Category: life changes

Reflecting and Planning

January 4, 2024

As 2024 begins, I reflect on my first full year as a nomad.

The biggest question is, “Am I happy with the nomadic lifestyle?”

Yes! Absolutely. As the months pass, I can’t imagine returning to my former profession, teaching.

I never thought I would be so happy to be unemployed. (I still don’t believe I am retired.)

I wake up grateful every day for the sights I see, the people I meet, and a more relaxed lifestyle.

New Experiences in 2023:

  • House and pet sitting: From May to July, I mostly house-sat and pet-sat. My favorites have been the “one-dog sits.” Cats are easy, but dogs are good company, and at least one daily walk is guaranteed. It’s also a huge budget saver!
  • European National Parks: I visited Plitvice and Mljet in Croatia and Teide and Garajonay in the Canary Islands. The national parks in Croatia were stunning! Trails were well-marked and easy to navigate. Tiede, Spain’s highest peak, is located on Tenerife in the Canary Islands. I visited on a group tour that included star gazing. It was an unforgettable experience. I also spent a day on La Gomera in the Canaries, which is primarily a National Park. Absolutely gorgeous!
  • The Greek Islands: I spent about a month in Greece, starting in Athens and moving on to Crete, Karpathos, Rhodes, and Santorini. Each place had its unique character, and I enjoyed all of them. There are over 200 islands to explore in Greece, and I have plans to return this spring.
  • Reading: Okay, I have known how to read for a long time! I have always struggled with leisurely reading, though. I no longer feel guilty about spending the afternoon with my nose in a good book.

Plans and Changes for 2024:

  • More weeks of house sitting and pet sitting: I have been pet sitting since the middle of December when I arrived home from an extended trip to Europe. (I was able to schedule the sits around family Christmas celebrations.) And I will spend most of my days on sits through April. Requests have come my way, and I can be picky about pets and locations. I’m currently enjoying a gorgeous view of Puget Sound.
  • Volunteer Work: I’m researching options for volunteer positions both here in my home state and overseas. I’m hoping to make this part of my lifestyle.
  • Travel farther from home: I am going “Down Under” for the first time. After spending September in the Hawaiian Islands, I will head to Sydney, Australia, in October. I still need to plan the rest of the trip, including New Zealand.
  • No big US road trip: The past two years, I took off on extended road trips around the Western US (seven and ten weeks). Although I enjoyed those trips, which included visits with friends and family, I don’t have an open block of time this year. I will make some shorter trips instead.
  • Cruises: I haven’t been on a cruise ship in several years. I have mixed feelings about cruising, but incredible deals are out there as the cruise lines recover from the pandemic. And most cruise companies are responding to solo travelers with single rooms. It’s definitely worth checking out.

Two years ago, I never imagined that I would be living this lifestyle. I get a kick out of telling people that I am a nomad. Their reactions are almost always positive, and I enjoy answering their questions. Some people can’t believe that I no longer have a physical home. I have adapted and find it easy to make myself “at home” almost anywhere.

I have always enjoyed home renovation shows (I have remodeled one home and partially remodeled another.), and I love to see how people decorate. I now have a routine when I arrive for a sit. I take in the surroundings and appreciate their sense of style and the fact that they are entrusting me with their home and pets.

One of the best things about this lifestyle is that I see more of my adult kids now than I did in previous years. I schedule enough sits in the Seattle area that we get together quite often throughout the year. And Mom isn’t asking for their help with projects around the house. We just enjoy each other’s company.

Here’s to the year ahead! I wish you peace and happiness.

My Biggest Burden as a Nomad


August 4, 2023
I have been living a nomadic life for just over a year now. There have been many adjustments along the way, and my lifestyle continues to evolve.
Over the past few months, I have added house-sitting and pet-sitting. In fact, I’ve only paid for one night in a hotel this summer. I’ve hiked and paddle-boarded to my heart’s content and caught up with friends and family in my home state. Indeed, I can’t complain.


