Welcome to another week of life on the road. I’m Genie Leslie, a freelance writer working remotely and traveling the country with my husband.
This week, we’re in Charleston! But it’s our first week and I’m writing this before we get there, so who knows what we’re enjoying yet? We’re probably just getting used to the much-closer quarters of apartment living again.
When Aaron and I first started talking about leaving Seattle, a southern city was always an ideal place for us to end up (in my mind, at least, not necessarily his). After years of living two long and expensive plane rides away from home, and after a pandemic spent FaceTiming with my sisters and mom who were all able to drive back and forth to see each other safely, I was ready to be close to family. I might even, I thought, be ready to live in a small town.
Well, we’ve pretty much squashed the small town idea already. We just don’t like it. As much as I have dreams of a house with lots of land for many rescue dogs to run around on, I still want to be close to a little more action: more theatre, more comedy, more restaurants.
But as we’ve traveled through Texas, Mississippi, and Tennessee, I’ve been really comforted by how close we are to home.
There was a death in the family on a Friday night, and we were able to easily jump in the car on Sunday morning to be in Oxford by that afternoon.
And back in April, I was able to attend an old friend’s funeral that I never would’ve been able to attend coming from Seattle.
I realize funerals may not sound like the most exciting or pleasant thing to be around for, but they’re important. Being close by means we can show up for the people we love when they need us. And it means reconnecting with friends and family we haven’t seen in a long time.
There’s also weddings - when we were in Seattle, we missed the weddings of several good friends because we just couldn’t afford the travel. Now we’ll be around my younger sister for the entire month of her wedding, and we’ll be nearby to attend a cousin’s wedding, too. More family, more reconnecting.
But it’s not just the big moments that I’m interested in. It’s seeing my sister or mom over a long weekend. Or family visiting us without spending thousands of dollars to fly across the country. Eating dinner with old college friends on a weekday night at the last minute because they were able to get a sitter for the kids. Jumping in the car to help out when someone has a medical procedure, or a new puppy, or just some new furniture to arrange.
For the past ten years, we’ve pretty much only seen friends and family for the biggest moments, the funerals, weddings, holidays, and crises. What I love about being in the south is being able to see family just because we can. That is what I’ve missed.
Disclaimer to my southern family members who read this newsletter: No decisions have been made and we still have plenty of cities to see. I am making no promises about where we land. But yes, Nashville and Austin are currently on the list, at least.
What else is going on?
We went kayaking on Cumberland River, and more and more, I’m feeling like we really need to end up near water (and buy our own kayak when we settle down). And no one fell in the water this time!
We also went on a cave tour in Cumberland Caverns and I do not feel like we really need to end up near caves. It was cool to see but, I don’t know, I can’t not imagine the whole thing caving in on me.
I saw You Hurt My Feelings in the movie theater last week and loved it. It’s a quiet comedy about all the ways people lie to each other in relationships.
I’ve not been feeling up to writing as much lately (hence the shorter piece) but I have been reading a lot. I think I’ve read 5 novels during the month of May. So…at least there’s that?
Lindy West gave her hilarious movie recap treatment to one of my all-time favorites, Kindergarten Cop. Please read if you love this movie and need a laugh. OR if you’ve never seen this movie and need a laugh, because then you’re really in for a ride.