Nomad Summer: Ten Lessons from the Road

When I travel to a new place, the colors seem brighter, the food is always exciting and the scenery is more vivid. The first time I ever went to New York City, I remember that the air felt different, as if it was charged with static electricity. I marveled at the towers, the traffic, the sidewalks teeming with busy people, and I could never figure out if the electricity in the air was my imagination or if it was a byproduct of so many shuffling feet.

I'm aging myself here but way before Facebook, Instagram and TikTok were a thing, there was the Travel Channel. As a teenager, I was a devoted consumer of Travel Channel content. I wanted to be one of the hosts, moving from one exotic and far-flung place to the next. Sadly, the Travel Channel never reached out to offer me a prime-time spot in their lineup. And as the years progressed, I forgot about one of my earliest career ambitions.

But, this summer, opportunity knocked - though not in a way I could possibly have planned. As my family waits for our new home to finish being constructed, we find ourselves temporarily without a home. The trifecta of being temporarily mortgage-free, able to work remotely, and the kids being on summer vacation, made it easy for us to decide what to do.

We set out on an epic summer road trip as digital nomads. No home address, just a string of Air BNB's, my Honda Pilot, our suitcases, one cooler and the hope of strong, fast Wifi. Now with the summer already coming to its apex, we've learned a few things during our time as nomads that I think are worth sharing.

Lesson One: Be curious.

In the first few weeks of June, we were able to fit in some pretty amazing historical sites.

Watching my children experience these critical turning points in history, ask questions, and form opinions is an experience I'll not soon forget. It reminded me that curiosity is a gift, not to be squandered.

I've asked myself on a number of occasions since, am I being curious enough in my work? Or, am I taking situations that could add to my knowledge and perspective for granted?

Lesson Two: It's ok to take the scenic route, even when you didn't plan it that way.

Sometimes, we took the scenic route by choice - like when we drove the Mt. Carmel Highway in Zion National Park for several hours. But other times, it was a happy accident. On our way to Sedona, we ended up on iconic Route 66. We'd not planned to do it at all, our goal was to get from Roswell to Sedona as quickly as possible.

What a glorious surprise! It was amazing to see the old hotels and tourist attractions, even the gas stations. We loved it so much that we decided to stay on Route 66 for awhile, just to take in the sights.

It reminded me that in so much of my work, I'm intensely focused on getting from Point A to Point B as quickly as possible. How many scenic routes am I missing? How many relationships am I missing out on fulfilling by being solely focused on the destination?

Lesson Three: Just eat the ice cream.

When we planned the trip, I had grandiose ideas of keeping in shape while traveling without my home gym: kettlebell swings in the morning, pushups in between meetings, and long uphill hikes after work in the mountains. But, reality set in around our second week on the road. In any case, we found ourselves eating more ice cream than was probably good for us. Naturally, the kids indulged without a second thought but I felt guilty.

But, we ate ice cream in some pretty amazing places - there was a particularly delicious and memorable cone at Mt. Rushmore at sunset. We'll remember those ice creams forever and they were worth the calories.

I'll remember this next time it's Wednesday when we're back in the office. Our Women's Inclusion Network sponsors ice cream and other treats in the cafeteria on Wednesdays and I almost never made it, I was usually too "busy." I missed out on socializing with women I admire - not to mention some pretty good ice cream.

Lesson Four: Climb the mountains.

In the first few weeks, we paced ourselves - it was hot - super duper hot - most days were over 100 degrees. We worried about water, not having the right hiking boots, exhausting the children, getting up for work the next day. You name it and we had an excuse. We lost so many early opportunities to climb mountains.

About halfway through our trip we decided to start climbing the mountains. After all, if we failed to make it to the top, that would be a great reason to come back and try again.

We never failed to climb the mountain. Our motivation and desire for the view helped us push through. No one died of dehydration and no one broke an ankle and the views were incredible. But, the feeling of satisfaction was even better. It made me wonder, are there mountains I'm not climbing elsewhere in my life?

Lesson Five: It's ok to go off the trail sometimes.

When you're traveling with children, safety and security are paramount and they should be. My perspective was that staying on the trail keeps you from getting lost. My oldest son was always going off the trail and we were constantly calling him back.

One day we decided to let him navigate off-trail and we followed him.