But being in my home area, there is also something I can’t avoid—my storage unit.
When I sold my house and most of its contents last year, I gave up a lot, but not everything. I still have my car; the rest is in the ten-by-ten storage unit.
I dread going to that storage unit. Why?
It’s too full and too hard to find anything.
I thought I had a great idea last spring when my son helped me set up two shelving units. But honestly, it is still too cluttered. Also, when my sister passed away last January, I re-inherited some things that I had given her.
Becoming a minimalist is a journey, and I’m still working on it. My travel wardrobe is pared down, but I still have a few bins full of clothes in that storage unit. I will defend my winter wardrobe and sports-related attire, but I’m not sure if I have a decent excuse to keep the rest.


And then there are those bins of mementos, my personal history that I haven’t been able to part with yet. Perhaps I could reduce the number of containers.
The bottom line is that I don’t think I will be a nomad forever. That’s why giving up some of those big items like my vacuum cleaner and favorite wool rug is hard.
I plan to pare down a bit more when I return from my next adventure. I’m impressed with fellow nomads who have “a few boxes in someone else’s garage.” I’m not sure if I will ever get there, but that’s okay. We are each navigating our own journey.

Update: August 11, 2024

I did, indeed, manage to downsize my storage unit last spring before embarking on another extended European journey. In the process, I also saved myself some money by switching to a 7 x 10 unit, which was one-third the price!

Now I can roll out my bike and get to the items I’m seeking. I realized that I could dispose of some of those mementos and Christmas decorations without missing them. And paring down my wardrobe is a constant battle.

The dreaded storage unit no longer feels like a burden!

Nomad Life: How Did I Get Here?

June 20, 2023

Do you ever stop and wonder about the twists and turns of your life?

Mine has taken many in the past five years.

If you had told me in June 2018 that in five years, I would be homeless by choice and changing doggie diapers, I don’t know if I would have laughed, freaked out, or broken down in tears.

But here I am.

You see, I was one of those Type A people who liked to be in control and lead a tidy, secure life. I was a lifelong educator, and although I always found it challenging, I figured I would segway into a new career at some point.

In fact, I did make a change in 2018. I sold my condo in the Seattle area and moved to Montana’s Flathead Valley.

This is it! I thought. But it wasn’t.

Don’t get me wrong—there were a lot of wonderful outcomes from that move. I enjoyed a year of outdoor recreation and made tons of new friends. What I didn’t do was plan for a source of income. I was overly optimistic about finding a suitable job that would give me some income but still allow for ample time in the great outdoors. It just didn’t work out.

I have an old friend who firmly believes life is all about timing. I guess I didn’t time that one right.

After a year, I returned to my home state, Washington, and returned to my safe but stressful career teaching high school. I took a position in Eastern Washington, thinking that changing to a smaller rural school would be better and keep me closer to new friends in Montana.

Then, you know what happened: Pandemic. There’s nothing like being in a new job in a new location and then being locked up alone in your isolated home in the country.  

A couple of months into the pandemic, a friend and colleague stopped by for an on-the-porch visit. She encouraged me to head back to the west side of the state to be closer to friends and family. It was May, and we still didn’t know what the following months and years would bring.

I got online, found an appropriate open position, arranged for a nontraditional interview, and got the job.

It was time to move again.

I bought a “fixer-upper” to have something to do. Ha! I would not recommend remodeling a house during a pandemic. Supply shortages, inflated prices…it was not a fun experience.

That’s the short version of what led me to my current lifestyle.

If you or someone close to you works in public education, you know how tough the past few years have been. We teachers have been dropping like flies.

A year ago, I decided to sell that newly remodeled house, got rid of most of my possessions, and quit my job. Another teacher down.

My initial plan was to retire in Spain, at least for a year or two. I had traveled there about a dozen times over the years, and two involved longer stays in educational programs. I had always loved Spain. Why not live the Spanish ex-pat life for a while?

After traveling around the Western US in the summer of 2022, I set out for a three-month trip to Europe in September. I had an apartment reserved in Valencia, Spain, for the month of October. It would be an excellent trial period to see if I wanted to live there for a year or two.

In the end, I realized that traveling was what gave me the most joy. Exploring new places fed my soul like nothing else in life.

I had been following the blog of a nomadic couple from Seattle for several months. Initially, I thought there was no way I would ever do it. Nine months later, I realized it was exactly what I wanted to do.

So here I am. My nomadic lifestyle continues to evolve.

