New Normal

Month After: New Normal

4/5/2023

Colorado

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If there was any question before, we are officially back to the real world. Jake & I are both in the full swing of full time jobs again. We have moved into an apartment and Leinie is re-acclimating to a non-mobile home.

Leinie is a trooper. The plants, not so much…

Transitioning from vanlife back to apartment life has been a learning curve. Purging stuff was tough going into vanlife, we figured re-acquiring stuff would be a similar struggle. Now as I type this, sitting on a curb alert craigslist couch, I look at our near empty apartment that has only the totes we’ve lived out of for the past year. We knew we would need to re-acquire furniture but we overlooked smaller items like a shower curtain, clothes hangers, and eating utensils that don’t combine the fork, spoon and knife into a single unit. It seems I am running to the store every other day because life is just easier when you have dishwashing pods for the dishwasher ya know.

Full disclosure, this work thing isn’t my favorite. While I do enjoy a steady income channel, this “daily grind” thing is for the birds. I’m already back to counting down to retirement. Don’t get me wrong, this is definitely not a dig at my new place of employment. My new hospital has been fantastic and just up my orthopod alley, but I will choose sleeping in and yoga with my dog at 10am over work every single time if given the choice.

Jake for his part segwayed from roof racks and accessories into professional van conversions and maintenance. His first week on the job and the words “what if we went back to vanlife” came out of his mouth. Yes, pick your jaw up off the floor. I’m pretty sure I spit out the beer I was drinking. He claims that with a taller, longer vehicle we could make it work long term.

Regardless, he has a renewed interest in vanlife and has a long list of projects for the Yellow Submarine. My fingers are crossed for a heater cuz tailgating season got a bit on the chilly side.

Leinie does not enjoy the decreased amount of attention directly resulting from full time jobs for Jake and myself. However, he is and always has been a trooper. He has a new couch which he loves as much, if not more than the SoCal couch. He also has new dog park friends that he sees almost every day, this time around they are all his size. But he has been dealt a curve ball with the apartment. The tree just past our patio attracts the largest, fattest, honeybadger-trapped-in-squirrel-bodies I have ever seen (they don’t give an ish about nothing, including Leinie). He was very caught off guard by their lack of interest in him. The fact that they are half his size could also be throwing him off.

Bold squirrels

So life has formed into a new normal. Not quite the free-flowing life as in the Yellow Submarine was, but a good normal. We kept our eyes on the new priorities we found in the past year. We sip coffee together in the mornings. We finish work and are home at super reasonable, well-before-dark time of the day so we can enjoy some quality time disc golfing, sipping beers at the neighborhood brewery, or socializing at the dog park. We have plenty of time and green space to enjoy the beautiful outdoors. Have I mentioned the mountain views?

The Yellow Submarine you ask? Still here, a bit more empty than it has been, but ready for the next adventure. I have a list for peak bagging at hand. The tramily has discussed ideas for backcountry fun. There are even some plans for more exploration on the beer front. So stay tuned…

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