During this visit back to the United States, I’m struck by how accessible everything is. Food especially, but also clothing, educational supplies, toys, camping gear. Before, I thought of this as the overabundance of American living, almost like it was a bad thing. And yes, it’s true that we as Americans can’t possibly appreciate all we have until we see how others live around the world–and go without ourselves.
Food
But the four months between U.S. visits this year were more harrowing than normal. And now, when I see the comfort of life here, I think of it as a way to sustain my well-being. I’m realizing how stressful it is to get food on the table for my family (actually, we eat on our laps in our camp chairs), especially with Eric on the keto diet. It’s a weight I carry, a pit that forms in my stomach when I walk into a grocery store in a new town and realize I can’t source the ingredients I need for the meal I planned to make.
Exercise
Exercise has also been a growing concern this year. I’m now closer to 40 than 30, and I feel the importance of nurturing my aging body. I’ve wondered how I can maintain even the most basic workout when the ground around the Jeep is covered with rainwater, swirling dust, or ants.
Full-time travel must be carefully engineered in order to be sustainable in the long run. We figured out the formula for the United States, clocking more than seven years of constant, vehicle-based travel through our home country. But international overlanding is different and much more rigorous. Two years in, I’m finding myself in need of a step-back, an evaluation to determine how to actually make it around the world.
-B
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