A lot has happened ‘behind the scenes’ in the last few days and the final piece of the puzzle has clicked into place, so I can now write about it.

A little over a year ago, I approached my boss and asked her if I could take a year’s sabbatical to try out full-time RVing. We both suspected from the start that I would not be returning to my old life, but she let me go with her blessing.

Over the year, I’ve frequently mentioned that I could not see myself going back to Ottawa and my old life. At the same time, I could not envision the future beyond the end of August. Coming to the Yukon has changed that and I can now see clearly five years ahead of me.

So, in the last few days, I’ve been going back and forth with my financial planner regarding my choosing a future of my own making spent on the road.

It’s important to understand that we were talking about my giving up lifetime job security, health benefits, and one of the best pension plans in the country, of taking a gamble that the joys of this life would outweigh being less than financially secure. He feels that I am making my choices with my eyes wide open and we’re going to work together to make sure the dream doesn’t turn to nightmare.

So, I’ve quit my job and am in process of severing my ties to ‘back east’ by starting the process of becoming a Yukoner. I will be spending six months of the year up here for residency requirements for reasons that will be explored in a future post. I need a new home base and Dawson City is it. I already have my Dawson City address and this is going to be as ‘home’ as a nomad can have a home.

I’ll be here in Dawson until the end of August and then, if the money’s good, I’ll head up to Inuvik. If not, then there’s next year! I’ll return to Watson Lake for the late fall and then go to Vancouver Island for the winter. Come spring, I’ll come back to Watson Lake, then Dawson. It’s not going to be as nomadic a life as I’ve lived in the past year, but for the time being I can’t afford for it to be. I will be content in going between set contracts and picking up several times a year. There are also a few different roads which lead to Dawson, so I can pick a different route next year.

Eventually, once the debt accumulated over the past year is paid off, I’ll be able to spend my summers up here working my tail off and then use the winter to explore warmer climes.

So, expect a little less traveling with Miranda over the next year or so as a brand new full-time RVer figures out just how she’s going to do this for years. I do have a winter project in mind that will keep interest piqued. 🙂

The best way I can explain my decision to people is that I had a choice between making a living and making a life. I choose life.