Natalie Vartanian's Blog

On the road again … this time, in an RV!

Sally, Coach and I about to take off in our big ol' RV adventure!

And we are OOOOFFFFFFF!!!!! We hit the road bright and early Tuesday morning, the 5th. Okay, not too early, more like 9:45am. Destination: Pacific Northwest! Obviously ultimate destination may change, who knows, however that is where we are headed … to explore the lush gorgeousness that is Northern California, Oregon and Washington! I feel like the last two weeks have been an absolute roller coaster. A little over two weeks since I last wrote and it is as if I’ve travelled to the moon and back and I’m here to tell the tale. Although there has been a lot of action, it feels more like the emotional experiences have been coming fast and hard! My physical body may be training for another half-marathon but my brain and heart … right for the marathon!

Just a quick update: I have decided to simply “let it be” on numerous fronts. I am going through my ‘process’ around my childhood/life, yet not in a forced way, more in a “I plan to experience the hell out of my life and see what pops up in the ‘process’” way. With all that, the book gets to simmer in the background while I experience, oh I don’t know … my LIFE! Now my relationship to expectations, on the other hand, I am still “working” on. I realize that this is all new for me thereforeI get to be gentle with myself andI know this is a good idea. Yet I had a mini-freak out about work and money not too long ago, specifically around my coaching business not being where I want it to be. I had to be reminded that I’m still technically a student since I do not have my certification as of yet and that it has barely been a year that I started school. Rome wasn’t built in a day, what makes me think I should have a full-blown business running and thriving in a year? Throw in feeling haunted by family stuff while I was in Southern California the last couple of weeks and you’ve got yourself a recipe for the crazies for sure.

Of course all of this was at the forefront and the thing I most wanted to think about was my upcoming trip!! At certain points I couldn’t even tell why or what I was feeling. The last of my stuff was put in storage mid-June so everything I own is in this RV, in my car or in Storage spaces. As exciting as it all has been, there were still the “oh my lord” moments and the “no big deal, just renting an RV for a couple of weeks and who knows what the rest of the next year will look like for me”. I am officially a gypsy (finally), not just an aspiring one, the real deal; I am literally carrying my home on my back. Five weeks we will be on the road, five amazing, adventure filled weeks. For so long I have wanted to road trip it around the United States in a motor home and FINALLY, FINALLY … the day has come!

We have already had some funny and scary shit happen just in the last couple of days (yes, actual shit involved) … let me list the ways: Part of the back of the RV got scraped while backing out of where it was parked (not by us, the owner), warning lights turning on for lord knows what (you would think the manual would cover things like that but NOOOOOO), there was leaking fluid near the radiator (no worries, problem solved) and not once, but twice, we perfectly coordinated a driver swap while the RV was still moving (pure acrobatics)! One full day down – food was prepared, work was accomplished, shower was taken, dog was walked, 11 hours and over 450 miles were driven. I think I’ll round off the day with the sleep that I am about to savor. This is just the beginning of something life-changing and amazing, we both can feel it, which is why we plan to document as much of it as possible. Till next time … good night from Cottonwood (our parking spot for the evening).


On the road again, I can't wait to get on the road again ....


Coach sitting on the couch as any dog would ... like a human!

posted by Natalie Vartanian @ 10:23 AM