A Good Shower Makes all the Difference

When one becomes a traveller many things change. At first just slightly and then the more you travel it becomes a revelation. You are no longer the person you once were.

Making the decision to say goodbye to our overworked jobs was at first, a hard one. The security of a steady income each week to pay the mortgage and the routine of everyday working life are comforts which are difficult to forego.  But once the decision to leave is made it all starts to change, it all becomes different. A good different though, in so many ways. You forget it all and immerse yourself into life, day by day, with no real rush to be anywhere. After only a short time you soon forget what it was like to even have a ‘real job’. You say goodbye to all the necessities that you soon realize aren’t all that essential.

We came from our corporate roles, filled with scheduling too many meetings, following up staff, giving lists to PAs, all adding to the stress of each day. Now there are no schedules, time doesn’t matter, instead we take the moments to notice the smaller things in life, the things that went unnoticed when we were caught up in the working world. The things that you thought were important just aren’t anymore.

It’s different now. We wake up each morning and just lay there being grateful. We used to jump out of bed to the alarm, have a shower, have breaky and race to beat the traffic. I now wake and love the sound of the birds on the lake we are parked in front of. No more rushing from meeting to meeting, but instead asking Tim to stop the van so I can take a photo of something so simple that I wouldn’t have even noticed before.

Even your body becomes different. No longer are the shoulders an inch higher with the stress, but dropped with ease. Your senses are once again alive with the smells of the fresh air in the forest, instead of deadened by the pollution from the truck in front of you in a traffic jam. I now notice the amazing colours of the spring flowers instead of having to decide the colour of the new t-shirt in the range.

Touring in a van is a very different way of life. Showers are not taken in hotel ensuites, but in a cubicle in a communal shower block. Dishes are not placed in a dishwasher out of sight, but instead carried to the dishwashing area, hand washed, dried and put back away in their spot. Room and space are things of the past. Everything you have to call yours is rolled, tucked or squashed where it can fit. But the biggest difference is time; there is no set lunch from 12-1pm, you just eat when you’re hungry. It’s these differences that make life as it should be.

It’s only been 4 weeks that we have been living in a van but it has changed the way we both think each day. It’s amazing how conversations have changed. We used to swap flight details and when we will next be home together. Now we wake up each morning in each other’s arms with a smile and no plan, only to just be, together. We used to discuss over dinner our bad days at work, now we look at the photos we have taken from the day. Dinner meetings are of the past, now we decide what we can throw together for our next meal in the van. But the most discussed of all, ‘how is the shower?’ A shower can make all the difference, it can make or break your day depending if the shower is good or bad. Trust us, we have had the worst cold showers where you chase the water drops around trying to get wet, to the most luxurious showers better than our own at home in Bali. The faces we see on each other on return from the amenities block says it all. There is nothing better than the van door opening to a wide smiled Tim saying ‘Best shower!’ It makes me want to stop cooking dinner instantly and run to the glorious waterfall of joy. It truly can be the highlight of our day.

The touring and parking life is one to be loved and addicted to easily. The overall energy and feeling when you get when you arrive at a good park is noticeable. Not a day goes by that you come across a fellow tourer that loves a chat, or offers some help. Too many times Tim sets off to wash the dishes or have a shower and doesn’t comes back until a long while after. He is becoming more like my grandfather (or Pa as I call him) everyday, who has been caravanning for decades. He takes longer to do any chore than ever, but always returns with a great story of his chat with his new mate. Lucky we are never in a hurry. Each day is filled with meeting lovely, kind people from all parts of the world. They are always interested in where you’re from, where you’ve been and where you‘re heading. It’s a different type of community. Everyone is helpful, we all look out for each other, even though we are complete strangers.

As I sit Loch-side in the van and Tim takes a few hours to wash a handful of dishes and have a chat, I contemplate how grateful I am that I was diagnosed with cancer 8 months ago. Without that, I would still be sitting behind my desk stressed, on a plane or in a hotel, exhausted and overworked, missing my husband. I wouldn’t give this up for anything. As hard as it’s been, I am truly thankful for what has happened. It’s often that cancer patients say they are grateful for their diagnosis as it changed so much in their lives. Its just a shame that it takes the diagnosis of cancer to show you what your missing out on every day, and all that time it was right there, waiting for you to notice. 

So take a moment now, have a look around you and notice the small, joyful things. Go, have a good shower and be grateful for all you have in your life at this point in time. You deserve it.

- Tara -