Thursday, January 25th
I woke up to a sore, swollen, and stiff butt/hip. Today was going to be another day of recovering, which meant no running or snowboarding. However, there would be lots of stretching and rubbing. After we got everything packed back into the van and said farewell to friends and modern luxuries such as heat, showers, and a real bed, we headed back onto the road. Next stop Boulder. Catalina has never been to Boulder so we parked the van in a parking garage on a slope (this would be discovered to be a poor decision when it came time for bed), and explored Pearl Street. We found a nice bar with a good happy hour and had a beer before finding a coffee shop to sit down and get some work done.
Catalina has been superhuman this trip! Whether it is feeding me food while I drive, finding great places to stop and eat, entertaining me with spanish music, laughing at me while I'm falling down a mountain of powder, or just knowing how I'm feeling. And, she is doing all this while staying on top of grad school homework. She's AWESOME!
We spent the rest of the day wandering around and just being grateful to have each other on this adventure. We climbed into the van on the sloped parking and had another night of no incidents, until I woke up with all my weight on my swollen hip, due to the slant.
This adventure has been great, but there are some major inconveniences of #vanlife that I'm listing below:
1. Waking up and having to use the restroom immediately. Not an issue in regular life--walk down the hall, turn on the light, enter restroom, take care of business, leave restroom, turn off light, go back to bed. This is what usually happens most mornings: wake up, "I really need to pee", realize the business you parked in front of is closed and no restrooms available, start the car and the defroster, move all the bags from the front seat into the back seat, wait for the car to defrost, frantically find the nearest open gas station, drive to gas station, enter restroom, take care of business, leave restroom, feel weird about not buying anything at gas station, figure out the plan for the day.
2. Lack of cleanliness. Whether it's going a few days without a shower, going a few meals without washing the camping stove pot (cinnamon flavored shrimp ramen is much better than shrimp flavored cinnamon oatmeal), or the dirty clothes bag being 3 feet from my head when I sleep. They are all reminders that I'm not living the most sanitary lifestyle and I probably smell worse than I imagine.
3. Being stuck in box. For those that don't already know, I tend to get pretty antsy and have to move around every so often. Driving hours on end during the winter doesn't help that feeling. In the summertime, taking long drives and road trips has never been a problem. I just pull over wherever and go for a run. It's not the hassle of layering up, packing nutrition, sharing my location, and hope I don't get lost or eaten by a bear.
Those are the 3 major inconveniences, but they in no way outweigh the joy and feeling of freedom of being on the road and making your own destinations.
Stay Free and Run Wild
No comments:
Post a Comment