Last December, I returned from Europe to find my sister in a poor state physically and emotionally. I instantly put the brakes on my life to take care of her. I rented a house for three months (negotiated an Airbnb) to allow us time to assess her health and make a plan. I was ready to go back to work, at least part-time.

Sadly, my sister passed away from pancreatic cancer in January.

I decided to keep the short-term rental through March, as planned, to grieve and help sort out my sister’s affairs. Looking back, it was the right move. I spent more time with my adult children than I had in years, and there were numerous visits with family and friends. I also bonded further with my niece and her husband and kids.

That experience made me realize that I needed a hybrid plan. I wanted to spend a chunk of the year in Western Washington near family and friends. In other words, this is still home. I don’t want to lose that.

After traveling throughout the western states again this spring, I arrived “home” on June first. I was able to arrange pet-sitting and house-sitting gigs in the area through mid-July.

One of the most important things I have learned over the past few years is to be flexible because changes will always arise.

And there are no rules to the nomadic lifestyle. You can make it what you want.

Who knows? I may go back to work one of these days. For now, I appreciate the freedom and joy that come with simplifying.

Loss and Recovery

January 24, 2023

I haven’t written in over a month. I’m still recovering from the most profound shock of my life.
After a three-month, life-changing trip to Europe, I came back “home” on December 7th, energized and optimistic. I was anticipating more travels in 2023 and looked forward to spending time with friends and family through the holidays. I planned my itinerary, including a house-sitting gig for a friend from December 25th through January 6th. Then I would ski before resuming my nomadic life. I thought Costa Rica might be next.
Thankfully, I hadn’t bought a plane ticket yet.
On the evening of December 8th, I called my sister to check-in. From our texts, I knew she had been experiencing lower back pain; she felt like she hadn’t fully recovered from her hip surgery earlier in the year.
When I heard her voice, my heart sank. She was in despair. The pain had kept her from sleeping, she had lost her appetite, and she wasn’t getting a firm answer from her medical providers. Additionally, she had been laid off while on medical leave. She had been hiding her misery from family and close friends, not one to trouble other people, especially at Christmastime.
I took a day to gather my thoughts and figure out a plan of action.
I rented an Airbnb at one of her favorite places on the bay for the next two weeks and then arranged for a three-month house rental through the end of March. That would give us time to figure out her medical needs and get her in a better place emotionally. When I saw her on Saturday, she agreed to the plan without hesitation.


A few days later, an MRI showed irregularities in her liver.
The following Monday, we were in the ER. Another scan revealed tumors in her liver and pancreas, likely cancerous. That was December 19th.
On December 22nd, she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer—she would not survive. She remained in the hospital for five more days due to low sodium levels.
On December 27th, we moved her into the house I had rented. One of her oldest friends arrived to help me care for her. A small group of friends and family members came to visit and support her.


She passed away on January 3rd.

Pancreatic cancer is sneaky. In most cases, people don’t receive a diagnosis until it’s advanced, often stage four. I’ve never seen someone decline so rapidly. She slipped visibly every day. I didn’t even have time to contact all our relatives and her friends to tell them she was sick.
Over the past three weeks, I have told the story countless times to friends and relatives, every time experiencing the pain again.

You know how some people say, “Man makes plans, and God laughs”? That sums up the past few years of my life. Every time that I have it all mapped out, something changes. I’ve learned to accept and embrace those changes.
Losing my sister was certainly not in my plan, but I’m grateful I was with her at the end of her life. The best thing is that I have no regrets regarding our relationship. We talked on the phone often and supported each other through the bad days. We had a lot of fun over the past decade, too. We enjoyed some great sister trips; we swam with the dolphins in Mexico, and I finally took her to Hawaii in 2021.
We have all heard the advice: “Be grateful every day. Tell people you love them. Live with no regrets.”
We really don’t know when our time will come. What keeps you from chasing your dreams and checking off that bucket list?
Right now, I’m taking my time and allowing myself to grieve. We need to do that, too. I have this beautiful lake-view home for two more months. It wasn’t in my plan, but I’m doing my best. My kids and friends have been coming to visit, I’m taking long restorative walks, and I’m helping my nieces with the work that’s involved in wrapping up my sister’s affairs. Every day the pain lifts a little. I embrace the happy moments, the tears, and the time to read, meditate, and enjoy this place’s peacefulness.

