One of my neighbors makes his living making hand carved stringed instruments. Apparently he is very good at it, or at least it appears this way based on the glowing reviews I have found on him when I Google his name. He travels around the country for half of the year going to festivals and conferences to promote his product and drum up sales. Whenever he is actually "home", he always seems to have visitors staying with him ...usually in RVs parked out in his driveway. There had been a "guest" staying at his house for the last week and as I was taking my dog out for a walk yesterday, my neighbor called me over and introduced me to his newest visitor. He told me his name was Tom and that he was my neighbor's roommate in college. He is originally from Malibu but he sold his house there three years ago and now he lives full time in his totally tricked out Airstream trailer. He just travels around the country visiting places that interest him and moving on whenever the urge hits him.
Tom is a fascinating man and a great storyteller. I place his age somewhere between mid 50's to early 60's even though he acts and looks a lot younger. He made a lot of money in the 90's (dot com money I suspect due to some of his comments) and he invested well so he is pretty much able to live as he pleases. He asked me if I would like a tour of his Airstream which at the time sounded like some kind of bad pick-up line but I said yes and I became quickly enamored with his trailer. He has everything that he needs in one little compact area. He told me that it had taken him almost 4 months to gut the trailer and replace everything with all the upgrades that he wanted. He had granite counter tops, top of the line appliances (he told me he loves to cook), a fantastic home or should I say "travel trailer" theater system with amazing sound and a big plasma TV. His bathroom and bedroom were actually pretty roomy and he even had a washer and dryer combo. Now I have been in a lot of RVs in my life since my family owned quite a few during the years that we were doing a lot of traveling for horse shows..... but this set-up was the best I had ever seen. It may not have been the biggest, but it was definitely one of the highest quality.... I was impressed with all the work and thought that he had put into designing it to suit his needs.
I stayed and chatted with him for about and hour.....he was a big flirt and I enjoyed flirting back with him and listening to stories of his travels. Apparently he is on the road for most of the year .....he takes some time off to spend the holidays with his daughter in Maine and then he tries to go someplace out of the country for a bit...his last trip had been to Costa Rica. Fascinating!! I think I detected a hint of loneliness in his voice though. He lost his wife three years ago and I was beginning to think he might possibly need to find a new one (and no I was not volunteering!) Even though it seemed like he has a lot of friends all over the country to visit with.....it must be hard not to have somebody to share your experiences with or just someone to talk to.
After I had said my goodbyes and wished him luck in his travels, I walked back home and started to think about the kind of lifestyle this guy was living. I do envy him the ability to travel and go wherever and whenever he pleases and all the fascinating people and places he must meet... but sometimes you just want to be home.... I mean really home...in your own room..in your own bed...on solid ground with your own trees, plants and flowers surrounding you. I wish him luck and maybe he will come back through Texas sometime...he seems like a great guy!!
