When I first met George, I was intrigued by how open and honest he was with sharing his past and present self, as well as his future aspirations. Our early conversations occurred via the Plenty of Fish private messaging platform. Aside from his handsome photos, what really stood out were his questions. They piqued my interest and really made me think. They went beyond the typical “What do you do for a living.” His responses were thoughtful and focused on what makes him, him, whereas many of the other guys were more focused on sharing what they had to offer for material things such as a private jet or a big house in a nudist colony. No joke 🙂
George did hold back on sharing one part of himself until the 2-week mark. He went so far as to try to take me to a fountain to dance under the stars, thinking that it would be our first and last dance once I learned this one thing about him.
It happened to be my birthday. After celebrating with friends and my declination of his dance offer, George pressed on with his plans to open up fully. In his mind, it could be viewed as a deal-breaker.
As we drove on, full of trepidation, George told me he was taking me to where he lived. I didn’t understand what could possibly be such a big deal about his living arrangements and joked, “It’s not like you’re ‘trailer trash.’” Now I’ll take a minute to clear up this was a joke I made that even I didn’t truly find funny. Rather, it was my nerves and I was out of line. Thankfully, this immature joke didn’t end up being a deal-breaker for George. Then, and now, I believe where or what you live in doesn’t define you. What matters is kindness; how you treat others…and yourself.
Well, insert foot in mouth, because two minutes later, there we were pulling into a trailer park. George had shared with me during prior dates he made his living as a lineman. I didn’t know anything about the trade, but learned that night that many linemen live a rather nomadic lifestyle. There is the option to work for a local power company; however, it comes with the trade-off of being on call nearly all the time.
George works for a company that contracts with local power companies in several states. While it comes with instability related to location, it does offer a fairly regular schedule with time off each week. The exception being storm work, which could send him pretty much anywhere on a moment’s notice for as little as a day or as long as several weeks.
Due to this, George opted to live in a travel trailer. He explained he has a home in the Jacksonville area that he initially planned to stay at on the weekends, but he found he tended to stay at his travel trailer to explore the location around where he worked during his time off. As such, he rents out what he once thought would be his weekend home.
The travel trailer has enabled George to hitch up and go whenever a contract ended or if he desired to switch to an opening in another area. George found he really enjoyed getting to explore and work in different parts of the country. He also really enjoyed the simplicity of living in a small space.
As you can guess, I was not deterred upon learning about George’s lifestyle. I shared with him how I spent the morning of New Year’s Day that year watching The Minimalists’ documentary on Netflix. I had found myself questioning if I should have taken a year and traveled rather than reinvest money from my 1st house into a townhouse. While I enjoyed helping my dad with home improvement projects growing up, I had come to realize I don’t really enjoy them as an adult on my own.
After divorce, stability was something I craved and my 2nd home gave me that. More importantly, it kept me close to some of my best friends which was absolutely priceless.
While I am sad to move away from dear friends, I’m excited beyond words to get on the road with George and Ellie. We have been in the process of paring down and preparing to sell that townhouse. A few weeks ago, George learned the contract he had been working on for the past year or so was ending. He and his crew considered their options and ultimately selected Sarasota as their next stop. We’ve been shopping for our first home on wheels as a family and cannot wait to live in it. My previous move was fueled by closing a chapter in my life. It feels incredible to be running toward a new chapter rather than away.
