Hello World and welcome to RoadWard Bound. A place where we are exploring America, our passions, our spirit, our health and well-being, and finding ourselves. While this journey has been filled with awesome adventure it has also opened our eyes to the world around us and the person inside ourselves. For with every journey there is discovery and my hope for you is that you too may find what fills your heart and makes you happy right along with us.
Mitch and I didn’t always know that living a fullfilled life was possible. As you know life has a way of taking you down unexpected paths that leave you feeling out of control and stuck. I fell victim to this much of my young life. Like a dutiful servant I jumped through the hoops and in time I found my happy go lucky self slipping away, my body turning into a blubbering mass, and my passion, well, what was that?
Diets came and went and so did the weight. Mitch and I trudged through the daily grind, worked hard to pay the bills and buy some wine so that we could bury the stress of the work day. I went back to school and became a nurse and the paychecks did help to advance our lifestyle but the I quickly felt my health deteriorate as I crumbled under the stress of caring for others. Mitch too was feeling no room for advancement without 12 hour days away from home and having to commute. Sure we had reached a place in life where we had a savings account, a 401K, and new cars. We were debt free and enjoying a couple of fabulous vacations a year but we were unhappy and unhealthy.
When we discovered that there was this possiblity to work and travel. To start over. To not have to be a nurse or a grocery manager but to be Mitch and be Lori opening our hearts and our souls and living life on our terms. We were excited. How can we sign up? We spent a year planning and prepping. We spent our savings account on a Class C RV and started the process of downsizing.
You see, when I went back to school to become a nurse I was 37 and graduated at 43. That was my first clue that you can do anything that you set your mind too. While I didn’t apply that thought to all aspects of my life I knew that it was true. So this time the life change was about me, my soul, my health and not about how to better pay the bills. Mitch was on board for all the same reasons. We knew that people thought that we were crazy but in our minds we were crazy not to. And so we did.
This journey that began with grandeous ideas of colorful sunsets and peaceful lakeside camping quickly became real, and challenging, and personal. As much as we show the beauty of America on social media there has been an even larger amount of growth behind the scenes. Living 24/7 with your partner, trying to create income, minimalizing and becoming sustainable all while finding out that your not as tolerable as you thought you were. That old habits are hard to break and when your 30 miles out of town and in the middle of a forest, there are no potato chips.
Turns out that exploring America meant exploring my inner depths too. So while this blog may have some travel aspects to it, it is not about travel. It’s about health and peace of mind. Overcoming personal boundries, finding what keeps you stuck, becoming the person that you have always wanted to be. Healthy, and happy, and successful in whatever you want to do. This is my goal, for me and for you. So come along. Together I hope to find some inspiration, some support, and the tools for a better tomorrow.