[2.25.22 Newsletter] Self Pity and Life Changes
This newsletter was written and sent on February 25th, 2022. It has been minorly edited to fix my bad grammar, but is otherwise left untouched. At the time of this letter, I had been living in my van in Florida for about a month and a half; working remotely and in a long distance relationship. I decided to share it here as it expresses my genuine emotions at that time and serves as a good reminder to me today.
2.25.22 Newsletter
I did not send an email out last weekend due to personal reasons such as lack of motivation. So a lot has happened since I last wrote you, which means I have a lot to say in this email, so that is a plus! At the time of my last email, I was camped at Long Pine Key Campground within the Everglades National Park. I talked a bit about my struggles with loneliness and camping frustrations. Thankfully, I have been feeling a bit better since then; the frustrations come and go as they always will no matter where I am, but overall I am doing pretty well.
Last Saturday, I drove to the southern-most Visitor Center of the Everglades: the Flamingo Visitors Center. I decided to pay for the boat tour that they offered, which goes out into the Florida Bay. It was a very nice boat day; sunny and the water was a beautiful shade of blue. Despite the weather I was still feeling that same sense of loneliness thrown in my face. Everyone around me was with their families or significant others and I was alone, again. I dwelled on this for much longer than I should have and writing about it seems silly. I mean, I just got off a boat in Florida and here I was tearing up (definitely not crying. I don’t cry…) in my van because I didn’t have anyone physically there to share my memories with. I say physically there because I have amazing family and friends just a phone call away. I am so thankful for them and thankful for you reading this just listening to my stories.
Now I’m trying to remember what I did after that. I know I stopped at a lake within the park..
Ahh, after that I stopped at the Gator Grill just outside the east part of the park. By now I was feeling less sorry for myself and enjoying life a bit more. I tried Gator bites, which if you’re curious, tastes like chicken except more expensive. I do recommend trying it though, cause why not!
After dinner, I headed into town, stopping at Starbucks to kill some time before parking at a Cracker Barrel again (I promise I stay at real campsites too lol). Starbucks was dangerous for me. Not only did I order a coffee at 7 o’clock, I also gave myself a lot of time to reflect on my life. This led me down the rabbit hole of calculating how long I could live off of my current savings. Turns out it would be quite a while with my current lifestyle. You might be able to see where this is going but I’ll get back to that in a second.
Sunday morning I woke up, went into Cracker Barrel to grab some breakfast and use their bathroom. I changed into a suit and got ready to go Snorkeling! So exciting!! But…I think God said “mmm you ain’t skipping church” because when I came out of the restaurant it was pouring rain and snorkeling was cancelled. So I quickly found a church to attend near Miami (I try to check out churches when I’m on the road). I was not a huge fan of this one because the worship felt like a concert (dark, colorful lights, very loud). Some people enjoy that, I do not. Regardless, I was very happy that I went and the message was pretty good.
After this I went thrifting. Give me a break, snorkeling was refunded so really I saved money (that’s my story and I’m sticking with it). Then I drove north to get to my campsite for the week. I stayed at Summer Crush Vineyard and Winery which I had booked through HipCamp (read my blog for more info on HipCamp). I stayed here from Sunday-Saturday. It wasn’t the cheapest option but it was peaceful and I drank quite a bit of wine that week. I’ll share some pictures below to explain the location a bit more.
Now if you’ll remember, I spent some time looking at my savings over the weekend. This led to me thinking about all of the things that I could be doing right now; traveling more, finding an internship, volunteering, taking classes, etc. With that being said, by the time Monday rolled around I decided that I wanted to wrap up my time at my current employer. I met with my manager that morning and submitted my letter of resignation later that afternoon. I decided that I wouldn’t be coming back to work after the trip I am taking in early March. A big decision, but one that has already brought me a lot of peace. The rest of the workweek wasn’t as eventful so that brings me to this past weekend.
This Saturday I spent the morning showering, packing up camp, and doing dishes. Then I headed into town to work at a public library for a while. This was also one of the stops on the Florida Scavenger Hunt that I am working through. I worked on my Resume and a few blog posts. I also looked up a few Tiny House builders and architects in the Florida area to potentially reach out to. I called the nearest one and it turns out he is in need for a lot of help. So I stopped by and met with him for a little while to learn about what he does and the kind of help that he needs. I could have started right then because he needed assistance with things but I’m looking for a builder or architect that I can get more experience with. This particular one doesn’t have a background in design and got into the tiny house business due to building his own and others wanting him to do the same for them. I’m glad that I met with him but am unsure if I’ll work with him in the future.
Sunday morning I woke up and went to a new church. I usually go to a different one each week due to being in a new area. This one had a similar worship as the last but everyone was more inviting and down to earth. After church I started up my car and noticed a new sound- the vanlifers favorite thing, jk. I tried stopping at a repair shop but they were booked up, so naturally I drove another hour or two despite this. I got to my next campsite which I stayed at all of last week. It was on a farm! If you follow me on Instagram you know that the animals were not shy. There were dogs, horses, chickens, goats, donkeys, and a sheep. It was such a fun week and some of my calls with coworkers were interrupted by the lovely animal noises. If you know what a donkey sounds like, I’m sorry lol. I will definitely stay at a farm again, hopefully through WWOOF (again, check out my blog post to learn more about WWOOF). I don’t have much else to say about the week, just worked, fought with animals, and ran errands.
