I’ve spent five years here, in this high dusty desert, almost to the day. I have, effectively, spent this time in a self-made hermitage.

Two of these years were pandemic years, which was apparently declared over in 2023, though it felt more like a fizzle-out than a clear endpoint.

I remember joking with a friend that I would go ahead and just continue to cloister myself for a few years after things opened back up. (I actually never got COVID, knock on wood. Though I take walks, eat healthy, and sleep well, I mostly credit the cloistering.)

I shut myself in my New Mexico apartments like Shakespeare during an outbreak of the plague, I liked to muse at the time, retreating into my mind and my creative work.

Time is relative. And when your days look the same, they begin to blend together and seem to rush by faster.

This year I turned 38, and I realized I have spent five of my arguably best years, my mid-30s, as a bit of a shut-in, to be honest.

I’ve grown a bit chubby, perhaps a bit crazier in the talk-to-yourself, wear-socks-with-sandals-and-no-hard-pants kind of way, but I’ve also had time to rest, and I don’t regret that.

I have also grown more into myself again and started some projects that have put me on an entirely new path. This blog, my YouTube channel Paint Along With Skye, which recently surpassed 26k, plus I’ve maintained my longstanding editing job, and recently picked up an additional remote editing gig at an indie book publishing company and creative cooperative.

I’ve never been my own hater, and that’s one of my greatest strengths, I think. People have historically projected their own lack onto me, such as “It’s impossible to be a writer!” which is something I’ve heard a few times in my life. (Maybe for them it is! I seem to be doing it.) I think I needed zero echo chamber for a while.

Now, when I present myself, people say “how interesting!” instead of “yeah, right, you can’t do that.”

As I show up in my new path, I already am who I wanted to be; it’s not up for debate. 

So, what is this new path, you ask? It’s a little crazy, but also, I think, reasonable.

Part of me was absolutely craving the “digital nomad” lifestyle, part of me wants to return to the Pacific Northwest, so I’ve decided that the best plan is: both.

I’m going to pack up all my shit in my trusty truck, Tina the Tank, put her in storage, and hop a flight to South America. I am going to travel through Peru, Ecuador, Uruguay, Argentina, and Chile, in that order, over six months.

I will then return to the States, and Tina the Tank and I will hightail it to Washington, where I will lie face down in the forest to recover.

Because of my US clients and my hatred of bureaucracy, paperwork, and the taxman, I chose Washington as a strategic home base for my little creative operation. It’s also closer to many friends and family, and it’s my habitat, I’ve decided. After my “coastal cooldown” last summer, I desperately pined for the lush forests of the PNW again and decided: if I want it, move there. What’s the problem? There is none!

My heart and brain are in agreement about this plan, so I don’t feel any wavering on it, and I’m ready to lock it in and make it happen. In fact, at the time of writing this, my apartment is packed up, and I have just 15 days til I catch my flight to Lima.

I’ve learned over this past “tester travel year” that travel is a sport, and I understand better the equipment I need, and the stamina. I’ve also already come to learn that although travel feeds my soul, it also wears down my body, so the six-month chunk feels a lot easier to manage than an indefinite nomadic lifestyle.

I believe life is like a video game, and it’s an open map. I’m looking out into the great unknown with less fear this time. (Well, to be honest, I oscillate between feeling like I could kick the tops off of mountains and feeling like I am going to poop my pants.)

But recently, something just kinda clicked inside my brain. I have decided to be a badass instead of a sniveler. I’ve been afraid to do something like this, to travel the world and to write, even though it’s my most long-held dream. But what is life about if not expansion?

“I recommend biting off more than you can chew to anyone.” — Alanis Morissette

The next time you’ll hear from me, I’ll be in Peru.

So stay tuned, my beloved readers, because things are about to get interesting <3