About Camp Fancy-Free

Camp Fancy-Free:  a metaphor I have a hard time defining because it is perpetually playing itself out

More than any physical place, Camp Fancy-Free is a state of mind. It is the unattached, drama-free head space I strive to occupy. While this is an ongoing, lifelong quest, the expression accurately describes the outward lifestyle that mirrors my inner one.

The idea for Camp Fancy-Free was born three years ago, while working in Whitefish, Montana.  A co-worker started giving Kali and I a hard time because we were planning to leave town and live in my SUV while traveling for an undetermined amount of time with no plans to return.  He mocked us (in a clearly jealous way) that it must be nice to be “footloose and fancy free.”  I returned his mocking tone by referring to the, at-the-time, planned, roaming excursion as “Camp Fancy-Free.”

Although it started as a joke, the name stuck and as we ventured on our way, I came to realize it was a very fitting name.  

Before this time I was averaging about a year in each place I had landed (Leadville, Colorado then the Donner Summit/Truckee area (near Lake Tahoe in California) then Whitefish, Montana). Since leaving Whitefish (2.75 years ago), I haven’t been in any one place longer than three months.  While it wasn’t my original intent (My only intent is to have fun) I naturally started moving with changing of seasons (for me there are 6-8 seasons a year) and have found that six weeks is about the perfect time for any one situation.  

Currently the ideal for me seems to be to string together 4-8 week stints with free roaming time in between.  This way I can settle into a schedule for a bit but then bail just when it gets to be TOO routine.  A few weeks of living in the van and finding awesome spots out in National Forest or in/or near cool mountain towns is just enough time to yearn for a little more routine and structure.  And a shower.

But then again, there really is no ideal.  It just keeps getting better and better.  Simultaneously as I am enjoying where I am, I’m carving out what’s next.  If there is anything I’ve learned from my past experiences it's that my past experiences don’t mean shit.