While our boondocking experience started in Quartzite with about a dozen or so Bluebirds who we had not yet met face to face, the next few days of our boondocking experience was spent with a intimate group of fellow nomads that we had previously met during our travels (and some of their friends).
How cool it was to see how each of our approach to traveling has evolved over the years. Facebook posts and blog post have kept up informed about some of those changes (i.e. adding solar panels to our rigs or broken ankles) and some of the highlights of our journey (i.e. trips to Alaska and other exotic places) It was also great fun to make new friends who were friends of friends. We even met a couple from Vermont (our home state)!
Spending time together under the desert stars, sharing the intimate moments of our lives around a campfire, seemed to cement the friendships into ones that will continue in the years to come. We shared tips and tricks we've learned from our travels, shared some of our personal growth journeys, and shared future plans (short term and long term).
Boondocking (in this case) certainly did not mean being alone in the desert, and it certainly was NOT lonely! Craig and I usually retired from the fire earlier than the rest of the group -- and came to terms with the fact that we needed to be OKAY with being 'old' or "older'. Yes, we had commonalities with our fellow campers in the fact that we were NOT retirees - we have discovered how to use technology to work from the road, and we are all living on a fairly tight budget. But our age and stage of life also highlighted some differences (like needing more sleep, or missing our grandchildren, and favoring less rigorous hikes in less rugged terrain).
How fortunate we are to have discovered such cool people in our travels and be able to stay connected.
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