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Travel nursing as a family is an amazing lifestyle. It's also...exhausting!! We were really feeling it when we left the Pacific Northwest. Although we had seen and done some amazing things in the PNW, we felt wiped out. Actually, we thought about buying land somewhere so we could just chill for minute. But where do you buy land? Close to family? Some place that inspires you? What if those two things don't exist in the same location?
That is the dilemma we found ourselves in. We longed for land near family that would also give us adventure. It seemed that Arkansas might fit that bill. So off we went between contracts 4 and 5 to see if there were land opportunities. Land is incredibly affordable there and the scenery, while not the most amazing we've seen, is still very pretty, even in the winter when the trees have all lost their leaves. But as we drove through we began to feel that this was NOT the place for us. Much of the beautiful areas were also remote. Too remote to find a good job and enjoy amenities we were searching for. And still our hearts longed for Colorado. So the door was closed. We abandoned the idea of looking for land and instead set out to just enjoy our stay in AR at Buffalo National River.
When contract 5 hit, we were in a funk. With the land door closed we felt a little lost. But as the contract progressed we started to feel better. Why? Because all the cups that were empty started getting filled. We made several trips to Kansas City to see our friends and family. Soon we spent time with everyone we loved and found rest in the ordinary.
Is ordinary bad? We are No Ordinary Path after all. No. Ordinary is not bad at all. We were so wrapped up in following our unordinary path that we forgot to enjoy the rest that comes with just being. And that is what contract 5 taught us. In the slump we finally found a bit of rest and restored the pieces of our hearts that longed for our family and our friends. We worked on school, spent many days just relaxing in the RV watching tv shows and playing xbox games. We went to the library a lot and occasionally the park. All very ordinary things. And over time, we started to long for adventure again.
As we wrap up contract 5 we are excited to head back to the Southwest and get back to exploring! And if we ever start to feel burned out again we know we just need to go back home for a bit. <3