My Biggest Dilemma (Which Eventually Resolved Itself)

October 11, 2022

I’m truly enjoying my time in Valencia despite my aching feet. Since visiting with the Spanish family last weekend, I have probably been thinking too much about where I want to live when I return next year. In fact, I’m a bit obsessed. I keep researching smaller towns in eastern Spain. Then I look at the real estate sites. But do I really want to live in a small town? Won’t I get bored? Would I have social life? Is there a city that is big enough but not too big? If I were closer to the mountains, I could ski…

Valencia’s Botanical Garden

Then I worry about Valencia being too noisy for me. In some ways, I like the noise. I never feel entirely alone. Other neighborhoods would be quieter, though. I like the botanical garden. What if I could get an apartment that backs on the garden? That would be sweet!

My friends talked about the possibility of finding an area that was accessible by metro on the outskirts of the city. But again, I don’t want to live in the suburbs, and when people visit, they want to see the city.

Now, do you understand what I’ve been going through? I know. It has to be where I want to live. Don’t choose your home based on potential visitors.

How many Airbnb’s have a bookcase like this?

I fell in love with this apartment the moment I walked in. It has super-high ceilings, over ten feet, more like twelve. The desk sits in front of the “wall of windows.” I love the natural daylight, but I have the privacy of frosted and colored glass. Throughout the apartment, the walls are bright white with sparse décor. It’s clean and happy without being cluttered. The preserved original tile mosaic floors are charming, as are many other details in this turn-of-the-century home. I couldn’t imagine a better place to write. And the built-in bookcase has some interesting reading material. It would be great if the owner were willing to lease it to me at a lower rate for a longer term.

Sometimes the Universe, God, or our higher power hears us. Yesterday, I received a message from my host:

Hi Shannon.

 Hope you are well, I wanted to ask you because I thought I understood that you wanted to stay longer in Valencia (maybe you were thinking of staying a year, or am I wrong?).

 I mention it because I’m interested in long-term rentals and you might be interested in staying at my house longer.

We then proceeded to message back and forth. Me with questions and he with answers. He’s looking at the numbers and has promised to get back to me with a price and terms. I’ll stop obsessing for a while.

January 24, 2023

By the time my month-long stay in Valencia had ended, I had come to an important realization. I’m not ready to settle in one spot—adventure is what I want now. 

Cape Sagres, Portugal

When my host got back to me with a number, I had already decided to continue my wandering life. There’s so much more of the world that I want to see. I’ve loved Costa Rica for decades, but somehow, I have never visited. Machu Pichu, the Galapagos…the list goes on.

Change and Growth

I’m back! That two-word sentence has so many connotations as I write it today. In one way I’m back, but in other ways, I will never return. First, I’m returning to my blog. Starting this blog was one of the best things I have ever done for my personal growth. It took some guts to put my life out there on the internet. I felt it was worth the risk, though. It helped me share and process my new experiences as I jumped into a new life in Montana eighteen months ago. Do I have regrets? Absolutely not. I can only imagine my state of mind and health if I had stayed in my old job and old location. I truly needed to physically remove myself from that life in order to learn and grow.

Even though I haven’t been blogging for the past few months, I have been writing. I met a new friend last April. He too, is a writer. We instantly bonded and have become email “penpals.” I guess that relationship temporarily replaced my need to blog.

But this morning as I was out walking, I felt the urge to return. I guess it’s time to come clean and share what I’ve been up to these past few months.

By mid-August, my new job was getting to me. I truly did enjoy my coworkers, but something vital was missing. As a lifelong educator, my work life had been filled with stress and struggles, but my sense of purpose had been abundant. In my new work, I was providing a service, but the work was superficial. I needed more. My take-home pay wasn’t very satisfying either. I initially thought that wouldn’t bother me. But darn it, I was working hard every day, and at the end of the month, the paycheck was barely keeping me afloat. Any dreams of travel and adventure were going to be limited. Sadly, Montana is one of the lowest paying states in the union. I knew that when I made the move, but with my optimistic nature, I figured I would be just fine. I wasn’t.

