Thirty Month Status Report
Another six months passed, eventfully so. Statistically, not much different than all the time now of old. The ebbs, the flows, the triumphs, the lows, the eventuality of changes and the differences they pose. To us, it is apparent that we have adjusted to this life on the road. Expected undulance, unexpected constancy, a pattern constantly portrayed in our prose. With reflection we seek, evidently unknown, for those lessons revealed in our titles foretold.
Some Basic Stats
Total Miles Driven: 35,545
Gallons of Diesel: 2,429
Average MPG: 14.63
Best MPG: 18.22
Worst MPG: 10.09
Average Cost Per Gallon of Diesel: $3.14
# Nights Spent in the Van: 578 (63%)
# Nights Spent Elsewhere: 337 (8 afloat, 11 house sitting, 102 mooching off of friends and family, 216 in a hotel/apartment/rental home)
What We've Learned
Are We There Yet
Not a lesson in impatience, one of instinctual trust. The truth is most of us on the road don't like every single place. Sometimes we try a little too hard to locate a saving grace instead of just moving on. It is okay to embrace our preferences and follow our desires. Apathy is not a sin, it is a sign.
Groove Is In the Heart
Most of our impressions are merely interpretations. Sometimes the most unlikely of places are remembered as the best due to friends and not the place itself. The struggle of keeping an open heart is difficult, a life's pursuit. The smallest of inconveniences can corrupt the best of times, instigating a downward spiral. We find ourselves focusing on the small instead of the grand, shedding our imposed stress for the moment.
Moving at the Speed of Sloth
Long term travel is not a sprint, not ours anyway. In those intense moments where we start to unravel we have stalled or stopped, sometimes unintentionally. Taking time to complete administrative tasks, engage in recreational reading, perform some additional vehicle maintenance, or to just do nothing is important for reflection and growth. It is easy to over schedule each moment of every day, especially considering the allure of completing the Pan-American Highway. All things need time, we are no different.
Have the Day You Have
Again we find ourselves in an endless battle with expectations. Once a favored expression, now a despised enemy that can poison any given moment. Losing the desire to expect is like deleting one's perspective, a genius exercise in stupidity. While we feel it is not possible to shed all of our expectations, we know they sometimes prevent appreciation. Our approach of simply embracing each day has been rewarding and easily recoverable if we stray.
When the Cost is Greater than the Price of Admission
Lately we have been focusing more on what we leave instead of what we bring, something that has always been important to us. While we want to follow our desires, we do not want to sacrifice our ideals along the way. Erosion can begin with a single decision. Remaining true to the path in life we see is paramount, in all things.
We highly recommend you put in stainless caliper pistons before you head to Central America. Our phenolic ones seized, as did friends of ours a month later, causing a week long delay as we waited to get repaired.
Pleas feel free to ask us any questions.
Where are we now
Look Rock, TN
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