Joyful : The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness (9780316516051) by Lee Ingrid Fetell

Author:Lee, Ingrid Fetell [FETELL LEE, INGRID]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hachette Book Group USA
Published: 2018-09-04T00:00:00+00:00

A HOME FOR SURPRISE

Mandy and Kevin Holesh had only lived in their Pittsburgh apartment for about five months, but they were getting “itchy.” The apartment was beautiful, in a bustling area of town, and it was the first one they had lived in since getting married. But they kept thinking about a trip they had taken not long after their wedding, in a pop-up camper borrowed from Mandy’s aunt. As they had traveled around the southern United States, staying in state parks and exploring new towns, they found it was surprisingly comfortable, even with their two dogs in tow. They had often joked, “What if we just stayed out here like this—indefinitely?”

Now back in the city where they had both grown up, they were surrounded by friends who were also getting married and settling into their first homes. The temptation to buy a house was strong—all their peers were doing it, and they nearly fell for one cute little place. But their hearts weren’t in it. They both loved traveling, and both worked for themselves, Mandy as a wedding photographer and Kevin as the developer of a mobile app called Moment, which helps you track and reduce your screen time. They started fantasizing about life on the road again, scanning listings for campers for sale. Two months later they bought one.

The Keystone Cougar 276 was a fixer-upper for sure, with old blue carpets, lots of heavy, dark wood, and a funky smell. But it was five thousand dollars, under their budget, leaving them money for a renovation. They parked the camper in Kevin’s family’s driveway, and for two weeks, they set about ripping up the old carpet, reupholstering the daybed and breakfast nook, and giving every surface a coat of fresh white paint. They winnowed their possessions down to the bare minimum, put the rest in storage, and hit the road.

One of their requirements in choosing a camper was to have a lot of windows, because, as Mandy said, “If we were going to do this, we really wanted to be able to see where we were.” The model they found has big round-cornered windows on three walls. Not only did this feature make them feel immersed in each location they visited, but it also had a way of bringing serendipity into the heart of their home. As if to prove the point, during our Skype conversation Mandy suddenly burst out, “Oh my God, there are dolphins out there!” Kevin turned his head to look. “Oh wow, are there? Seriously? That’s so cool,” he murmured, shaking his head. They apologized for the interruption, but it was actually a perfect view into their lifestyle. When your home goes anywhere you want it to, your windows become kind of like a dynamic wallpaper, with an ever-present possibility for surprise. This is accentuated by the fact that the Holeshes usually “dry camp” in nature rather than park in an RV park, which allows them to wake up in wild places like seashores and state parks, where the scenery is more unusual.

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