During the past week, I have segued to the heat and noise of Atlanta to teach at Georgia State University.
I am absolutely thrilled about teaching Marketing and Sales but,
interestingly, I am having more trouble transitioning home from the first 32-state leg of my Millicent van trip than I thought I would.
I told a friend that I usually suffer a short funk after a big trip, but wow, this funk has been a battle! My mind is swirling and the humidity is grating on my nerves. Even if I stand on my tiptoes, I still can’t see the sunrise or sunset because of the heavy-laden city forest in Atlanta. I am having an unusual visceral response to the city.
The walls of my home feel close and I want to rip the structure from its foundations so I can move…where…who knows?
It’s not about ‘where’, it’s about the excitement of new adventures dawning each day. I guess it’s like the effect of stepping off a boat onto solid ground but feeling like you are still moving.
Does anyone else feel the same way?
Interestingly, they say the reason you sway after disembarking, is that your physical system adapts too well to the movement of the object, and after reuniting with ‘terra firma’ you once again need to readapt to life on land. This explains so much about my current uneasy sensation!
Life in a van is not romantic or easy.
Afterall there are black water tanks to dump, unknown parts that break, and long wearisome days driving into the unknown.
Then, why do I miss VanLife so much? This feeling surprises even me.
While researching my newfound malady, I ran across an article by Chris Wright for Outside adventure magazine, August 8, 2019. He too said they had “trouble with reentry.” Chris summed up his VanLife experience as, “A massive stretch of raw adventure and also an earthquake, destabilizing my life.”
Yes, I think that’s it.
VanLife is a voyage of absolute highs and gruesome lows, much like a roller coaster.
One moment you are giggling and screaming with delight and the next moment you feel disemboweled.
Yet, when the ride finishes, we dance and cry, “Let’s do it again!”
I guess the only cure for my ‘Mal de Debarquement’ is to grab my keys, place my foot on the peddle, and give Millicent the van a little gas.
Until I can set off again, I must practice the new breathing techniques I learned while recently SCUBA diving. I have a feeling the slow breaths in…and the slow breaths out…will also help reacquaint me with this new chapter.
After all, adventure and beautiful moments can come in ANY FORM and in ANY LOCATION.
Vroom, vroom!
Christiane Palpant