He found a little creek, an oasis in the mountains. We saw wildflowers and butterflies and chipmunks. We dipped our feet in the creek and sat quietly, listening to the wind blow through the trees. It was an unexpected moment of contemplative bliss, marveling at the beauty of the landscape. We were filled with gratitude. And we never would have found it if we hadn't wandered off the trail.

Sometimes, you have to go off the trail to find the best spots. It made me wonder, how often do I stay on the trail in my life rather than finding my own path?

Lesson Six: Drive fast sometimes.

While we were in Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons, we decided to take an ATV trip. Neither me nor my husband had ever driven one so we booked a guided tour. Unfortunately, they called the next day to say they didn't have enough guides but if we wanted, we could do a self-guided ATV tour.

I'll be candid, I was nervous and I had all the worst nightmare scenarios in my head. What if we got lost? Injured? What if we ran out of gas or water?

We took a chance and it was a blast, easily one of the most fun things on our trip. Not having a guide allowed us to stop and explore, to take the trails most interesting to us and to occasionally exceed the posted trail speed limits. The kids have never thought we were cooler then when we were speeding down those trails with the wind in our hair.

It made me wonder, how often am I waiting for a guide in my life? Do I always need someone to tell me what to do, when to do it, and how fast to get it done? Sometimes I want to go fast and that's ok.

Lesson Seven: Stop and enjoy the view.

We had an aggressive time schedule and lots of pre-booked Air BNB's. But, coming around a corner and seeing a mountain covered in trees or a rocky outcrop reaching to the sky or a field full of violet wildflowers was magical.

Whenever the view moved us, we stopped. If there was a compelling overlook, we pulled in, hopped out of the car and gave ourselves the gift of a moment to enjoy it.

As we continued to do this around the country, I wondered, how often am I so focused on my phone and my email that I've completely missed the view? How often have I been so anxious to move on to the next challenge that I've failed to celebrate the success of the last milestone?

Lesson Eight: It's ok to be lost. But, bring a map just in case.

It's inevitable (even with Google Maps) that you'll become disoriented on a road trip. Being the self-reliant tech-savvy people that we are, we assumed we'd have no problems navigating. That wasn't always the case. The internet isn't everywhere and contrary to what most Floridians think, neither are interstates full of exits with restrooms and fast food.

There were many occasions when hours would go by without seeing another living soul and we were not entirely sure we were going in the right direction.

Would we find a hotel? Food? Gas? A bathroom?

Once we remembered we brought it, we were eternally grateful for our road atlas. When you're on a deserted Utah highway, at least you'll know that in approximately two hours, you'll find some food. As I thought about this in the context of my work, I related it to planning appropriately. The journey may be long, and there may not be as many rest stops as I'd like. But if I've prepared, it will be a lot more comfortable. That way, you can relax and enjoy the sunset.

Lesson Nine: Stay up late sometimes.

Prior to this trip, we were pretty scheduled people. Dinnertime, homework time, bath time, bedtime. When we return, I'm sure we'll naturally move to a schedule - especially when school starts.

But, on this trip, we stayed up late. We watched the fireflies on a lake in Arkansas, we took a lantern late-night tour of Ruby Falls in Chattanooga to see a waterfall in a cave. Some nights we stayed up late just to watch Netflix or play blackjack at the dining room table.

Schedules are important but so is living in the moment. When I think about how hyper-scheduled I am at work, I wonder, am I missing out on opportunities to have more fun just so I can stick to my outlook calendar?

Lesson Ten: Learn Something. Always.

Everywhere we went, we learned something. Sometimes we learned about the place or the people who lived there long ago. Sometimes we learned about the food scene or the geography.

In Roswell, there was a research facility attached to the World UFO Museum. My children stayed there for hours and were so engaged. They pulled research materials off the shelves and sat there quietly as they read through the documents.

In Albuquerque, we visited ancient petroglyphs of the Pueblo people from at least 3,000 years ago. While I'm not arrogant enough to believe that I intuited the meaning of their art perfectly, I do think that we learned about their lives and what was important to them. We felt connected to them in learning about their culture.

Whatever we learn, we take with us - in travels, at work, in life.

So to come full circle: I am not a travel writer trotting the globe with my carry-on and a glamorous film crew. And to be clear, I'm not sad about that one bit. I absolutely love what I do. But, this article is my small way of fulfilling an early career ambition.

I hope you found it helpful and more importantly, I hope you get to use the tips - whether that be on the road, in the office, or in your life.

Happy Travels!