Being a nomad doesn’t mean you’re homeless. Infact, it’s the exact opposite. I’m always home. I always have everything I need. But it’s bittersweet.
I never feel quite rested. No matter how much sleep I get. Everything falls just short of that feeling of laying your head down in your bed after a long day and drifting off into paradise. But that’s ok. This isn’t supposed to be paradise. Life isn’t paradise. Right now is better than paradise and always will be because this experience is real and paradise will never be.
I’m ready for change though. I don’t know if it’s the heat or this small town in south east Texas, but I’m feeling suffocated. I need out.
Like a turtle with my home on my back, tomorrow I leave. The wind is blowing and it’s time to go. I’ve had a great time here in San Marcos and it was awesome to see a familiar face in this adventure full of strangers. Everytime someone asks “what’s that circle thing on your leg,” I’ll let the memories flood back to me before I smile coyly and let them here my story of the past 4 days.
It’s 11 o’clock back home and I can’t help but wonder what everyone is doing. Doc, Ricker, SammyB and the gang are probably finishing up their night of poker at the brewery. My pops is probably just getting to work and my mom settling down in bed. Keith is passed out in bed after a day of running around. Laura is watcing Harold and Maude in Ann Arbor thinking about me (she just texted me). Then I think about the friends that I made just before leaving. An awesome night with Sarah who I’ll probably never see again. Christina who I danced so many evenings away with probably gave up on ever getting that phone call from me. Tomorrow is the potluck at Chelsea’s that I won’t be making it to. And Bryan is dead. And I don’t know where I was going with this paragraph.
I have about a week to make it to New Mexico for the gathering of the tribes. I don’t know if that’s plenty of time or not nearly enough. Either way, life happens and I’ll make the best of either situation. I’m pretty drained at this point and am indifferent about the trek ahead of me. On one hand, it’s 100+ degrees in Texas and I have to decided to go north before west. I heard it’s tough to hitch near the border and El Paso doesn’t seem like to bearded gringos in tyedye.
I’m going to get up early tomorrow, have a good breakfast, and try to make the 226 miles to Dallas by nightfall. Depending on when I get there, I’ll hang out in the city for the night, or if I still have a lot of daylight, I’ll try to make Oklahoma City.
I’ll keep ya posted though.
I hope you make it to Dallas alright. when you get to where you’re trying to go, you should turn this into a book. That would be cool as hell.