Week 25: The next phase

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We are entering the next phase of our Nothing New project. Over the next week we are packing up our home and putting a small amount of special things in storage and everything else will be put back into our community. Furniture, baby things, house hold bits and pieces and tonnes of clothing are either being donated to our local Women’s Shelter or sold at very cheap prices so that they are affordable and accessible to those who need them. I’ve been thinking a lot about our future and wondering where we are supposed to be, this is a bit of a habit of mine, the curse of the constant itchy feet… the wanderer spirit in me creeps in often, whispering fantasies in my ears and making me long for lands far, far away.

Instead of gallivanting off around the globe, we are staying local, but instead of moving into a new rental I’m going to see if it is possible to live a more transient life as a family of two. To see if it’s possible to divorce ourselves from the assumed necessities of life, and try out some different lifestyles to see what sits best with us. At the end of next week we will be handing back the keys to our little shack and moving a bit further inland to a little room on the back of a trailer in the orchards of a local organic farm. For three weeks we will live out there, with nothing but what fits in the boot of our car (it’s pretty cold out there, so realistically it will be mostly blankets). Working the land with the growers and exchanging a room for a bit of good natured labour. I put a call out into my community a few months ago, to see if there would be anyone who would be happy to have us for a while, so that I could learn the skills of organic farming and so Bo could live a life with a different rhythm. With no television and nothing but orchards and vegetable gardens to have great winter adventures in, our daily rhythm is sure to change… a welcomed change of early nights and days outside. A change that I welcome with open arms as we shift from the monotonous stress that has existed for the past six months as I completed my masters, a shift into a life with a simpler, clearer purpose.

Sometimes a change in rhythm is all one needs to reassess and find joy once more in the little things that make life so beautiful. Good company, dirt under our fingernails and long days in the winter sun exploring the wild world of our own backyard.

After that we will be house sitting for a while… taking care of other peoples homes and opening our hearts to the rhythm of other lives…  After that? I don’t know yet. We are booked up until September and after that we will go wherever the wind takes us. Without being tied to a house, we will have the freedom to move and the financial freedom of not having to pay rent every week. A transient life will not be without it’s challenges I’m sure. I’m not making any commitment as to how long this phase of the project will go for, we are very lucky that we have the privilege of the option of signing a new lease and going into a new place if we decide that is what is best for us… All we can do is try.

All this has got me thinking about the idea of home, and what it really means to me.

Can we make a home that isn’t defined by walls or suburbs, that isn’t defined by any of the things that are contained within them, a home that isn’t concerned with being comfortable, or fashionable or big enough or… Can we make a home that isn’t about anything that you can touch at all. Can we make a home that is more transient, a home that lives in the spirit of our relationship as a family of two… is that enough for a stable, happy life? Is it even possible with a toddler in tow?

I don’t know. I really, really don’t know.

I guess we are about to find out!

What does “home” mean to you?

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  • June 25, 2014 - 8:07 pm

    Meegs - I am a long time reader, though guilty of not commenting 99% of the time. Sorry about that. I’m here, loving getting to follow along with what you are doing.

    Have you read: http://www.sparklingadventures.com/? This post makes me think you would be interested in their adventures, as they are a mom and 4 girls who are completely transient.

    I look forward to following this next stage of your life. Its something that’s been on the back of my mind for quite some time.ReplyCancel

    • June 25, 2014 - 8:51 pm

      Sash - I haven’t read that blog! I’ll go and have a look, definitely sounds like something I’d enjoy! 🙂 Thank you xReplyCancel

  • June 25, 2014 - 8:37 pm

    Angela - Go Sash Go!! XxxReplyCancel

    • June 25, 2014 - 8:46 pm

      Sash - I wish I was going all the way over to Melbourne to see YOU!.. One of these days I’ll be back to play xoReplyCancel

  • June 26, 2014 - 2:33 am

    Libby - OMG…I ran across your blog somewhere (not sure where) and am so glad I did. Oh the itchy feet and wandering spirit! I think I was blessed with those, too, while the hubs is content to be. This post makes me want to find some adventures to get into…ReplyCancel

  • June 26, 2014 - 4:30 am

    Michelle Heggie - Sounds wonderful Sash! I often dream about a simple life where I have space to move and plenty of room to grow my own fruit and veggies. I am also a homebody and love being at home with my hubby and kids. The ultimate goal is to move somewhere, where the kids have space to run around and play outside, a self-sufficient veggie patch and a country atmosphere. In saying that though, my upbringing and personality would leave me feeling stressed if I didn’t have a permanent home base. That’s why I love reading your blog so much, because I enjoy your free spirit and hearing about your adventures with Bo. Good luck for this next phase and I can’t wait to hear all about it!ReplyCancel

  • June 26, 2014 - 5:24 am

    Rhiannon - Sounds like hard work! But you are amazing, and toddlers can handle anything! I have found over the last few months that when you are their world, home is wherever you happen to be xReplyCancel

  • June 26, 2014 - 10:32 am

    Jen Mackie - Oh sash- are you going to be able to cook? Won’t you go nuts without an oven?!ReplyCancel

    • June 26, 2014 - 11:16 am

      Sash - I’ll be able to cook in the main house xx And it’s only three weeks 😉 xReplyCancel

  • June 26, 2014 - 6:03 pm

    Steinsdotter - Home for me is more about who’s around me…
    Not the size of the space we live in, or having a lot of expensive things… People matter, a social life, our loved ones… For the last 3 years I’ve been living in towns without those people, and I haven’t been happy. So we are making a change.

    We just moved out of our last space, I sold and gave away everything we had, and for the next month we will be living a bit here and there, with friends and family, and the 1 of august we are moving into this tiny apartment, which are close to some of the people we love… Starting over!

    And I’m looking forward to it.ReplyCancel

  • February 16, 2015 - 5:01 am

    Transitional Living. » Inked in Colour - […] ITIn July last year Bo and I moved out of our rental. As a part of our Nothing New Project I wanted to see if we could live transitionally for the final s… It was a very experimental phase in the project, one that I was willing to pull out of at any time […]ReplyCancel

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