Coming to the decision to put aside van life for a little while longer was difficult. I was having thoughts of “Well maybe I should take the safer route and build a sustainable income, save up, and then dive in full force. My financial and living situation must be better down the line.” Of course, the rebel in me just wanted to build a van and run away and figure it out, but the logic in me decided to challenge myself in other ways.
I started looking at jobs in San Diego, Portland, and Seattle. Then logic said, “Reel it in a bit woman, you still have a lot of friends and family over here that you’d actually like to stick around to for a while longer!”
I mentally landed myself in Providence, RI, envisioned myself thriving there… it’s a place that I’ve always loved, but I hadn’t given myself the chance to deeply explore the culture. The food/plant-based and art based communities attract me more than anything. I started scouting out intriguing job prospects and thinking of new business opportunities left and right. They even started to come to me. I was (and still am) feeling reassured this was the life path I was supposed to be on.
When my friend Layla wrote to me and my girlfriends, asking if anyone wants to sublet her room in her apartment for dirt cheap while she road trips to Colorado… that seemed like the perfect way to get my foot in the door and get the ball rolling down my career path.
So about a week later, I moved to Providence! A decent sized apartment with 4 other lovely ladies, one being a best friend of mine from college who also just moved in (how lucky am I?!). Lots of Layla’s belongings and decorations are beautifully displayed, there’s an air conditioning unit, and the bed is super comfortable. I can walk ten minutes to Planet Fitness or a half mile to the best damn vegan bakery and café in Rhode Island, Wildflour.
I also live across the street from a hospital. Sirens have replaced the birds that used to chirp out my window. The waste removal trucks come at the ripe hour of 6:30am and sound like industrial thunderstorms. I have felt a sense of hyper-awareness of my surroundings… all the newness.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s peaceful much of the time. And after a little bit more time goes by, it will feel more comfortable, and I’ll be growing the ‘seeds’ I ‘plant’ everywhere. The experiences on my mat at my new yoga studio All That Matters will become even more sacred. The cafes I do work in will energize and inspire me more and more. The grocery stores and markets I visit will feel more like welcoming communities (foodie life).
I’m going to have to make time to visit the nature of Rhode Island I so dearly love and explore more of it up here in the north. The beaches I love won’t be 10 or less minutes away from me anymore. That’s fine. I’m opening my heart and mind up to different types of beauty, city beauty. So expect more blogs about the beauty New England, especially Rhode Island and Massachusetts, has to offer.
I would like to reveal a very wonderful thing that happened to me over the past few weeks. A vegan travel agency has come into my life through Instagram. They organize tours in countries all over the world, specifically catered to vegans! Picture all of the fun of a vacation or retreat without the stress of planning, plus delicious vegan food (and even cooking classes). We do have some plans for collaboration (DUH ~ this is the best idea ever!), but for now, check out their website and tours they are offering here: http://www.veganonthemap.com/TRAVEL/&a=kaymaceachern
Peace and love,
Kayla
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