Why, land is the only thing in the world worth workin’ for, worth fightin’ for, worth dyin’ for, because it’s the only thing that lasts.

I feel like a completely different person than I was this winter, dreading my return to Canada and seeing no future for myself here. I had no idea how the property was going to work out and half expected to land here and discover that I had just bought an investment, not a place to put down tenuous roots.

My life plan hasn’t changed at all. I still want to RV a few more years and then see the world. The only thing that has changed is that I have a safety net. Should the bottom fall out, I will have this place to return to and I will be at peace with doing so.

This property will only tether me as much as I let it. Investing in a little hardscaping, like gravel, will mean having less green space to tend, or to have tended, during my voyages. Not having a proper house on it means not having to worry about pipes freezing, rodent damage, and the like while I’m out gallivanting in my RV. When I’m ready to see the world, I can weather proof the rig as much as possible, leave a friend to keep an eye on it, and take off, secure in the knowledge that I won’t have to start from scratch should I ever decide to return.

I will confess to being rather excited at the prospect of turning this property into a proper landing base. I can already see the grainery I’ll turn into a cozy guest cottage/wood working shop/laundry room, even if it takes years to amass the materials to do so. I can already taste the fresh herbs and tomatoes I’ll grow next year. I eagerly await the day I get a faucet so I can wash my first load of laundry in my Wonder Wash and hang it to dry on a clothesline I’ll install when I get back in July.

I look forward to more Friday night canasta tournaments, to watching summer grab this land and reluctantly let go of it in the fall. And I am going to eagerly await that the first nip in the air that will tell me it’s time to go south. The border crossing should be easier with my having real ties to Canada and big plans for the following summer. Next winter, meeting up at Quartzite with friends will be all the more enjoyable because I won’t be so annoyed with having to go back to Canada.

I keep getting asked how I found this place. All I can say is that when you know what you’re looking for, the options narrow down considerably. I knew what I needed and I pounced when I found it. But it is luck that it has worked out as well as it has.