Living In My Car

The (not very) short version of this blog:

I had a suicidal breakdown in the fall and winter of 2008-2009. (I was in the middle of what would be about three years of psychoanalysis, and it was the darkest moment (months!) before the light.)

I started to get better in the spring and spent a magical summer restoring a rundown trailer that my family used when I was a child. It was a summer of healing, of hope, and of psychological and spiritual renewal.

Returning to my Austin home in August, I quickly planned a second trip, taking off in my car (hence the name of this blog, livinginmycar) and camping (for the first time ever!) through Utah. I was making my way to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, where I ended up drinking too much and ruining my trip. (The drinking part wasn’t disclosed on my blog.)

When I got home, I decided I had to get out of my over-spending, over-consuming, and over-drinking lifestyle. I set the goal to radically simplify, buy (and move in to) my first RV, and drive from the Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic Ocean the following summer.

Concerned over my ignorance about cars, I enrolled in a professional automotive mechanics course.

Terrified of driving a big rig, I got a local dealership to teach me how to drive.

Overwhelmed by the cost of upgrades needed to list my house, I started doing the improvements myself.

Strangers started reading my otherwise anonymous blog and I began to blurt out my darkest secrets while having panic attacks about doing so

I quit drinking, tried to quit shopping, and got frustrated with RV dealerships who wouldn’t take me seriously.

I got overwhelmed and quit blogging.

I couldn’t sell my home, so put it up for rent. I returned to blogging when I bought my RV in March of 2010.

I had a series of early mishaps, a few meltdowns, and accidentally ran my Mini into a roof.

I finally got rid of the last of my things, prepared for my trip to the Arctic, and, in May, started my journey north.

I reflected on some early lessons, got really lost in the Rocky Mountains, and started to love my new life in the RV.

I drove across the United States and into Canada, through Alberta, (where I had a meltdown), across the Rockies (where I became a bit terrorized) and into the Yukon (where I ran out of fuel).

I broke off from the Alaska Highway and headed toward the Northwest Territories, finally making it to Mile Zero of the perilous Dempster Highway that would take me into the Arctic.

Humbled by the challenge and awed by the beauty, in July I arrived at the Arctic Ocean.

I drove back down the Dempster and made my way to Alaska, where I met up with my husband. I spent a few weeks traveling, then, missing my husband desperately, booked it home.

I got bored, grieved over my sister’s appropriation of my restored trailer, crisscrossed the United States in a bit of confusion, then started reflecting more deeply on my journey.

Then, without a plan, I decided to headed west.

That’s where I am now.

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(This was my “About Me” page from July 2009 to October 2010.)

I had a mental breakdown in the fall/winter of 2008-9. That gave me a lot of time to think about what I needed to be happy (or at least not completely suicidal).

I decided that I wanted to sell everything so that I could have more material and financial freedom.

This blog starts after I decided not to blow my head off.

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Update: I got rid of my stuff and now I live and drive around in my RV. Right now I’m driving from the Texas Gulf Coast to the Arctic Ocean.