So, I've been evaluating things as I prepare for the return to the road. I did a few things right the first go around, but missed a lot of opportunity. And the one good thing about the year and a half off of it is that it has given me a chance to evaluate what to keep, what to throwaway.
The first thing I am ditching, until I am established, is refusing hotels. Yes, I will camp before I lodge, but when whether doesn't permit (as Santa Fe taught me), or when it means spending days away from the shower and washing my hair under the bleachers, I might be better off finding a motel of the fleabag variety. Eventually I am hoping to remake Townes as a mini RV; if I do so, I will rig up a small shower enclosure in the back. I will probably also use that space for a kitchen area.
My hope is to find an adequate way to heat Townes by next winter; I am debating pulling one of the windows and replacing it with materials suitable for me to run stovepipe through, and getting a tiny woodstove for that purpose. I am hoping for one that could be used for cooking.
Speaking of which, that's my second ditch item. Too many meals on the road. Yes, I occasionally need to sneak over to McDonald's or IHOP for the wifi, but I need to try to explore truly free wifi at libraries or other facilities first. I'm going to try to get creative with it, and share what I know. My eventual goal is to use this experience to help others coming through behind me.
The other mistake I made is not focusing on other sources of revenue. I'm not ever going to be called a great musician, but if I give myself the chance, I can make a little bit of money there. I am learning that the phrase "every dollar counts" is especially true when living out on the road. Piling up those dollars doesn't hurt. I may even hit the highway to scrap for cans.
I also spent too much money driving in town. Not only will walking more aid my overall health, but my financial health as well. With the rates folks are paying, I need every dime.
Also, I didn't write/blog nearly enough. There's a lot of gold in what I'm doing, and hoping to hone it and work on being a better writer. I have always beat myself up over my poor attention to details; while a truly great writer would see a weathered house with wood siding cracking from years of deterioration, offset by a lilac bush that's barely holding on against the dry and hot that's covered this area for years, I see a house with shrubbery. I need to fix that. I mean, I see these things, I really do; I'm just not weaving them correctly to give them depth, to give them meaning and paint a truly memorable word picture.
I kind of get frustrated against the literary decay I've allowed myself. More frustrated at that, honestly, than the physical.
I also intend to surround myself with reading material. Cheap motel forays have taught me there are only so many episodes of "Storage Wars" and "Pawn Stars" that you can watch before your brain begins to disintegrate. That probably has more to do with the writing decline than I would like to admit, unless I am being utterly and completely honest.
Not only CAN I do this, but I must! The honest truth is, unless I want to manage a Taco Bell or dumb down my resume, my options are limited. But if I do this right, they are limitless!
Onward and upward!
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