Home And Family

Sorry, I'm a bit late posting this week, but any readers planning to stick around for a while may want to get used to these sorts of apologies, lol! In my ongoing struggles to survive, this episode, I'd like to talk about housing. My main issue in leaving "The Road" has been finding a place for my carcass to settle in. There are plenty of places I'd LIKE to go, but choices when you're on an incredibly thin, "shoestring" budget are slim to none, unfortunately. What I can definitely tell you with certainty is this: If you know you're going to be leaving the road, or maybe you're just toying with the idea, Start. Saving. Now! I can't tell you how stressful it is (many of you probably know, anyway) to not have a place to simply "exist"! When we travel the Road, we generally pick up our entire "life" and move it on to the next show every month or two. It's a lot different when you actually sign a lease, and all of a sudden you're going to be in that spot for six months, a year or two, or more. I was lucky enough that I had a friend who would let me rent a room, but many Rennies don't even have that kind of safety net. They are living independently, with no ties (either by choice or circumstance) to family or past friends. If I had known a few years back that I'd be looking for a permanent residence, I not only would have tried much harder to strengthen my financial position, but I would have also tried harder to cultivate more friendships, and acquaintances that could have helped me in my search for a "perma-home". I've since come to realize that even a Facebook Friend that you've only met online can be a great source of information if you want to know more about the place where that Friend lives. Not only that, but it also helps with the separation and loneliness people often feel when they are suddenly cut-off from the people they've been seeing, camping, working, and living with for the past however many years. It's a huge change, and it helps to have people to talk with about it. For me, I know that my Facebook Rennie Family are only a couple of keystrokes away, and it helps me to cope with not being able to travel, as well as keeping up with the Friends I miss so much. I guess what it boils down to, can be summed up in the old song lyrics "make new friends, but keep the old". The people we become close to on the Road are just as important as those we often leave behind, and when the time comes to settle in one spot, they'll both be an invaluable blessing if you make sure to keep people in your life.

#city #advice