Being a Nomad During a Pandemic

As a bibliophile, I've read thousands of books and full well know that books cannot be judged by their covers. Many things, in fact, cannot be judged by their external appearances. That adorable doggie tied up outside the grocery store may have a wicked bark once you reach your hand within biting range. That well-dressed man seated in the driver's seat of that flashy sportscar may be drowning in debt. And that healthy-looking person who seems to be "overly cautious" in this new coronavirus era may not actually be so healthy after all.

This was the topic of an article posted today on CNN.com:

Click the image to read the article.

Ok, so I wasn't really in the article, but I felt as though I could have been. Though I may appear to be a healthy person (a vegetarian! who bikes thousands of miles a year!), like those featured in the article, I am also immunocompromised.

A Year of Self-Love

We spend the majority of our childhood years in school. We learn about math, science, english, and history. Rarely does the curriculum include the skills necessary to function successfully in society and live fulfilling lives -- how to handle finances, how to have healthy relationships, how to communicate effectively, how to manage emotions, how to cope with failure. Most of us spend the majority of our adulthood acquiring these skills. Often we attain these skills by trial-and-error. Rarely do we master them.

I enjoyed school. I was fortunate to develop behaviors that helped me do well, such as typing my papers on a word processor and saying "yes" to opportunities that came my way. While these behaviors helped me ace my classes, they paved the way for the development of unhealthy habits later in life -- perfectionism and people-pleasing, to name a few. Eventually these habits, coupled with relentless societal stresses, became toxic.

I think often about my life story. I wonder how it might be different had I learned about self-love alongside my calculus and physics classes. I would have learned about identifying my personal values and setting priorities aligned with those values. I would have learned about focusing on the things that are important to me and letting other things go. I would have learned about self-awareness and being true to myself in my interactions with others. I would have learned about listening to my body.

What I've learned about self-love has mostly been acquired in the last few years. As I've been working to shake my bad habits, I've been realizing just how much I beat myself up all those years. I want to heal what those years of stress have done to my body. I know I can't unravel the damage that has been done, but I can decide to live my life differently moving forward.

Here I Come, Barcelona!

When I crawled out of bed on the morning of June 13th, earlier this year, I had no plans to travel overseas. Things were different when I crawled back into bed that night; I was going to Barcelona.

Barcelona, here I come!

I am bursting at the seams with housesitting requests. While I'm glad to be in such high demand, housesitting is something I do in my downtime. And while I appreciate my downtime, it's really the uptime that I look forward to -- when I'm out-and-about traveling and exploring. I've been more careful in the last year or so about not filling my schedule with housesits. I've deliberately guarded large blocks of unscheduled time in my calendar where I can allow for whims and serendipity. The month of October was one of those unscheduled blocks of time.

Meet Duke Muir

Meet my new bicycle, Duke Muir.

Me & Duke Muir.

The story of how Duke Muir came to be is a fusion of three separate stories: Vowing to Get the Hell Out of Dodge, Applying for Lael's Scholarship, and Choosing the Hayduke.

My Plans for the Summer

Many of you have asked what I'm up to this summer.

You: What are you up to this summer, Sarah?

Me: I have a jam-packed summer full of housesitting, bike touring, and trip leading. My summer plans are as follows:

• Housesit in Seattle (6 weeks)

My summer plans include housesitting for this lovebug, Ricki, for six weeks!

• Staff Adventure Cycling's Fully-Supported Columbia River Gorge Tour (1 week)
• Do reconnaissance ride around Tetons/Yellowstone (1.5 weeks)
• Lead Adventure Cycling's Van-Supported Tetons/Yellowstone I Tour (1 week)
• Lead Adventure Cycling's Van-Supported Tetons/Yellowstone II Tour (1 week)
• Visit my cousin in Denver (2 days)
• Housesit in Florida (3 weeks)
• Staff Adventure Cycling's Fully-Supported Black Hills - South Dakota Tour (1 week)
• TBD in Pacific Northwest (maybe housesit, maybe bike tour) (1.5 weeks)
• Lead Adventure Cycling's Pacific Coast Epic Tour (6 weeks)

The summer is already well under way, and I'm having a blast. My summer plans sure as heck beat sitting at a desk!