For the last couple of years, Halloween marked the last day of our "summer" season, and the beginning of what I've begun to call "second summer". And with that, we continue to find ourselves coming back to one single location in Hill Country, Texas.

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I don't love Texas, necessarily, but it's inexpensive, the location is familiar, it's reasonably warm during Winter, and we happen to have family nearby who have kids that are about the same age as our kids. The people at the campground are always friendly. Plus, Ben gets a chance to see some of the fellow full-timer kids who have also found themselves returning each year, as well. In many ways, this place feels about as close to "home" as we get. In some ways, more-so than anywhere else.

Our Spot Is Kinda Boring (And I like That)

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But really, it has nothing to-do with the location. In fact, Texas It has no shortage of reasons why I'd never want to actually live here (guess who was freaking parked there during that big ol' snow storm that nailed them a couple years ago?). It just happens to be a place that expects absolutely nothing from us. There's just no pressure to go and do much there, and when you travel - that pressure is generally omnipresent. ESPECIALLY back at your hometown, where you find yourself perpetually visiting with family until you leave.

In Texas, there's one family we visit who is nearby, and that's it. No exciting local things to check out, nothing new or snazzy to catch our attention. Nothing. But what is there is perfectly acceptable. The local grocery is reliable, there's an ACE hardware to fix…whatever is currently broken in the camper. The weather is downright lovely through December. Heck, We even have our repeat go-to pizza place and sushi shop just up the road. I know what to expect in this spot, and honestly, after a year full of new experiences, exploration, and travel, I'm always so, so ready to park my ass in Hill Country, buy a truckload of firewood, drink some pickle beer, smoke some pork, and enjoy second summer.

And WOOO boy has this been a year. While we didn't go see nearly as many flashy things this year as we did last year, we did drive significantly more miles and for a much, much longer period of time than years prior. Last year, we drove for a few months, <a href="/articles/essays/a-safe-harbor/">found what we thought was our new home, Taos New Mexico, </a>and basically parked there and did the off-grid thing. That was really cool, but the exhaustion came in the form of living somewhere <a href="/articles/personal-updates/changing-winds-on-the-mesa/">so hostile</a>, not because we were literally moving for as long as we did this year. No, this year, we left in January, and have pretty much been on the move, taking a couple 1-month long rests, but not really spending more time in one spot than that.

It's funny, I wrote a <a href="/articles/essays/how-fast-should-you-travel-when-full-time/">post about pace </a>a earlier this season, and I kinda feel like I need to adjust it a bit, because every time I think I've got pace figured out, I learn that no, I don't, and that the perfect pace doesn't exist, and that I need to just stop trying to find it and do what I need to do when I need to do it.

We also swapped out the old camper for a <a href="/articles/travelogue/the-velcro-effect/">bigger one</a>, building custom cabinets and such to make it ours, and dealt with no shortage of things that broke in this camper during our first leg of travel in it. It's bigger, so it was a process just getting comfortable with pulling it, too. If you've been following me on social media at all, you know that things break in campers ALL. THE. TIME, but it always seems like it's especially bad in that first leg, and this camper has been no exception to that rule (I mean really, have you really lived the RV life before needing to call a welder in the Adirondacks to weld a new bumper?). I guess that's what they mean when they say "breaking it in" snort.

So I guess between the length of time we spent traveling, visiting/dealing with family in my hometown of Dover, Ohio this year, assembling a new camper, <a href="/articles/blog-posts/were-lake-people-who-love-mountain-views/">and traveling up into New England</a>, all while navigating and getting the hang of my new job at GoDaddy, I'm forkin' tired, yo!

So, bring on the familiar. Bring on the boredom. Bring on second summer.

And for the love of god, <a href="https://fosstodon.org/@alexstandiford/109255275563107464">don't forget the pickle beer.</a>

Second Summer, Here I Come

Our Spot Is Kinda Boring (And I like That)

Reflecting On This Season

The New Rig