After my decades in journalism, I consider myself a pretty good interviewer. There’s an art to interviewing folks so that you get some good quotes for your story. You have to lean forward and look them in the eye, feel positive about them and display sympathy for what they are telling you. It’s important to channel energy into them, to make them feel strong and funny and vibrant. It’s important not to suck energy out of them so they feel weak and insecure.
And so, as I ponder my future, de-homing myself and taking off with the dog in The Tiny, I think I’ll take the opportunity to interview myself to find out WTF I’m doing.
Me: Katt, thanks for meeting with me and discussing your situation. As you know, I consider myself a world class interviewer, so this should be a real treat for you. My first question is: WTF are you doing?
Katt: Wow! What a great question. You are a stellar interviewer! What I’m doing is shaking up my psyche with a new adventure. I feel a pull to visit people I love all over the country, mostly relatives in California, and people in my spiritual program. I want to be present for certain births and deaths and events and holidays. I want to be fluid to move where I might do some good, to be of some benefit, for myself and others. I feel the pull to do that stronger than I feel the pull to stay safely put. Also, looking into the distant future, sustaining the rent on my lovely leased home is making less and less sense. I have been walking through the rooms for a couple of years thinking: Why do I have so much space? Eventually I’ll want something half the size, and half the cost. So as long as I need to move anyway, why not tuck some years of travel in there? Plus, it’s fun to “play house,” to create a beautiful environment wherever I am.
Me: Why now? Why not wait 3 years until your car is paid off or until more of your ducks are in a row?
Katt: When you get past your 40s or 50s, you become aware of time running out for certain things. You gradually accept that you will never be a child prodigy, or a professional athlete, or a self-made billionaire. But there is still time for certain things, like designing a custom-made lifestyle that makes you happy and alive and creatively inspired. I have heard people in their 70s say they always wanted to hit the road for awhile, but they fear that with age and infirmary it might be too late. I don’t want that to be my story. I want to roll while I’m in my prime.
Me: What about your work? How can you design online educational programs on the road?
Katt: I have the perfect career for this! Everything I do is online, or on the phone. If this was before the Internet was invented, this would not work. I can actually recall mailing manuscripts into editors, or hand-carrying typed out pieces of paper. I recall doing interviews for the Los Angeles Times and having to find a pay phone when I got lost, which was all the time. There was no GPS! The main thing I need in order to do my work, which takes tremendous concentration and juggling hundreds of elements and details, is autonomy and privacy. The Tiny is my rolling office, with a massive table and a U-shaped dinette that is quite conducive to writing. And I plan to stay at least a month in each location, which will give me lots of time to gather my thoughts and research. In fact, I wrote my latest article almost entirely from The Tiny in the backyard as I wait for the time to leave my home, and the editor said she liked it very much! We really are living in a golden age of communication.
Me: Do you have any experience with a nomadic lifestyle or living in a small space?
Katt: I have taken a few long road trips before — 2 weeks in a Jucy camper, 3 weeks in a conversion van, one month camping and KOA Kabins — and I was absolutely happy to be “out there.” The feeling of liberation is hard to describe. I have never been without a stationary home, but I have lived tiny before. I spent a few glorious years in a Southern Pacific caboose adjacent to a national forest. I lived in a small travel trailer overlooking the Pacific Ocean. I once had an office trailer delivered to a rural property I shared with other people just so I could have the solitary time my sanity relies on. In all cases, I felt happy and whole.
Me: Aren’t you afraid of all the things that could go wrong: bad people messing with you, blowouts on the highway, loneliness, being considered a freak?
Katt: Fantastic questions. Let me take them one by one.
Bad people: There are good people everywhere, and bad people everywhere. In the campgrounds and RV parks where I’ll be staying, I anticipate having the same good feeling I’ve had in all my previous travels. Each setting takes on the feeling of a small village or community. People are sitting outside, having campfires, joining with each other to trade camping and travel stories, walking their dogs, reading. It feels more like a community than most communities. I believe the world out there is safe.
Blowouts: That is a concern. Just today I was studying how to determine the year my tires were made (2013) by reading the sidewall. It’s important to keep an eye on tire pressure and how heavy The Tiny is loaded. I read it’s safer to drive slower rather than faster for preventing blowouts and dealing with the consequences. And that suits me fine. I’m a slow poke driver. Actually, I don’t plan to be doing that much driving. I want to plant The Tiny in an RV park or next to a relative’s house, and stay a few weeks or a month, and then move on. Driving will not be my main activity.
Loneliness: I plan to be near family and friends most of the time. But loneliness could happen on the road. I have the Internet and Facebook and video support group meetings I attend. There is my cell phone and face time. I could go to any number of support group meetings that are held in virtually any hamlet. I can pray and meditate. I can talk to folks at the campground. I can hug my dog. I really don’t know what’s going to happen. But I’ve some plans in place just in case.
Freakiness: My biggest fear growing up was that I wouldn’t fit in and would be a freak. Sure enough, that’s exactly what happened, but it’s not so bad. The important thing is that I have enough strength and resources to craft a life that is perfect for me. I might seem like a freak, but I feel so darned good in my own skin.
Me: What have been some of your biggest concerns? And how did you come to terms with them?
Katt: I have had dozens or hundreds of fears and concerns! Just getting rid of one of my possessions is a major drama. Doing work on The Tiny is a big deal. Wondering if my dog will be happy is a big concern. I’ve dealt with it all by reading voraciously on various FB groups, talking to people, journaling, meditating, and letting the feelings pass. This thing inside is pushing me forward, and as I’ve spent nearly my whole life trying to get in touch with my inner voice, it’s good that I’m listening to it now.
Me: Thanks for talking with me. I wish you safe travels and happiness always.
Katt: Thanks for the great interview. You are the best! And you can be sure that I’ll keep you posted.