At age 57, I am part of the Tsunami of baby boomers who are ready to retire in the next decade. Like so many of my generation I entrenched myself into my career and childrearing for many years. I identified so strongly with both I feel as though I will fade away without them in my life. My son, who has a family of his own, has moved away and I can retire from teaching with a full pension in a couple of years. To ease the transition from our very busy lives into our own personal journey of self-discovery , my husband and I are taking a year’s sabbatical from the working world and travelling North America in a 5th wheel trailer.
With twice as much time spent with my husband in half as much space, travelling together all the time with two dogs and living on half as much money, reporting on the lifestyle changes we experience this this year could prove an interesting blog. If you’re an empty nester contemplating a sabbatical, retirement, road trip travel, personal development, a lifestyle change, working from a mobile office, soul searching or even just long term camping in a trailer, then this blog’s for you.
Having adult responsibilities at a very young age, (my son was born when I was 19) I had to grow up fast. I didn`t get a chance to explore the world through travel or work to know myself through inner journey when I was young. All of a sudden, I was there—an adult and a single parent. The weight of life was thrust upon me with no time to prepare. I had to be educated, get a career going in order to find a way to support the child that I loved so much. I immersed myself into achievement mode and never slowed down until now, nearly four decades later. An A type personality cannot burn at high intensity forever; certain relationships suffer: spousal, children, spiritual and self.
I regret the distance that has developed in my marriage. I feel tremendous guilt about the time spent away from my son as he was growing up (a common issue for many working mothers). I mourn the deterioration of my physical body and my sharp mind. Most of all, I yearn for a closer relationship with the earth, its people and their cultures.
So, my journey is as much about the travel and destinations as it is a search for answers to some of the issues facing my generation. Nourishment for the soul is my mantra as I gear down to a new slower pace where I can learn to live a new life with meaning and a sense of community.
On the one hand, I feel as though my energy has been flowing in one direction – from me to others. Teacher to students, mother to child, wife to husband, daughter to mother. On the other hand, these relationships have suffered to a certain extent. Therefore, my journey is both about connecting and finding myself.
The teacher becomes the learner. Any comments or contributions are greatly appreciated. I welcome any and all input. I believe everyone put in our path is our teacher. I feel compelled to quote Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat Pray Love who helped give me the courage to take this journey and write about it.
In the end, I’ve come to believe in something I call “The Physics of the Quest.” A force in nature governed by laws as real as the laws of gravity. The rule of Quest Physics goes something like this: If you’re brave enough to leave behind everything familiar and comforting, which can be anything from your house to bitter, old resentments, and set out on a truth-seeking journey, either externally or internally, and if you are truly willing to regard everything that happens to you on that journey as a clue and if you accept everyone you meet along the way as a teacher and if you are prepared, most of all, to face and forgive some very difficult realities about yourself, then the truth will not be withheld from you.
boomerquest 