We are only 20 days into the month and it really does feel like the 41st week of January as our crazy musher friend so appropriately described recently.

All it takes is a few minutes of NPR news to feel like the day just got smothered in another layer of dog poop. The unpredictable actions of an incipient dictatorship devouring our democracy is exhausting.

What’s happening now makes the Covid era look like child’s play.

One day, you can really feel hope on the horizon when millions of peaceful citizens march to save our democracy. But the next?

Well, all I can say is to hell with Dryuary, it’s so pre-2025.

My running habit gives me peace.

For me, it’s the best way to forget without ruining my liver. When I start running in the peaceful desert here beyond the gates of FOY, nothing else exists. It’s a whole lot of nothingness that serves as my beautiful, temporary escape from reality.

While Dog is My Co-Pilot.

If I didn’t have this beautiful girl waiting for me when I come home, with so much gentle peace and unspoken canine wisdom, I’d lose my mind.

Nellie, along with training for the Colorado Marathon, keeps me focused on things that are under my control; the 2026 goals that keep me motivated to carry on and do better.

What’s On the Plans List for 2026?

First, there’s our goal of taking the Project M to it’s first border-crossing adventure. We’re meeting up with the ExScapers in a Mexico for a few days in February. Jim and I have been practicing Spanish with Duolingo faithfully for the last 70 days straight!

And then this summer, there’s the goal of driving the Trans-Canada Highway to Newfoundland.

Finally, there’s my ultimate goal of finding a true community this year, and rooting down for good.

After 18 years being nomadic, I’m ready to be a part-time traveler.

I want to live in a community. My heart is calling me to make a difference in a place that cares about neighbors. To do good work and make life better for the collective whole.

I would also love space for my crafts. A yard would be incredible. And I want to go yard sailing without worrying if something I want to buy will be too heavy for the RV. And oh, my own bathroom would be nice, too.

It’s not that I want to stop RVing. Not at all. There is still so much we will see and do, places we will explore wherever we land.

Our first choice for a spot to live is Willow, Alaska, of course.

OK it’s my first choice. But Jim’s going along with my plan. But I know he misses living at the feet of The Great One just as much as I do. We miss the friends we made, and of course, we miss the dogs! And yeah, even winter. Well, OK, maybe not icy roads. So, truthfully it’s a love-hate thing. But the love is greater than the hate. And we need to get back.

When our ideal property comes up for sale, we’ll find a way to get it. And it if it doesn’t come up for sale, there’s Plan B.

This Plan B revolves around Jim’s application for Canadian citizenship.

After all, he’s a legacy; Mary Nelson, his mom, was a Canuk born in Oakville, Ontario. Two of his siblings were born there.

If Jim gets a stamp of approval and we are allowed to call Canada home, we might be looking at a permanent move somewhere in the country.

As always, nothing is for certain. All of this could change in a heartbeat. I might end up applying for Mexican citizenship, and we’ll fly south instead.

But for now, this is what our new year is shaping up to look like. How’s yours?

I hope you are able to find some peace and beauty in these chaotic times. We all need it now more than ever.