Mashley’s Adventures – Visits, Chores, and the Future

visits-chores-and-the-future

Current Location: Benton, KY

Ultimately the bond of all companionship, whether in marriage or in friendship, is conversation.
~ Oscar Wilde

~~~~~//~~~~~

It’s been a pretty quiet week here on the Adventure-Some front. After the BBQ Ashley and her mom headed to eastern TN to spend a few days with our nieces (and their parents). Everyone had a wonderful time, complete with some day hiking at Cades Cove, a birthday celebration (happy 40th, Mr. Daniels!) and lots of giggles and laughter. As always, it went by far too quickly….

Matthew stayed with the RV and took care of some routine maintenance items. The PT Cruiser still seems to be running fine.

Ashley received some details about her upcoming Amazon stint – she’ll start on November 7th so we’ll be settling in to our new location in Campbellsville on the 5th.

Until then, we’re debating what to do. There are nearby parks we’d love to visit, but aren’t sure we trust the car to get us there and back and don’t want to spend too much gas money on the RV at this point in time. We are compiling a list of next-door activities – trails to hike, paths to bike, roads to motorcycle, and camping to do – but don’t quite have them figured out yet.

For the longer-term, we’re also pondering our options. We’ve discovered that the more we travel and live nomadically, the more we like it and want to continue on, but in a more sustainable way (i.e. have a regular income). We discovered during our last month in the car that we really hate travelling quickly. We hate just “passing through” and spending so much time sitting in the car getting from place to place. We prefer to spend at least a week or two in a place and really get to know it in depth. Our plan (after numerous variations) was to have visited all of the 48 continental states and the National Parks there-in within 2 years, next June. However, the car problems threw off our schedule (which is largely dependent on weather) and messed with our budget. So part of the conundrum is whether we should focus on that 2 year goal or if we should go ahead and start working toward building a long-term, sustainable nomadic life. This pondering has made Ashley start thinking about the option of travel nursing. She could work 3 month contracts anywhere she chooses, and in addition to the normal paycheck, we’d get a housing stipend, paid travel expenses, and at the end of 3 months we are done. Something to think about as it would definitely fit our lifestyle. At the end of a contract we could go adventuring for a few months before accepting another contract elsewhere.

Lots of puzzling to do as we consider options. Until then, we’re enjoying the fall weather and chance to spend time with family!

Adventuring away,

Matthew & Ashley

P.S. – Happy birthday to Matthew’s mom this week!