WanderWoman - Year 1

Written By Lyss W

I can’t believe it’s been an entire year since I packed up my car and left my house and the life I’d been building for almost 20 years. I hit the road in search of something completely new and different. I was so tired of feeling stuck- personally, professionally, and pandemically. I knew it was far past time to make a change. Not unlike my love life, I wasn’t ready to make a firm commitment to anything but myself and the pursuit of happiness, adventure, and a new direction. I was positive that there was more out there for me if I could be brave enough to chase it.

Nothing could have possibly prepared me for how full my life would become after purging my home, heart, and calendar of everything but the essentials. Living out of a single suitcase for months at a time meant that I had to let go of a lot of emotional baggage too. I unpacked and processed many years of trauma, misconceptions about myself, fears and habits that held me back, and most importantly, I learned to let go and LIVE. And boy, have I been living.

There have been a lot of miles and memories. Planes, trains, automobiles, ferries, gondolas, horses, scooters and even a u-haul van brought me all over this incredible country this year. Virus variants and now a devastating war have made my planning pretty tricky, but I’ve learned to let go. I may not know exactly what I want next or where I want to hang my hat, but I’m having the time of my life while I learn to live it to the fullest. I’ve already re-visited several of my stops, and honestly, I’d be happy to repeat visits to every single destination I visited as I criss-crossed the country on the Soul Sabbatical. I have always loved sharing the treasures I find, and that couldn’t be more true about this journey. I owe you blogs on NYC (I have a couple in progress), my second trip to Sacramento, and honestly- I should probably make you lists for my two hometowns. I lost my words dealing with some personal stuff this winter, but after a lot of rest and reflection, I’m finally feeling like myself again. Before I talk about the future, I wanted to give you a handy recap of where I’ve been. You get a glimpse of just about all of it in the video above.

I moved to Nashville in August of 2003, and stopped calling it home on 3/6/2021. I’ve seen it grow and change almost beyond recognition, and honestly so have I. After a year away, I’m pretty ready to call it a closed chapter of my story. I’m working on a return visit this spring, and that should help me definitively declare the end of that era. Either way, my tenants are renewed for another year, so my “home” will stay home to the spinster sisters currently living there, and keep helping to power this Spoiled Spinster’s wanderlust.

I’m still fairly certain I’ll wind up hanging my hat(s) on a coast. I’m not any closer to knowing which one. As much as I love New York City, I keep feeling called back to California. I kind of hatched this plan to help me decide between NYC and LA, but I keep falling in love with the idea of living much farther north.

Pet/House sitting my way around the country has been such a blessing. I love that I get to keep trying on different cities, and exploring in between. I am grateful for a chance to help others while spreading my wings. I wanted to be sure to put my referral code back up, because I honestly can’t imagine ever discontinuing my membership to a service like TrustedHousesitters. I have met so many wonderful people and pets, and I feel privileged to call them my friends and family. I can’t tell you how many people sent me this link from a CNN story about a couple that have been housesitting their way around the world, and I’ve had several friends sign up to take advantage of the amazing vacation opportunities. I’m packing up and preparing to head back to my very first housesit in Taos so that the sweet young couple I befriended can take their honeymoon. Then it’s off to Flagstaff so a retired widow can help her dad through some chemo treatments and I can finally get some Wild West wishlist items done. I’m so pumped to cross four corners, the corner of Winslow, Arizona, Sedona, Antelope Slot Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, the Chihuly in the Desert exhibit at Taliesin West, and a whole bunch of other Frank Lloyd Wright houses off my bucket list. I’m running regular searches for sits in Philadelphia, DC, Colorado, Asheville, and plan to head back to Seattle, California, and NYC. I’ve applied to sits in Australia, Greece, Ireland and Iceland after my little sister’s college graduation. I’m not sure where the road is really taking me, but thanks to this Soul Sabbatical, I’ve learned to love the flexibility of pivots for perfect opportunities.

There have been lessons learned, skills tested/mastered/failed (my bruises are finally healed from the infamous scooter wipeout), more losses and gains than I could possibly tally, and I can honestly say that I’ve never been happier or more sure about anything in my life despite all of the uncertainty in my day to day. The girl that spent an overwhelming amount of time questioning and overanalyzing everything is content to live in the moment and take things as they come. Relaxing the reins and enjoying each chance for change has been a seismic shift in my thinking and living, and it’s what I’m most proud of and grateful for. These days I try to tackle rather than avoid the things that scare me and it is both truly terrifying and really rewarding.

I signed a second virtual assistant client and I’m throughly enjoying the work and the people I help. I don’t stress about it at all, work is work and it helps get me where I want to go. I feel like I make a difference each day, and it isn’t a hazard to my mental or physical health; and that’s seriously #nguyening for me. I haven’t worked on children’s books, but I’ve started a couple of novels that I’m enjoying tinkering with. I have a TV show idea that I’m really interested in pursuing, a travel tour company that I think the world needs, and I’m still working on ideas for a very cool mixed use space concept. I’m not quite ready to settle down physically or emotionally, but I’m enjoying the journey and thrilled to take advantage of the limitless opportunities available to a woman that refuses to settle on anything. I have watched my friends and family marry, have babies, divorce, and lose loved ones. Life is constantly changing for all of us, and the girl that really hated change has learned to revel in it. My plans, destination, heart and mind change almost weekly, and I feel nothing but profound gratitude about it.

I’ve let loved ones go and gotten to embrace new ones. My personal home and now the ones I thought I’d get to call home base are all in flux, and I’m finally ok with it because I know that my incredible village will always provide a safe place to land. I just wanted to say thank you so much for all of the love and support that I’ve received along the way. I thought for sure that this harebrained scheme of mine would blow up in my face. There’s plenty to be scared of, but I’ve felt safe and secure even when everything was in flux and felt like it was falling apart. The journey from the girl below telling you I was leaving, to the one at the top that’s determined to stay gone has been long and winding. They say you won’t understand unless you walk a mile in someones shoes. I’ve walked thousands and will happily suggest your route and footwear, and probably invite you to join me. Whether you crashed a trip, invited me to sit, asked for/took my recommendations, or just sent me good vibes along the way…thanks for coming on the adventure with me! I’ll cherish you and this experience forever.

Lyss W
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