Approaching the End of a Chapter (Andre)

Well, it’s been three months since we arrived in Big Bend National Park in West Texas. It has been an amazing times in so many ways here, some we are sure to not fully understand or appreciate until we are somewhere down the road. Of course, we do anticipate coming back sometime. We have developed great relationships with the park and the people here and have been invited back, something we are sure we will do at some point.

Now, back to the end of this chapter…..

We originally signed up to stay from May 1 until July 31. We were offered, and accepted, to stay until the end of August. (We have a family wedding in RI in September that we are looking forward to getting back for and to visit with family and friends.) But our plans have changed a bit and we will be leaving in a few weeks, on or about August 12^th.

Having time to sit here, think, and reflect, our still-evolving plans have continued to evolve, not a surprise. Before hitting the road, we envisioned that short of us finding a big bag of money on the side of the road, we would ‘workcamp’ periodically to earn some money to fund our ongoing adventures. (Workcamping usually involves something like working in a campground or other similar location, for a period of time, 1-3 or more months, in exchange for a free RV site and some pay, usually not too much).  As we are planning to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail next spring and summer, we thought the upcoming winter months would be a good time to earn some money.

While we are likely to workcamp at some point, we got some different ideas for the immediate future. In talking with some other ‘full-timers’ we are thinking to work for shorter periods of time but for more pay than is typically available through workcamping. So, Laura is looking at a seasonal accounting position in the Tampa area for a few months this winter. The pay would be much better than workingcamping; it would be near Laura’s mother who lives in Florida; and we hear there is not much snow down there either! And, I am sure that I could find something to do down there too.

Which brings me back to why were are leaving Big Bend in the middle of August. Laura has an interview for the seasonal accounting position the third week of August so, leaving on the 12^th would give us time for a leisurely drive back along the Gulf Coast to Florida.

Not exactly what we had envisioned, but as we are learning, being able to make plans, change plans, and evolve is a very important part of the fun and adventure!