This story belongs to both of us.
In most posts, you will hear two perspectives: Side One and Side Two. Sometimes overlapping, sometimes completely different, but always part of the same journey.
Like two sides of a cassette tape, each side carries its own voice, memories, and imperfections, yet together they tell the full story.
Side One:
I am the lists, the spreadsheets, the extra snacks, the carefully researched route, and the backup plan for the backup plan.
I am also yarn projects in passenger seats, coffee at sunrise, comfort routines, and the quiet belief that home is something people create together more than something tied to a physical address.
After years spent serving, working, raising children, and maintaining a very full life, I am learning that maybe success is not always about building bigger lives. Maybe sometimes it is about building lighter ones.
This journey is my attempt to figure out how little we truly need in order to live well.
Side Two:
The story of Side Two goes back many years. I grew up in a large-ish town/small-ish city where I spent 20 years, and then like a Bon Jovi song, I had to get out of that place because I was looking for more. I joined the Navy and literally traveled to world. I met side one early on that Navy time, but all my travels were solo and thus lonely, so got out of that life and we settled down in a place that offered us ample employment opportunities and great schools for the kids, but little fulfilment otherwise. (A little tip to those of you looking to sign up for the military, pick a job that will give you skills for the outside BUT enjoy that job, because if you don’t you’ll get a job when you get out and be miserable doing it.) Its been about a dozen years and Side One and me are looking at hitting the ole dusty trails in search of a new adventure.