Category: Musings of Sam

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Musings of Sam

Ditching Suburbia

blog-dsimageWe were recently interviewed by Michael Boyink for his Ditching Suburbia project, and our conversation has led me to a few realizations about our town travel and our motivations to travel.

Many of the travelers that we know, and those interviewed for the same project came to travel because of their dissatisfaction with the typical ‘suburban’ life. We were not unhappy with our life in Lehi, and nothing there ‘drove’ us away. Our desire for travel came by observing what travel did for our family on smaller, more typical trips. In the summer of 2012, we spent 5 weeks away from home on an extended vacation. Our experience opened our eyes to the flexibility that we had, and led us to consider what we could gain for our family with such flexibility. Those thoughts led to a small working vacation in Colorado over New Years at the end of 2012, and ultimately to an extended house-swap in Virginia the second half of 2013.

Our drive to Virginia took 18 days, and again opened our eyes to the effects of travel upon our family. It wasn’t a dissatisfaction with normal life that led us to travel, but a realization that there was something better. Typical suburban life seems to fit the needs of many. What I think is most important is that folks find what works best for them, instead of adopting a lifestyle simply because it seems to be what everybody else does.

I’m excited for the Ditching Suburbia project, and I’m looking forward to seeing the results!

As a side note, we have been following the Boinks on Instagram for months (and they us), and it was amazing how well we have come to know fellow travelers without actually meeting up with them. Social media can be a time suck and should not be a replacement for real-live human interaction, but it has been a powerful tool for us. Seeing both the adventure and struggles of other travelers has given us hope, courage, and even a warning here and there.

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Musings of Sam

Perfect can be the Enemy of Good

Our planning during our stay in Eureka and our travel north was pretty bad. We had trouble getting reservations at the spot we wanted in Trinidad, and ended up spending two nights at Johnny’s Marina in Eureka. It was a good spot for errands, and the folks were nice.

I wasn’t very bothered by it until we drove up to Clam Beach on Saturday Afternoon for a bike ride and some beach time. As we pulled in, we discovered that there were plenty of RV spots in the small campground right at the beach. We hadn’t tried to stay at the beach for fear of getting a spot, and just drove up for an afternoon and evening.

Realizing suddenly that we could have done things very differently. I got a little grumpy. We could have been staying right there at the beach! No half-hour drives back afterward, and much more of our time could have been spent at the beach. It ended up being warmer than we had expected, and we could have easily changed our clothes, if we had brought the Airstream!

I had a genuine Pink Kink in my Think.

During our bike ride, I got over it. (Jess had been expecting I would, and was glad when I quit complaining.) I came around to realize that our situation was far from dismal. Rather than spending time bemoaning a slightly less than perfect situation, I should just relax and enjoy the bike ride. And the blackberries that grew alongside the bike trail. And frisbee on the beach. And I did. I got over it, and we had a great evening.

The pursuit of perfect was ruining a perfectly good day. We try and avoid locking our schedule down too tight, which allows us to change it for the better when opportunity allows and something strikes our fancy. On the flip side, some days are not ideal. I need to accept the bad with the good, knowing that we are living an amazing adventure.

On the way out of the beach, I caught a glimpse of the campground. It had filled a bit, with some colorful characters that I wouldn’t have felt comfortable with my kids around. I really didn’t mind our drive home, and I’ve resolved to handle my next ‘Good’ situation with more grace and less complaining.

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Musings of Sam

The Tenacity of the Bristlecone Pine

The Tenaciy of a Bristlecone Pine Treet

Bristlecone pine trees are among the oldest living species of tree. The hardships in their life can be seen in their twisted forms and stunted growth, having survived droughts, fires, winds, heavy snowbanks, bitter cold, and searing heat. Even when a part of the tree suffers breakage or rot, the tree will continue to grow as long as there is some bit of surviving tissue.

