One minute I'm living at home going to school, and the next I'm traveling the U.S. solo? Sometimes it confuses me too. But when I look back, it did not happen overnight, and it did not happen accidentally.
I just got back from a weekend excursion in the Adirondack Mountains in New York. I went camping, hiking, kayaking, and hammocking. Just me and Rusty. 100% in my top 5 favorite weekends ever. But it got me thinking, how on earth did I get here. Not physically, but mentally. Just how did I become comfortable with traveling on my own. Much less CAMPING on my own.
Here are some frequent phrases I hear:
"Wow, you're brave"
"Are you going to go alone?"
"Is anyone going with you?"
"I would miss home too much"
and also any combination of the phrase, "I'm jealous/That looks fun/I wish I could do that."
But what IF...big "if" here...you just did it. You booked it. You planned it. You hopped in the car. Now some people may be married, in a relationship, have a best friend, or even have a family...and honestly? Take them with you if you ever get the chance, and I am sure you already have! But for the other percentage of the world (read: me) that are not in a relationship, have friends with busy schedules, or family on a different page than you...just how do you get to live the life you want to live without waiting on someone else?
Now some may have no desire to travel, explore, or leave home. Totally fine. This post is just not for you. This is for all the people like me that are tired of waiting for 1) the money, 2) the time, or 3) the people to be able to see and experience what you want! This might all sound selfish, but no one else is going to live your life for you, and plus, we just established that we are already solo for one reason or another. Basically Rusty is the only one who needs my time right now and his schedule is always free - haha.
I have always liked the great outdoors, but definitely not as much as I do now. One minute I'm getting drug to Canada on a family fishing trip living in a cabin - less than pleased at the ripe old age of 6 ish that THAT was a frequent family vacation - to now planning my own tent camping experience in the mountains while I teach my dog to kayak with me. Who would have thought. If you know me, you know I grew up in the country. My family hunts and fishes. My family camps. All things I did not really care about growing up because I could not get passed the fact that I was stuck in the middle of no where with no friends nearby to play with and my brother DEFINITELY made me do all the things he wanted to do while doing none of the things I wanted to do.
Then came high school and I was still not thinking about or doing anything outdoors or on my own. I was busy living life with my best friends, who by the way are STILL my best friends - shout out to them! Then college came around. I move away 2.5 hours, but it was far from "on my own". I went to a university where I had other high school friends at, two of which I lived with! It definitely was not an option in my mind to go to a school where I did not know anyone, now THAT was scary. But as I was living life "on my own" in dorms and apartments, I began to crave going home for the space! Not like personal space...but outdoor space! I had taken advantage my whole life of a yard!! Somewhere to sit outside, be outside, work on a project, or enjoy the fresh air without having someone (weird apartment neighbors) watch you. I suddenly craved for the next weekend at home or camping trip with my family. Weird how when you don't have something, it becomes something you want...
And then fast forward about 2 years when I got Rusty, and suddenly, I'm trying to find all the coolest parks to take Rusty to! I wanted to offer him a change of scenery rather than the same apartment complex sidewalk route, and also it was a good opportunity for me too to take in some fresh air. I think this is how it really began. It was not until I got Rusty that I truly started doing things on my own because I wanted to give Rusty a good life. Sounds crazy, but aren't all dog moms...
I should also mention that when I got Rusty, I also had moved out from roommates. You could say I switched out human roommates for a canine roommate. Another pivotal decision. One that opened my mind to more than I realized. Or maybe it opened up my real personality...which could probably be a good or a bad thing. I like to call myself an extroverted-introvert. Which is probably a key thing to this whole traveling solo thing now that I think about it. I don't mind being alone. Something that was obvious when I began living by myself. But it also started the true period of time of having to go to things alone. Like I don't mean alone-alone, I mean if I wanted to go somewhere, I had to meet them there rather than ride together. Seems small, but it all adds up.
Fast forward to PT school. I CHOSE to move even further away from home. This time 5 hours. But now I did not know anybody at all. No roommates. No classmates. Nothing. I was ready to get out of Missouri, I can't even say why, but I only wanted to go to a PT school if it was out of state. Another pivotal decision. Because of my program and my school, I had SO many opportunities to travel. Conferences and clinicals with options anywhere you pleased! All you had to do was look at a list of clinical sites nationwide and simply write it down. Literally. Just make a top 10 list of places to go, and boom, you were magically given one. But here is the kicker, you go alone...unless you just happened to have friends or family in the area. Which was not the case for me. So I moved to Texas and then to Wyoming for 4 months each which gave me a little taste of what it was like to live somewhere temporarily while simultaneously taking advantage of every weekend to explore your new home. See where this is going?
I had never been to Texas, so while I was there, I wanted to see as much as I could! Texas is huge...so you can imagine to go anywhere requires a road trip. So that is what I did! I booked a couple weekend Airbnb trips with the pup to take in the sights of Texas. And then came Wyoming. Again road trips are required to see anything in within the (AMAZING) state. This led to solo hotel adventures with Rusty, and boy is that an adventure! So at this point, solo hotel or airbnb bookings are just normal to me. Plus, I got really good at driving long distances by myself. Podcasts work wonders to pass the time.
And now here. In New England. You know about my career choice from my previous post that has lead me here. It is kind of like a playground for road trippers because everything is so close! I'm use to driving 4-5 hours within one state, but here, 4-5 hours will get you to 4-5 different states! That may not be exact science, but you get the picture. And mix in the mountains, the lakes, the trails? So much to see in such little time. I can't wait for visitors (if I even have any) to see all of these things! That would be such a waste. I purposely packed a tent from home because I knew I wanted to take advantage of the mountains while I was out here. So I did. I just went for it. To be honest, I definitely did not have all the equipment I needed, but that is also the beauty of going solo...no one will judge you haha.
So, did you see? See how I managed to "teach" myself to be okay with solo adventures? And I didn't even realize it.
Quick recap:
- move away from home
- realize how much I missed country living
- get a dog and move out from roommates
- take dog to parks alone
- move to out of state PT school
- choose clinical sites across U.S.
- become travel PT
- take advantage of every weekend
Some were my passions. Others were my personality. But none of them were accidental. They have just finally all come together. Can you imagine if I waited on someone to take on all of these adventures? I would have never hiked the mountains of Wyoming, never seen the cities of Austin and Houston, never experienced every square inch of New England, and likely never even moved to Omaha for PT school. CRAZY.
I'm not saying your life looks like mine, but if you are hungry for an adventure. Do it! Start small like I did unknowingly. Move an hour away. Go to a park alone. Get a dog. I don't know. Whatever it is you like. And then, somehow, without you realizing it, one day you are camping by yourself in the middle of the Adirondack Mountains in New York having the time of your life. And I wouldn't change a thing. But don't get me wrong, home is still my favorite place. I'm just going to keep exploring the country while I wait for my "permanent" life to set in.
Shawna + Rusty
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