Homeward Unbound- Chapter 6: Leaving My Tech Job, Nomad Life, and Re-thinking Reality

A few months ago, I made the decision to leave my job. The factors and series of events were many that led to this calling, and untimely as it may seem to outward eyes, it was a yearning and timed perfectly for the sweet fruit of change was ripe for the picking.

I think much of life is a tug of war between what is within our control and what’s not.

Having a watchful eye on events outside of my control and being mindful to not be vested in their outcome has been important for my sanity.

This is what led me to the decisions I’ve made.

Today I will share 3 topics.

1. Why I quit my job
2. Full-time RV living
3. Existential learnings

I hope the wisdom I uncover through my journey can find its way to you so it can enrich your life.

Leaving My Job

It wasn’t as much of a desire as it was a necessity to do this right now. My wife’s health hasn’t been the best, my mother passed away last year, and frankly, the desire to do something different with my life beckoned.

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking.”

-Steve Jobs

I Love My Wife

2021 for many, including myself, was a challenging year.

My life partner has had her series of health issues over the past few years, and even though we took every conceivable attempt to find solutions through Western and Alternative medicine, we came out nil.

Hard-earned money was taken hastily without solutions, and we were no closer to finding answers than we had first started. But despite the challenges, unprecedented beauty in the form of new opportunities came our way.

My wife’s podcast, Exposing Mold is on the cutting edge of uncovering many truths about our current state of the world. She has become a strong voice for many like her that have been shunned by our system and wheeled off as mental cases because of chronic health issues.

If interested, here are some notable podcasts from the Exposing Mold Team:

1. Episode 9 — Nanopathology: The Growing Concern of Nanoparticle Pollution with Dr. Antonietta Gatti
2. Episode 13 — Mold Illness, The Great Masquerader with Dr. Andrew Campbell
3. Episode 21 — Mold Scandals with Investigative Journalist, Arnold Mann
4. Episode 38 — Sewage Sludge, The Environmental Disaster You Don’t Know About with Dr. David Lewis
5. Episode 50 — Dampness and Mold Hypersensitivity Syndrome (DMHS) Explained with Dr. Tamara Tuuminen
6. Episode 57 — Scientific Corruption Is Keeping You Sick with Attorney, Alan Bell

Since living in pristine environments, Alicia’s health is making a radical recovery. I couldn’t be happier. Although, getting the body to expel toxic build-up takes time.

In addition to healing, it’s given me new eyes and a fresher perspective of our environment and how many things aren’t as they seem.

The World Health Organization announced that 99% of the world’s population breathes poor-quality air, that when inhaled over time, can cause cardiovascular and respiratory disease.

Many of the cities that made the list for the highest ozone pollution (smog), are in our former home state of California.

As the population grows in cities — poor building practices, pollution from industry, smog, and a whole host of other environmental issues, some manmade and some natural, are wreaking havoc on our health.

Optimum health is not solely restricted to good nutrition and exercise.

We breathe in about 11,000 liters of oxygen daily. Many of the particles we breathe in are micron in measurement (super small) and can find their way into our bodies and disrupt our health in many ways.

Needless to say, my perspective on health has evolved.

I don’t care to expound further, nor do I have a stake in this situation, but as an observer of life, I do see many things wrong with how humanity is functioning, and factors that are within my control are focus points.

With that being said, being in pristine natural environments has helped my wife, and currently, I have been blessed with the opportunity to drop everything and tend to her needs, and in many ways, my own as well.

As pessimistic as all this may sound, I am hopeful that humanity will find a way, but until then, it’s my strong belief that we must be the biggest advocates for our health because when push comes to shove, it’s our responsibility.

I Love My Mother

I didn’t realize how much I loved my mother until she passed. She was my biggest supporter, believed and encouraged me, and showed unconditional love. She was a delight to be around.

Our relationship transcended the conditional relationships that at times we have people because we share the same bloodline.

I would love her the same if she were my neighbor or a stranger. She was a terrific human being. She has left her mark, etched in the deepest crevices of my soul, that will stay intact until I am no more.

As I write this, the subtle breeze of the ponderosa pines gives way to the grace poured by the rays of our sun. There’s a twinkle in the left corner of my left eye. I imagine it’s her, even though I don’t know for sure, I’d like to think so anyway.

I talk to her often as if she were here. It makes me feel less alone and even for the moment, I’m able to forget the tragedy of yesterday.

Future Endeavors

Leaving my job took careful consideration, and although I’m grateful for the opportunities that my past employer afforded me, it was time to put the things that I value most in front of me.

I am not exactly clear where my next career endeavor will take me. However, I do feel fortunate to be alive and to have the ability to even make these types of decisions.

Gratitude has been my north star, especially when I have the illusion of my life crumbling. Taking account of what I have has always made me feel a sense of wealth that no currency can compare to.

Nomad Life

Alicia and I are taking on a new adventure. We purchased a travel trailer recently and have been living in it.

We have been in campgrounds with no hookups but luckily have had access to water.

We are officially living the full-time RV life and are enjoying every minute of it.

Our trailer has a kitchen, dinette, couch, bed, ample storage, shower, and a toilet. It’s a studio on wheels.

For energy, we have a 190-watt solar panel that powers the majority of our appliances. In addition, we purchased a dual generator (propane and gas) and a solar generator that provides us ample charge for devices, a wifi router, an outdoor water pump, and a water heater for hot showers; a must for Alicia.

