I am really enjoying this thread. Expediters are talking about the things that matter most to them regarding home, and what home means.
Home is where your heart is? Home is where you hang your hat? Home is where your garden is? Home is where you go to do all the things mentioned above? It seems home (the place), home (the activity), home (the meaning), and home (the result) is something different for each person that lives this unusual life we call expediting.
DreamTeam44 illustrates one extreme; no place on the ground called home and only the truck or rented or borrowed space for shelter (hotels, relatives homes). Yet they are not homeless. For them, home is a goal. It is something they intend to one day create and to which they are headed.
They live entirely in their truck and find ways to recharge or decompress on the road, when necessary. Having freed themselves from the financial liabilities of maintaining a house (or even rental space to a lesser extent), they have more money to save or spend on other things.
Some see this lifestyle as sacrificing a home to achieve something else. Others see it as freeing themselves from a home to achieve something else. Which way is the right way to see it? In the case of DreamTeam44's choices, DreamTeam44's way is the right way to see it. It is up to them, and not others, to decide whether what they are doing is sacrificing a place on the ground called home or freeing themselves from it. As are12 said, "To each their own."
are12 illustrates another use of and attitude toward home. For them, it is a very specific and meaningful place on the ground. A real house with a real address and a garden and pets, and a whole lot more that provides a sense of place and belonging. It is not an option. It is a place to which they must return from time to time to recharge and maintain a "feeling of belonging."
While their specific properties may range from an estate to a couple rooms of rental space, and the amount of time spent home may range from 5% to 60% of the year, I think it is fair to say that most expediters fall somewhere in between the bracket formed by DreamTeam44 and are12.
Diane and I spend very little time at home (the place on the ground), and a lot of time on the road. That does not mean we are in service nearly 100% of the time. We take time off to recharge but just don't go home to do it.
are12 said, "I don't believe you can get a mental recharging or decompressing by staying in the truck - even one the size of your's." I'm glad are12 also said, "For those of you that choose to live in a truck, all the more power to you. I just don't understand how you can do it."
I am glad the don't understand part was offered, because, for some people at least, it is absolutely true that they can mentally recharge by staying in the truck. I know that to be true because it is true for us.
That does not mean going into the truck for two days and coming out mentally refreshed. For us, it does mean stopping someplace, going out of service, using the truck for shelter and then simply resting, reading, and maybe taking in a movie.
We don't recharge well when we go home. There are too many people there; too many interruptions to our quiet time. At home, there is more work to do than on the road. Not owning a home, we have no house chores, but our relatives do, and we always seem to be quickly involved in projects there. Friends we left behind to go on the road remain at home. When we are at home, some of that time is spent with them. That is not recharge time. Some people recharge by being around others. Others recharge by being alone. I am of the latter type.
Yesterday was a great example. January has been a tough month for us. Because we did not go back in service after the Christmas holiday until January 7, we lost a full week of revenue so the month is below goal. That de-energizes us.
There are easy loads and hard loads. January's loads have been more hard than easy. That de-energizes us. There is more, but suffice it to say that January left us drained.
Feeling the need to recharge and having the weekend off because of an offer accepted Friday for a Monday pickup, we settled in to rest. All day Saturday, all we did was eat, sleep, read and watch TV (sorta). On purpose, we did nothing that felt like work. On purpose, we gave ourselves the time and space to recharge.
After morning showers at a truck stop, we ate breakfast at a Cracker Barrel and other meals that day in the truck. Most of the reading we did was in a Barnes and Noble store. Diane stayed in the store until near-closing. I returned to the truck earlier to watch videos on the computer (24, season 5) (no TV in our truck). During the day, I took two naps and spent some time reading the news online and EO. It was a lazy, relaxing day. We spent the night in the truck in a Wal-Mart parking lot.
Do we feel recharged? Absolutely. A day like this was exactly what we needed and we are ready to roll again. We don't get days like this at home. There are too many people around and too many things to do.
People recharge in different ways. Some do it in a truck. Some do it at home. What works for some does not work for others. Just as a home-time expediter may not understand how one can feel better by recharging on the road, an on-road expediter may not understand how one can feel better by recharging at home.
The important thing is to realize that people recharge in different ways, and that both ways are equally effective and valid.
