It’s the end of the [trip] as we know it

As we cross the Canadian border after nine months of travel, I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, seeing the Canadian flag makes my heart happy. This is the country I chose, the one that welcomed me with an open arms, the country that I have long felt to be the place where I belong,  despite the dreadful winters and long months of bitter cold misery. I love this place with all my heart.

 

On the other hand, this final border crossing means our trip has come to an end. It’s not completely over until we get home to Kingston, I suppose, but the full-time travel bit has definitely ended. This is really hard for me, because on this trip, I discovered what I had on some level always known: my heart belongs on the road. But for now, we return to our previous life—sort of.

Dan was offered a new job in Kingston, but they wanted him to start as soon as possible in the spring. When he mentioned that our Kingston home was rented out until September, the company asked Dan if he’d be interested in training for the job at the headquarters in London. We figured since we have family to visit there before we go home, why not?

So we’ll be staying put for the summer. We had planned on staying at a campground for the duration, but the campgrounds are really expensive and pretty far from Dan’s work. We changed our plans about where to stay for the summer, but since it’s not official yet, I’ll share more info in a later post when it actually is for sure.

Our lives are a bit up in the air, in a way that brings me down instead of getting me excited like life on the road does. Being a full-time traveller and not knowing where you’ll sleep the next day has this sense of adventure attached to it; it makes me feel alive. Knowing I’ll be staying put yet not knowing where I’m doing it doesn’t make me excited at all; it just makes me anxious. We hope to know for sure where our “permanent” summer spot will be soon, and then I’ll feel like I can breathe again.

Dan’s enjoying his new job, and I’ve taken over homeschooling. Once I’m feeling a little less overwhelmed and we feel more settled, we’ll start visiting family more often. My father, stepmother, mom and her husband, brother and his family, and one of my cousins and his family all live here, and while I do want to visit with them and talk about our adventure, I’m just not in the right headspace for that at the moment. And as someone who has struggled with depression in the past, I know my limits. My limits are currently telling me not to add anything to the list until I feel grounded again. 

I’ll be writing even more about RVing with children and adventure travel soon. Stay tuned for posts about what it’s like to live in a small space with kids, things we felt were must-haves for a trip like this, how to RV on a budget, our favourite libraries, and more.