Goodbye Texas... Again.

Hello. It's been a minute.

The updates we thought would happen on our blog were put on the back burner this past year while we went through one of the most expansive years of our life. It became a season of going inward and, truthfully, surviving.

The good news; there is always sunshine after a storm.

Life has certainly been an adventure these last 6 months, actually, ever since moving into the RV. But back in October we left Idaho to start traveling the country, first stop: Tennessee.

Our goal was to travel in the trailer and visit farms where we could stay and work for periods of time so we could learn different farming practices for our future homestead. We left with a tank of gas and full faith. You can watch our video below:

Long story short, we made it to Tennessee for my (Lacie) yearly company conference. Not a whole lot was working out in Tennessee at the time so we decided to meet up with our friends in, you guessed it, Texas... again. This time we were in the hill country, which is beautiful and so different than where we were in Dallas!

Once we arrived in Texas we realized that life had other plans for us. Easily one of the toughest seasons of life we have ever experienced, and yet one of the most beautiful. If there is one lesson we have learned with the RV lifestyle is to always be ready for change. It really is a beautiful lesson to learn in life. Change is the only consistent thing. I am currently reading in the book, A happy pocket full of money, about change. –

"But new growth, new creation, lies only in the unknown. Learn to love and cherish the gift and power of the unknown. Choose this, and you will find yourself traveling on a wonderful journey of exploration and growth."

If that isn't the whole heart behind Chasing the Wild Wonder;

To go and explore, rewild, and live life in wonder.

We are now getting close to 5 months in Austin.

When we first arrived we quickly made connections at the farmers markets, had a lead with a potential farm to work on, and we even thought that we could see ourselves here for awhile to grow, and live.

Why not?!?

So we started to explore the idea of living in Texas, officially. If it was an opportunity opening to us we wanted to be open to the idea of living here for a few years. We started figuring out where we would want to live, what would it look like, what would we do, how can we prepare for the Texas heat, and what outdoor activities could we do.

It wasn't long before we started to realize that Texas is very different from Idaho. Most the land is privately owned in Texas, which means there isn't much land to go enjoy. And the land that is available either costs money or, as we found out, would have no room to get in. Our family loves to hike, swim in lakes, live at the river on hot summer days, bike ride everywhere, and it wasn't until I (Lacie) got off a phone call one afternoon when I looked at Ben and asked him, "what the F are we doing in Texas?!"

A conversation on what our bigger goals and dreams were started, and we both knew our ultimate goal was to live in the mountains. We both knew it was time to go back to Idaho, which leads us to now; wrapping up our time in Texas, and waiting for Idaho to warm up because it's currently deep in snow.

Can we take a moment to talk about how funny life is?

We made the decision to go back to Idaho, and all of a sudden the floodgates opened for work to be able to save up and a week later four full time travel families came rolling into the RV park. It is safe to say it brought up a lot of emotions. Here they are living the life we thought we would be living, and every time we get on the road, we find ourselves stationary for months at a time.

We ended up being able to connect with one of the families, The Boundless Bronnekes, if you don't already follow them make sure to check them out. The kids were so excited to have friends to play with, and we were able to have some really encouraging conversations about full time RV travel. They really have inspired us to keep an open mind to traveling, and how to use our talents to make it happen.

We know going back to Idaho is still the next right step. It will be a place to regroup, get back into nature, and have a place to rest while we figure things out. It will be great to be back in our small town, living across the street from our favorite river spot, and being around family and friends.

A friend once told me that the land will call you, and that is exactly how it feels with heading back to the Northwest. The land feels like it is calling us back. I can't tell you how many times I dream about being able to hike and smell the pines. Even the idea of putting my hands in the dirt there feels right.

We don't know what will happen once we are there, but we have learned to live with no expectations. To let life lead, and to trust that for whatever reason we are called back, we will find out.