“A person who is in a constant rat race seldom has time to think whether or not he is living his life properly” (Sunday Adelaja)
An important part of planning for our road trips involves a serious consideration of readjustment to real life routines upon returning home. For our 2019 spring marathon, fond memories of our relaxing stays in outlying areas of Colorado, Utah, California, and Arizona could thus quickly vanish in facing again the hectic,“rat race” lifestyle to survive daily crisis in urban South Florida.
Yet keeping in touch with a support group by phone or email typically pays dividends for us in avoiding such “real life” calamities which can disrupt our travel enjoyment. This year, in particular, a quick inspection of our condo by a trusting neighbor raised “red flags” to us for a timely replacement for our dying, central air conditioner two days prior to our scheduled road trip return. Accordingly, the willingness of a family friend to inform us about impending, medical decisions in our immediate families enabled us to quickly spring into action from afar to assist in helping them obtain proper treatment care.
On a more personal level, our time tested preoccupation to plan carefully ahead on the road saved us vital time/effort for the last three months. Burdensome tasks such as washing clothes, shopping for basic food necessities, and attending to medical issues were proactively scheduled ahead of time at extended stay destinations to relieve later anticipated stress. In accordingly managing anticipated “rat race” pressures of finance management, medical issues, and traffic congestion proactively in this year’s home transition , we freed up more time in our schedule to spend much needed quality moments in the company of my elderly mother and father in law.
After three months of “open road” serenity, staying calm amidst our abrupt return to the fast pace of South Florida presented an intriguing emotional challenge as well. Daily reminders at each visited destination to prioritize quality sleep. make time to read, seek healthy eating choices , and appreciate nature’s slowdown seemed to be valuable lessons for also attaining a more stress-free lifestyle at home. You might might even label these “anti- rat race” actions stated above as our version of “spring cleaning” fever.
On our last road trip stop of 2019, we immersed our “now” attention on the serene natural beauty and quiet solitude of Cumberland Falls, Kentucky. I likewise aspire to live my life “in the present at home with a similar mentality of such daily calmness. In sharing below the following video/photos from that visit, I sincerely hope that you too will find more time/place in your daily life to defeat your own “rat race demons. I would also welcome your feedback on a recent revamp of my theme presentation on this Word Press website.
Snippets of a Traveling Mind 
Thanks for the follow, James 🙂
LikeLike