Launching, Several Times Over

US Road Trip --> Nomad life in Europe

Yeah, I’ve been a little absent from Substack. It wasn’t intentional, but the last six months have been a lot. Yes, we sold the house. We stayed in a basement apartment near our home, rented through AirBnB, until mid-January so we could spend the holidays with family and wrap up loose ends. Then we launched an epic road trip, driving north and then east to visit assorted friends and family, then south through Utah and Arizona. I showed my husband the marvels of Zion National Park and the Grand Canyon. We did a little nostalgia tour through northern Arizona (where I went to college and worked in my 20s), then visited friends in Phoenix. Lastly, we made our way to Texas and established domicile there.

We found a sweet apartment in Texas, a one-bedroom “mother-in-law” cottage in a very nice wooded neighborhood north of Houston. We had deer in our yard every day. It was a perfect place to settle while we prepared to take the next steps in our nomad journey.

Deer in our yard, hoping we have wilted lettuce or deer corn to share

The original plan had been to leave for Europe sometime in early April, but we took some extra time to set up accounts, acquire Texas driver’s licenses, register to vote, and establish relationships with new doctors. It’s a good thing we did the latter, since I learned that I’m going to need sinus surgery. Fortunately, it isn’t urgent.

Changes in attitudes with our change in latitude

Throughout the last few years, as we have discussed possible life abroad, I’ve been the main driver of our plans. My husband, in contrast, is something of a homebody. He says he’ll follow me anywhere, but when I asked him where he would like to travel, he couldn’t really think of anyplace. At the time, he said things like “I’ve seen pictures.” This horrified me.

Something shifted during our road trip, and by the time we settled in Texas, my husband was almost more anxious to start traveling than I was. I asked him what changed. As it turned out, seeing Zion National Park and the Grand Canyon in person were life changing for him. He realized that even the most incredible photographs don’t compare to actually being there.

Assorted geological wonders of Utah and Arizona

In the meantime, I enjoyed our peaceful, wooded neighborhood north of Houston so much that I was suddenly not in such a hurry to take off for parts unknown. I could probably have stayed there another month or more. We didn’t want to start our travels in the hottest part of summer, though; we found business class flights to Paris using credit card points, sold our car, and set off for Europe.

Across the pond and on the move

As of now, we’ve been in Europe for three weeks. We’re winging it. This was supposed to be slow travel, but it isn’t working out that way so far. The plan was to focus on southern Spain, Portugal, and Greece; but we’re traveling by train, we don’t do well with long travel days, and we need at least one rest day in between travel days. I’m the chief logistics expert in our marriage, and sometimes all the planning gets overwhelming.

Now that we’re about three weeks in, after stays ranging from two nights in Lyon to 5 nights in Córdoba, I’m starting to relax. I tend to fret over the possibility of making a bad lodging choice, or finding that the travel route I’d hoped for isn’t available. A lot of that comes from wanting to keep my 77-year-old husband going. Between his bad back, his love for routine, and the overabundance of luggage we ended up bringing, I don’t want to squander his goodwill. I want that initial excitement he developed after seeing Zion and the Grand Canyon to last.

So far, it is. Watching his jaw drop when he saw the Sagrada Família for the first time made my heart sing. We marvel together at the medieval walls in Girona and the Roman temple ruins near our Córdoba apartment. It’s often little things, too: the children playing in a tiny park behind our Paris lodging, the skill of a bus driver navigating the narrow streets, and the joy of being able to order our dinner in Spanish.

Brave and courageous, or just spontaneous and naïve?

A couple of people commented that we were brave to become nomads. I thought that was odd, but anyone who knows my personal history knows that I’m no stranger to instability. Then my friend Sage brought up cowardice and courage. I enjoyed a very stable life until my layoff, and despite my free-wheeling upbringing, I already miss having a home. We’ll probably settle down somewhere eventually. But in the meantime, we’ve launched feet first into a life as travelers. I won’t say I’m not a little scared, but according to an old adage, courage is often feeling the fear and doing it anyway.

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