I have been struggling with what to do after I graduate in the spring with my masters in history. I have tossed around getting my secondary education license to teach in a high school and coach sports, going back into the ministry full time, moving on right away to get my PhD, stay working full time for Clem's Collectibles, or to find a college that would hire me. Then daylight shone through the clouds of confusion with an idea that seemed too strange and weird to be practical. We could just sell everything and travel around the nation. Usually when I come up with crazy ideas like these, Lindsay immediately shoots them down. But this idea has found favor with Lindsay.
The idea is that we will sell everything we own except for the items we will take with us and a few items that are not replaceable when we get back. It will be a material possession cleansing. Then we will hit the road and travel from state to state, staying as long as we want. What makes this possible is that I can have a full time job teaching online, internet is available anywhere a cell phone signal is (also satellite internet is an option), and the internet and cell phones allow us to keep in touch with people despite being on the road.
We will travel to each of the fifty states and stay in each one a while enjoying the beauty of God's creation and some of the great things that man has made. Our plan is to travel with the weather. We'll be in the south when it is cool up north and up north when it is too hot down south. So we will zig zag up and down the States. Maybe we will journey some into Canada. Whatever interests us is where we will go. Personally, I would like to stay near the ocean as much as possible.
One friend mentioned to me that he thought doing this would be selfish of me. In a way, I can see how that would be so. But we would like to make it a ministry opportunity. We would try to minister to and help out other travellers as much as possible. It excites me that we would be able to travel to areas that have had disasters and help out in whatever way possible.
We have started looking at vehicles and travel trailers. We are going the travel trailer route because we could unhook from the travel trailer and head on into cities to enjoy things that we would otherwise not be able to enjoy with just an RV.
None of this is set in stone until I get that job that I can travel with. If that job never comes about, then all this planning will be in vain.
My main concerns are...
1) Will it be detrimental to my children to not have regular friends besides one another for a considerable period of time?
2) Will we be able to serve others effectively?
Other concerns that I will have to come up with solutions to are...
3) What will we do if one of our kids get sick?
4) How can we do it as safely as possible?
This is the change of life in a cliffnote version. If there is any pitfall you can think of, please share it.
The last thing I really want is to get into the career rat race. Maybe I will be ready for that in five years or so. Maybe I never will be. Right now, I just want to live life to the fullest and bring peace and joy to the people I encounter.
I recently read a letter in the Sun. The letter writer shared how when he was growing up he had to live on a cold porch with his brother and two brothers from another family. They loved life. Then they grew up, went to college, got successful jobs, and bought houses in upper scale neighborhoods. They all have big warm master bedrooms for themselves. The letter writer claims that they are not happier for it.
