the balance between the american dream and my dream. michelle slosser

My aunt Patti and uncle Alan sold their house in Norfolk 3 years ago and bought a houseboat. They have lived in Portsmouth since then, docked at a marina on the Elizabeth river. In 1985 they bought a lot of land in Lancaster County, VA, off the Rappahanock River, and since then our family has built a small house uo there, and it is our little vacation place, not completely isolated from other people, but much more so than anywhere in Hampton Roads. Last spring they went ahead with a plan that they had come up with over the year before to quit their jobs and drive their boat up the east coast into the st. lawrence river and into lake erie. They took 6 months in doing it, visiting different places and family along the way, and then they came back home and ended up with even better jobs than before they left. For a few months after they got back, they were struggling with the extreme change in lifestyle, from lazy days sun bathing, eating fresh foods from markets along the waterways, enjoying life and all the people they met along the journey. It was hard for them to come back to working in offices, him a computer consultant, her a navy social worker, not having time for all the people they wanted to spend time with, dong paperwork for hours, commuting around Hampton Roads. I asked them why they came back at all, knowing that they have no desire for a luxurious lifestyle, or climbing the corporate ladder, or early retirement. They said that they often dream about just moving to Brazil, buying a house, getting average jobs to make a living, but they would miss their family up here, and feel like they have a responsibility to be with us and the rest of their family. I cant fight with that, they are my favorite people to be around. They have an incredible balance in their life, of weekends in the forest, or travelling empty creeks, and going back to the city during the week to spend 2 hours in traffic every day, and behind desks inbetween those two hours. The balance between the American dream and my dream, they are surely my favorite role models. I wonder how long they will be able to keep up this city life before escaping to the real world of nature and spiritual growth.