We’ve spent the last few days at Great Basin National Park, situated on the Utah Nevada border just east of Ely, Nevada. We’ve been able to witness some ancient bristlecone pine trees, and have gained a new appreciation for their majesty. We also saw a Bristlecone Pines in Bryce Canyon and in Cedar Break, two of our recent stops although their majesty didn’t quite register there as it has here.  Here at Great Basin National Park, we walked a small interpretive trail on our hike to the glacier. The trail winds through a small grove of these beautiful trees, and we learned much from the informative signs along the trail.

Of the many traits of these trees, the one I think of most often is Tenacity. These trees are tenacious, overcoming challenges year after year to fulfill the full measure of their creation. The results of their work can be seen in the beautiful forms they create as they grow.

Bristlecone Pines are not tall trees, but cannot be viewed as weak. The twisted wood of their trunks and branches can only be viewed as muscular, strong, and stalwart.

If I were a tree, would I have that much tenacity? Would I be able to hold on through think and thin? What of my life now? Am I diligent in striving to reach the full measure of MY creation? I believe that God has a plan for our lives, and that our efforts to follow that plan are rewarded with peace and happiness, both in this life and in the eternities.

I hope that someday, I can look back at my life and see something as majestic as a Bristlecone Pine.

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Musings of Sam Thoughts on Life

Adventurous Mothers

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Many Mother’s, including my own, can’t stand the sometimes overdone praise that arrives on Mother’s Day each year. I won’t be doing that today, but I will highlight a particular attribute that both my Mother, and my Wife possess.

During her college years, my Mother traveled to India (and surrounding countries) as part of a school group for 9 months. At the end of the school tour, she wasn’t quite ready to return home and sold her return ticket to extend her stay. She worked in several Kibbutz communities for room and board, laboring as a grapefruit picker, a cotton jumper, and in the laundry. She arrived another 9 months later in New York, having suffered through much seasickness crossing the Atlantic via boat on her way back home.

My mother found ways to add adventure to our family life. We ended up with a small collection of kayaks that we would paddle around San Francisco and Tomales Bay, in addition to various lakes and rivers. My Father was happy to support and participate in such adventures, but it was my Mother that led us through such great adventures.

Kayaking in the San Francisco Bay was one of the activities we enjoyed while visiting California before Jess and I married.  Jess, my Mother, and I paddled out to Angel Island from Tiburon, paddling among small boats and large sailing ships. We battled wind and wake, and loved it.

Now here I am, married to an Adventurous Mother. Our adventure and traveling is very much due to Jess’ spirit of adventure. We are excited to share this spirit with our children as they grow older with adventures including (among other things) travel, mountain biking, and river rafting.

My Mother and my Wife have many valued traits, but today I am grateful for their spirit of adventure!

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Faith Musings of Sam

Seasons and Sacrifice

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We are often asked how long we plan to travel. The answer is both simple and complicated.

There are things we  enjoy, and things we believe strongly in, that do not fit well with a traveling lifestyle. I love woodworking, home automation technologies, and technology meetup and hack fests. Jess loves regular photography shoots, regular gym access, a pantry, and neighborhood friends for the kids. We miss having more opportunities to teach our children the value of hard physical labor. Though we attend local church meetings every Sunday, we all miss other regular church activities.

We believe that life should be balanced, but not necessarily in each moment, or even in each season of life. Some seasons have more school and less money. Some have more work, more driving kids to activities, and housework. We are blessed to be able to spend this season of our life traveling. This season requires the sacrifice of some good things for the overall experience.

Sacrifice is the practice of giving up something good for something better.

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven…” – Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

We love traveling. We love how it directs the time we spend, the places we go, and the act of intentionally choosing each day the way we will love. We will travel as long as it supplies, for this season of our lives, what our family needs. This season could be a few short months, or may extend into years. I am confidant that we will know the end when we get there, and that this season will have been a success.

A new season will begin, and it will be time to spend time on other things, we will move our life in a different (and perhaps slightly more normal) direction. But today? Tomorrow? Onward, little Family, to new and exciting places!