I’ve read about several folks who took up the “fulltiming” life because they were fed up with their situation, their job, their neighborhood, the rat race or whatever. \u00a0And I commend folks for having the wisdom to see they are unhappy and the courage to try something different. \u00a0But our story is a bit different. \u00a0For one, we are not really “fulltiming” because we are only going for 6 months. \u00a0But also, we are not trying to escape from anything (well, perhaps a break from some of the hustle and bustle will be refreshing).<\/p>\n
When we moved to Old Town Longmont\u00a0in 1999 I was sure it was just going to be one step\u00a0in our real estate future that would eventually put us on a several acre plot outside of town with plenty of storage for stuff and lots of privacy….perfect for my introverted life! \u00a0We were renovating our 1890’s house and were starting to think about a place in the country (well, I was…..I think Steph was just humoring me). \u00a0We’d go out house shopping and when we would come back to the ‘hood I’d get this feeling. \u00a0A really good feeling. \u00a0Like I was home. \u00a0But this just could not be possible. \u00a0Our house was too small, the yard too cramped, no garage, a shed that is shared with our neighbor whos house is only 9 feet from ours. \u00a0But there was no denying the feeling…this was home.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
On the surface Old Town Longmont looks like any other historic neighborhood. \u00a0We have big matures trees. \u00a0No two houses even look remotely alike. \u00a0Every house has some quirk: a bathroom off the dining room, a porch light with no switch, a mysterious step between two rooms, nothing is straight, nothing is level, drafty windows, creaky floors….you get the picture. \u00a0But I often wonder if under the skin other neighborhoods are the same. \u00a0People sit out on their porches. \u00a0Garages are rare so you see people coming and going, you say hi and maybe chat a bit. \u00a0Folks walk or bike almost as much as they drive. \u00a0Droves of us walk our kids to school together and after the bell rings the playground is still full of parents socializing. \u00a0We have block parties, family bike night<\/a>, and impromptu get togethers. \u00a0I really feel like we are living in a Norman Rockwell painting.<\/p>\n Then one day it hit me. \u00a0The feeling of home was not about the physical location or the tangible housing….it was the people. \u00a0It was our community. \u00a0We are designed for relationships and this was the proof for me. \u00a0Even my introverted self was being drawn into community and it felt right.<\/p>\n About the same time\u00a0I began to realize that church was more than just a Sunday spectator event. \u00a0It was a community. \u00a0A family. \u00a0I began serving on the worship team and in children’s ministry. \u00a0We got involved with some small groups\u00a0and became\u00a0intentional about doing life together with these folks. \u00a0I’m still an introvert but I’m beginning to come out of my shell a bit and bask in the warmth of community.<\/p>\n Now, none of this is news to my wonderful wife Steph. \u00a0She\u00a0is all about community and serving and being intentional in relationships. \u00a0And so she is worried about our time on the road and its affect on our community. \u00a0I’ve tried to ease her mind by telling her about the many fulltimers who say\u00a0that they have been more social and felt more a part of a community while traveling than they ever did pre-nomadic life. \u00a0Whether this is true for us we do not yet know…our bar is pretty high. \u00a0But I do know that the fulltiming community is alive and kicking. \u00a0A shout out to the Boyinks <\/a>and Keiters <\/a>who have been an amazing resource and encouragement to us!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I’ve read about several folks who took up the “fulltiming” life because they were fed up with their situation, their job, their neighborhood, the rat race or whatever. \u00a0And I commend folks for having the wisdom to see they are unhappy and the courage to try something different. \u00a0But our story is a bit different. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":105,"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102\/revisions\/105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}