As I was driving home on August 16th, 2019, physically exhausted from the week, I decided that I needed to move on. Before exiting from the profession in Washington, I had renewed my teaching certificate. I’m no dummy. A backup plan is always a good idea, and I knew that the teacher shortage was not going to be alleviated any time soon. I also knew that I didn’t want to go back to a large suburban district like the one I had left. If I was going to teach, it would have to be in a small town. And sadly, as an experienced educator, Montana pay doesn’t come close to my Washington earning power.

It was mid-August. I knew that I needed to check openings that night if I was going to get hired for the 2019-20 school year. As fate would have it, the first district that I looked at had an opening for a high school Spanish and English teacher. The job had been posted a couple of months earlier, so there was a chance that it had already been filled. I got to work writing a cover letter and completing the application materials. Satisfied, I hit send and went to bed. If it was meant to be, I would hear from them early next week.

My Monday did not get off to the best start. I was in a car accident on my way to work that morning. I was physically okay, just a little sore, but my car was probably totaled. When the tow truck driver arrived, he told that he was happy to have me riding along with him. He said that most of the time when he’s called to an accident scene, the drivers are taken away in an ambulance. Tears of gratitude began to fall from my eyes. Talk about a silver lining! I just knew things would start looking up for me.

Thankfully, I have good insurance. It didn’t take much time to get my rental car and head back home. When I had called work to tell them about the accident, my boss suggested that I go to the doctor to get checked out even though I didn’t feel too bad. Good advice. I had never experienced more than a fender-bender, and I might not have been thinking at 100% capacity.

The urgent care doctor was a real cut-up. Knowing that I had been in an accident, he clearly wanted to set me at ease. He checked me out and didn’t see anything too alarming. After writing a note to release me from work and giving me a muscle relaxer prescription for my sore neck and shoulder, he said that I could call if I felt the need for further treatment like physical therapy.

Back to that potential job opening… I talked to the administrator at the district office that day. They had indeed received my application materials, and the position was still open. We talked about conducting an interview via Skype, considering my current location.

To make a long story short, I interviewed two days later and was offered the position. I worked Thursday and Friday at the credit union, packed up my new car on Saturday, and hit the road on Sunday. In the meantime, I had found a temporary housesitter/renter for my home, and had an Airbnb rented for the next few days to get settled in my classroom and find a rental home.

When you decide to embark on an adventure, there are always challenges and surprises. First, rental homes were not abundant. I ended up staying in the guest room of one of the middle school teachers for the first week of school. Then a new colleague told me that she had a temporary solution for my housing dilemma. I could rent a home that was sold contingently. It was fifteen miles from school, but it had a fabulous view of Lake Roosevelt. I was there for only a month before finding my current home located on an orchard. Finally, I could settle in a bit.

In the meantime, school started. Wow! My new place of work is significantly smaller than anywhere else I have taught; there are only about 235 students. (The middle school where I last taught has over a thousand.) After my new principal took me on a short tour of the building, I was charmed and relieved that I would never get lost in the hallways. There were many adjustments for me. First was the five-period day. That means I teach four classes each day, seventy-one minutes each. The school is on a trimester system with each trimester equalling a traditional semester. I had had a long run as a middle school teacher and hadn’t taught high school in twenty years. One of the best changes was that I would have smaller class sizes; one of the worst was that there was no Spanish curriculum. Clearly, I had work to do! No more worries about lack of purpose.

So back to the reason I returned to my blog. I think I initially walked away because I felt that I was a failure. I had abandoned my dream of making a new life in Montana. I hadn’t found sufficient employment, and I had to go back to my former profession. A few months ago, I didn’t really want to share that with the world. I now have a different and more grateful perspective. And honestly, Montana is still there. I’ve already made a few trips to visit on long weekends.

But the best thing that I have received from the past few months is time to reflect and meditate and appreciate my resiliency. I live next to an orchard a few miles from town. My social life is limited here, partly by choice and partly because of geography. (Yes, I do have some wonderful new friends, but I’m not out and about very often.) I have had time to work on myself. I think about how hard it is for many people to get away and have a retreat. I come home to a retreat every afternoon. It’s been a priceless gift.

What I want the world to know is that I am fearless now. I appreciate the beauty and goodness of every day. I am learning to live in the moment rather than worry about the future. There is great freedom in that.