We have a Coleman camping stove and propane canisters that are more than sufficient to cook our meals with. We don’t cook in our trailer unless we really have to.

Like many 1st generation American citizens, I didn’t grow up going camping, let alone hitching a trailer to a pickup truck, but to ensure my wife’s health improves, I’ll do just about anything. Being in nature has made all the difference.

It’s also forced me to live in a way that I’ve always wanted but didn’t have the courage to do so.

Pros and Cons of Full-Time RV Life

This life isn’t for everyone.

The learning curve was steep since we were novices to this lifestyle, but when you are dropped in the ocean without a liferaft, you tend to learn how to swim quickly.

Overall the experience has been great. However, I wanted to share the pros and cons that I have encountered thus far. The cons aren’t necessarily negatives for me but can be for some.

Pros

Your backyard can change whenever you want. Currently, we are in Payson, Arizona. Before I moved to Arizona, I thought the state had only cactus and the Grand Canyon to offer, and although the desert has its own mystic, Arizona has many things to offer, including the lush green ponderosa pines that we are neighboring currently. Living the RV life is a great way to see the United States.

You meet new people. We have met so many folks from different walks of life, and even made some great friends along the journey. My overall consensus of the United States, having traveled quite a bit, is that people are awesome and kind. The more you step away from social media and fear-mongering news stations, you see that people, irrelevant of political views are genuine and care. It’s been endearing, to say the least.

Self-reliance becomes a virtue. When you start to adopt the ideas of living on your own and are able to learn practical tasks that contribute to your survival, you build a type of confidence that’s hard to entertain with words.

Your relationship will be tested and strengthened. I rely on Alicia and she does the same. We are a team, and when we figure things out together, it’s a celebration of the highest magnitude. It’s made us re-think what it means to love another. For us, we know we are on individual journeys, together. We contribute to each other’s well-being, for our spirits are akin to the very trees I wake next to. Our words, the sunlight, our actions the water, and our overall love are the nutrients needed to help foster this growth.

Cooking outdoors is the best. We love to cook! The campsites we choose are relatively close to civilization so we can purchase what we need. There is nothing like a meal on an open fire.

Cons

You have to be mindful of your energy consumption. We need to constantly monitor propane, solar power, batteries, water, cellular service, and everything else needed to live.

You have to constantly organize. Unlike a house and apartment, where your belongings are stationary, we are on the move at least a few times a month, so we have to pick and move often. I’ve started to enjoy organizing, but for some, this may be an issue.

Living accommodations at campsites vary. Some have flush toilets and showers, and some don’t. Some camping spots are smaller, some are larger. Some you must reserve and others you can simply drive up and pick what’s available. We have learned that traveling and settling during the week can greatly increase our chances of securing a good spot.

You have to be mindful of animals. We are currently in bear country, and although we haven’t seen any, you have to be prepared. Luckily, Alicia and I are registered gun owners, and although the last thing we want to ever do is use it if the time comes and I am confronted with a mountain lion or bear, I am prepared.

You have to be okay with change. I have basic routines like exercise, meditating, reading, etc., but with the RV life, anything can happen. The RV may leak, campgrounds might be full, your tow vehicle may have issues, your weight distribution hitch may fall off (rare, but it happens), my wife may not feel good in a particular area, etc. In hindsight, things happen. Patience and adaptability are key traits to develop and harness when living this way.

Re-Thinking Reality

Death is real.

We are dying a little every day.

Although it’s obvious to all of us, many tend to live like immortals.

Death quickly cripples a lot of bullshit in your life.

It has caused me to make important decisions effortlessly.

It’s forced me to cut out certain people from my life, although I harbor no ill-will. I simply don’t have the capacity to fix the unfixable.

I’m taking a big risk, rolling the dice, and saying fuck it. Let me live as if I will die tomorrow and that’s exactly what I’m doing.

Many fellow campers, mostly retired, have admired us for the risk we are taking. However, they also gave us reassurance that what we are doing isn’t that much of a risk and something they wish they would have done sooner.

One couple told us that they have many friends that waited to do what they wanted to do when they retired, and when the time came to enjoy the fruits of their many years of labor, other problems, be it health or otherwise, came into the picture and disturbed their initial plans.

Thoughts Before I Part

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover, that I had not lived.

— Henry David Thoreau

When I re-read Thoreau’s “Walden,” which sits like a Bible next to me at all times, I find myself in deep contemplation.

It’s always been important for me to understand myself. Not intellectually which is learned, nor psychologically where the intrusion of past experiences is relived to fix one’s own mental capacity of emotion, or socially, which is a bunch of contrived experiments dictated by man to live in conformity, but instead to understand the self beyond the limits of the chattering mind and how to make the most of the moments.

I don’t know if there is a central meaning or purpose to life. Instead, I feel it’s simply meant to be experienced and all our experiences are unique and can be beautiful if we make them.

I urge you, your friends and families to spend as much time in nature as possible.

Unplug and reset.

Let the fresh scent of pine seep deep into your blood;
Become untethered like the sky and find infinity in your spirit.
Let the song of silence chime into every vein and bring you peace.
Let the sunrise blanket you in her warmth.
When night falls, find gratitude in every constellation, a painting from the unknown, just for you.