Goodbye country life...Hell-o condo living

We have since moved from the safari tent that we had been staying in for the past 14 days and taken up residency in a resort condominium.  A strange turn to be sure.  But the thing is, for better or worse, we planned it this way.  One reason being the limited availability of places to stay on such short notice, coupled with an even shorter length of stay, and add to that a very reasonable cost.  Also, we wanted to gauge our bohemian off-grid experience while enjoying the comforts afforded mainstream life.

Why, you may ask?

One thing that Gail and I wanted to do with this move is to live deliberately.  What that means for us is that we want a slower-paced life, one that requires more interaction with the day to day tasks, and do things that truly make a difference - rather for the sake of just doing them.  We want to become more conscientious in our choices of what we pursue and really sift through our reasons for those choices.

Now, we understand that a lot of people won't get it and we're ok with that, but for us it's the right thing to do.  So how does it feel being back amongst the conventional, with all the luxuries one could want?  

In a word...ack!

We miss the tranquillity of the countryside, the language of birds, feeling the coolness of the trade-winds, and the openness of the tent and cooking in the outdoor kitchen.  We miss Blackie and Speckles (Scott and Melissa's chickens) and watching the goats graze on the hillside, or hearing the nerve-chilling call of peacocks in the dead of night.  We miss listening to the rain fall around us, and the freshly-washed scent that permeates the forest after the rains move on.  We miss watching the moon cross the sky from horizon to horizon, and greeting the first light of day. 

But for me, I miss most the feeling of being a part of something bigger than myself.

Was it all peaches and cream?  Of course not, but for us the good far outweighed any inconvenience or minor hardships we experienced. And in the end, this little exercise in the juxtaposition of the different lifestyles confirms our original intent - we welcome a life of simplicity and deliberateness.

Take care and enjoy, 
- Mahalo