it's been a few years since i've spent a decent amount of time living out of my rucksack, so i made sure to give myself a month or so to transition back to mobile mode before i hit the road. i've been slowly emptying out my space in the house in case someone needs to use it while i'm gone. everything is being organized in my storage locker down the road, aka
Sam's Garage.
it's taken me a few days to calm my mind and get out of 'work-50-weeks-a-year mode' and back into living/adventure/work when i gotta mode. over the years i had forgotten that it's alright to take an hour or two and just lay out on the grass in the shade. i pulled every piece of my gear out of the house, set up the tents, unpacked the sleep rolls and let everything air out and expand. i hate to admit that many of these things just spent too long stored inside compression sacks. luckily as far as i can tell no damage. it took a few days and a good rain to straighten out the little creases.
of all the modern conveniences of domesticated living, the one i'm most spoiled by these days is my bed. i hadn't actually owned one in years even when i was last housed, and i thought i'd deserved it after so long without. in fact, it was the very first bed i had purchased myself, brand new. from a bed store even! fancy that. anyways, i've been trying not to use it so much, rather sleep outside or on the crappy futon to get used to sleeping on a different surface each night. wherever i end up, doubts on the presence of pocket coils.
the backyard has been a good spot to practice sleeping outside. with all the tenants and their visitors coming and going at all and any hours, multiple dogs around and some local wildlife, i have the chance to become comfortable with random sounds.. and practice being conscious of potential threats in that mostly sleepish state. oh and the crickets at night.. the yard is so full of life especially with
the garden flourishing as it has. it's a great place to do some urban camping.
another thing i am adjusting to is the finite supply of funds. working full-time of course i had come to expect the money to replenish in my account automatically every two weeks, so it didn't matter if i'd spend foolishly every once in a while. it seems as though living that way can make us forget the value of a dollar. i'm watching my spending closely. my purchases are more thoughtful. i'm not sure when the next time i'll have an income will be, so i have to leave myself some financial space to get by until then.
otherwise, the horrible eating habits i have developed the past few years certainly show in pounds, so i have taken on a challenge to help me achieve my health and fitness goals while i'm on the road. i'll share a little more about that later on, for now let's just say, my diet will certainly be different this time around. now that i pretty well have being a professional hobo down pat, i can afford the time to develop some supreme vegan hobo culinary skills.
for now, i gotta get back to organizing while i wait out the rain.
ahhh, hobo life.
