONNECTION

I once read that the two important ingredients to a happy, healthy, and long life are purpose and connection. My job as a project management consultant gives me purpose (and a paycheck!). It allows me to keep and grow my skills, learn new things, solve problems, and interact with and help others. I’m not curing cancer, but I make a difference.

Also, I am possibly more connected to others now than when in my rut. Each day I check in with family and friends, nurturing these important relationships. With growing momentum, I share updates, photos, and blogs in social media. Each of these is an important part of staying connected —now in the US and later when I’m half-way across the world.

As a digital nomad, I enjoy where I’m at, and, global pandemic/closed borders aside, I enjoy planning where I dare to go next, how I grow, and what I choose to add into my curated life. Indeed, I am so glad to be a nomad.