I can hardly believe how long it's been since my last update here, but at the same time, I can entirely believe it has taken this long to settle on a direction and seize it. We endeavor never to make decisions flippantly, and we like to think through our options. In this particular circumstance, we needed time. Time for the dust to settle on Alex's new job, time to get some things that we wanted and needed for the camper, and time for the season to settle down and line up with our travel intentions, because yes, we decided it was time to leave Taos.

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We are back on the road. We hitched up and hauled out of Taos on Friday... just two days ago, and we are 3/4 of the way to our winter campground in Texas. Back to Texas we came. In the end, our decision to go ahead and leave Taos before winter really came down to the costs versus benefits. Already, at the end of October in Taos we were burning through a tank of propane every 4 days or so, because it was our heat at night (when it was dropping to the upper 20s or low 30s at night), our cooking fuel, and our water heater fuel. That would only be destined to get worse as winter truly came and we wanted no part in that. We were also struggling with our half-hearted solar set up catching enough of the (already very low in the sky) sunshine. We also firmly decided that Taos wasn't where we wanted to be in the spring, so we saw no real need to tough it out through the winter.

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So, we outfitted our roof with some solar panels, and shifted parking places with our friends. Our friends that were parked with us are staying on the land through the winter, using the wifi, the solar panels, and the grey water filtration tank we set up while they decide where they want to go next and make the changes they need to make. We are hoping to connect with them some time on the road next year.

We will be in Texas for the holiday season, but I refuse to be stuck in one place come the start of the new year. We got really burnt out on the campground last winter when we stayed November-March 1st. Moving is always more comfortable for us in the camper than standing still.

Come the new year, our current plan is to travel east, and then north, swing through Ohio for the month of April, visit friends and family, and spend the bulk of summer and fall visiting New England again. We have loved our time in the American Southwest, but we miss the familiar trees of the Northeast and we want to spend a lot more time in New England - a place we have visited by car a few times in the past.

This year is going to be about taking the time to really revisit the familiar and see if we have missed it - in terms of a place to live long term - or determine if we were just frustrated with our time in Taos and needed a break from it. There are a lot of details about the southwest that we really love - particularly the mountain terrain, the ample sunshine, and the very low humidity. But it's been 12 months since we left Ohio and it feels like it's time to check back in and check in with ourselves on what home feels like to us now after all that we have seen and done.

To be completely honest, we are viewing the next year as a opportunity to see and do more, save a chunk of money, and see if we get a strong sense of where we want to buy land for the "forever home" - or, if we even feel ready to do that. Alex is still not convinced we won't spend several more years traveling and put the budget for "land and home" into a newer rig to carry us around and around the country even more. Maybe he's right... I can't tell just yet. I know when our travels end it will result in a fixed home with a small homestead, of that I am certain, we just don't know when that will come. We are comfortable letting it come when it's the right time.

I estimate we will travel for at least 2 more years to bank as much money as possible for the forever home. But, that doesn't mean we will build it in 2 years. We may keep traveling. We are still loving the road. Taos feels like a bit of a bad girlfriend these days, but the road and our camper have been loving partners for us. But who knows, maybe the next time we see Taos she will woo us once again.

Right now we are just happy to be traveling again and eager to see what comes next. We are looking forward to seeing friends and family too. The plan for the next leg of travel is to give ourselves some more time to experience the places we go. Last spring, the journey from Central Texas to Taos was a bit of a whirl-wind. We boondocked Thursday-Sunday of each week and parked with full hookups Monday-Wednesday. We moved a lot. In fact, the stats from this year's travel, involved 49 stops across 5,902 miles of the country. Considering the fact that we were/will be parked in one place for most of 10 months this year, that feels like an intense amount of travel! We were in Central Texas January and February, Northern California for a month in spring, Eagle's Nest, New Mexico for June, our land in Taos from July-October, and we will spend all of November and December in Central Texas again. Next year, we are shooting to travel once every 1-3 weeks the majority of the time. We don't want to stay put too long in any one place, but we want to more fully experience the states we visit in the summer and make several stops in different areas of the states we travel through instead of just getting through them and on to the next thing. Luckily (maybe) there aren't many national parks up that way, so we won't feel compelled to pick out specific places to drive to - like we did in the southwest.

So, that's that! That's where we are, what we are thinking, where we are headed, and we can't wait to soak up every minute. Between now and January 1st we are going to focus on having fun, seeing family, celebrating holidays, and also making some upgrades to the camper.