Recently we had a rewarding evening chatting with some of our new friends. It inspired us to share some of the details of things we’ve learned about our purpose for doing what we’re doing while in the process of doing it.

One of our goals when we left our jobs and began this journey a couple of years ago was to have the opportunity – and time – to connect more with people. When we were both working full time, we were involved in our community in various ways, but it felt like we never had sufficient time to connect deeply with people. We were busy, they were busy, it was difficult to coordinate schedules, etc. We wanted to spend more time with friends and family and make new friends as well. We thought, what better way to have more time to connect with others than if we both quit our jobs and had no firm commitments on our time!

We recognize that not everyone would be interested in taking an extreme approach such as we did, and that’s okay. For example, it can be just as meaningful when someone who is very busy makes time for you, because you recognize the effort required for them to spend some of their precious time with you. But for us, we wanted to try something more radical and different.

Once we took the leap and quit our jobs, many people asked us, “What do you do all day?” Of course, there are a variety of things we do throughout the day, but mainly I’m happy to report that we feel we are succeeding in the important goal of connecting with people. Here are some examples.

We spent our first five months in Mexico. During that time, we were able to reconnect with friends and family who we hadn’t seen in many years. Especially valuable was the time we spent with elderly relatives in their 70’s and 80’s. Additionally, we helped two of Maricela’s young cousins with their English lessons for several months, while at the same time renewing ties with their extended family.

Later we also visited relatives on the East Coast and in Europe who we hadn’t seen in over 30 years (or ever in the case of our European cousins!)

Several of our house sitting gigs have ended with new friendships. Over time, our regular updates and communications with the homeowners developed into relationships that will last beyond house sitting – they have already invited us back, whether it’s to sit for them again or just to visit!

In the small town we were in in Massachusetts, we could easily have become isolated, since we were on a rural property and we didn’t know anyone. But that would defeat one of the purposes for us being there. So to combat that, we attended as many community events as we could find. We went to a dinner with the local historical society, a 250th year anniversary celebration of a neighboring town, a lavender festival, the local farmers market, and we regularly attended a local church. Through these efforts, and because of our house sitting, we got to know many people.

We met an elderly widower who is passionate about music. Even though he has difficulty walking, he finds the stamina to drive himself all around the area to attend music festivals and “music in the park” types of events. Once we met up with him for one event, he wanted us to join him three or four times a week for various events. And we did join him as often as we could. Additionally, Richard spent a couple of weeks building a wheelchair ramp for him. We’ll never know just how much actual difference we made in his life, but we know he appreciated our company and the fact that we showed an interest in him and his life.

Others who we met invited us to yoga classes, swimming in local lakes, a graduation party – our efforts to reach out and get to know people where we’ve visited have been rewarded by locals responding in kind and helping us to feel at home.

I hope these stories reveal a little about why we left our jobs, for a life “on the road”, and at the same time they provide you with a little glimpse into what we do all day.