13:13
I'm back. And I'm back home. I'm finally back home. I couldn't be more excited. Oh my god. Hi, buddy. How are you doing? How have you been? You've been good. Yes. You're a good boy, huh? Okay, come on. Yes. Are we going home, buddy? Are we going home? I have literally been waiting for this moment for months upon months. But it's finally summer and I finally get to go to my property and put up my tent and live like a wild feral [__] baby. And I'm so excited.
course, there is no access road leading up to my property, which means that every time I want to get there, I have to walk on my own two feet. And since it's high up in the mountains, every time I want to get there involves a bit of an uphill battle. But you know what? It is so worth it. It's so worth it. I forgot how steep it was.
Oh my god. This is home. It's the most beautiful place on earth. You know what this feels like? It feels like coming home after a very long absence. Imagine being away from home for eight months from a home that you love and that you cherish. That's kind of how that feels to me. I'm back home eight months later. All right, we have to move in. And moving in is a bit of a process. So, first of all, I need to grab some cleaning products and clean the deck because it has not been cleaned in a very long time. It's just been out there
on its own the entire winter, the entire spring. So, I feel like it needs a little bit of tender loving care. Hello, shed. This is my little shed. This is where I keep most of my things. And most of my things stayed here over the winter. And actually, it feels kind of dry in here, which is amazing. All right, what do we need? Oh god, that's disgusting. Look at that gunk.
This is probably as clean as I'm willing to get it right now because I just don't want to spend any more time cleaning. I just want to set up my tent. Okay, it's good enough. Um, heavy. You know, it's kind of funny to be here as a 34year-old childfree woman, single still, and uh to be putting up a canvas tent on my land. Like, it's completely freaking normal.
Like, it's the most natural thing in the world. I'm like, "Yep, let me just put up my canvas tent in which I will live for the rest of the summer." If you asked me 10 years ago what I would be doing at 34, I definitely wouldn't have guessed any of this. Not in a million years. It's not ready yet, buddy. You could help, you know. No. Sometimes I think it would be nice if you had opposable thumbs, and sometimes I think it would be a very dangerous thing. Okay, this is the hardest part. Once I'm done with this, everything will be just dandy. Ah, B, you are not helping, buddy.
What's going on? You trying to find me? Oh my god. I can't do this. Let me I'm here. Yeah, I'm here, buddy. You found me. Well done. I know. That was so weird. Huh? Where did I go? Okay, I'm going to start with this part cuz it's a little bit easier. And I feel like it provides a little bit of structure to the tent. I don't know. I feel like I'm still learning all of this. You know, I spent one season in the tent, but it's been a little while. So, like I need time to get used to everything again.
Hey, we're getting there, right? This should work better. Okay. I think it's happening. Something is happening. I can do it. Don't break on me. Come on. Yes. Come on. I did it. Yes, buddy. The tent is up. Yes, she jumped. H. Yes, we got her home. 10 years ago, if I found out that I had an aunt who was in her mid30s and chose to live in a tent by herself with her dog, I would probably have thought she is mad. probably think that she's she's gone crazy, you know, like, you know, kind of batshit witch style crazy. That's what I would have thought. And now I'm here doing it myself and really loving it and feeling like
it's the only way. Isn't that crazy? Can you get out of here? You're in my spot. Thank you very much. How cool. Oh my god. Literally a palace. It's a palace. That's how I feel about it. It's a freaking palace. All right, one more important thing to do. I need to go and fetch some water from the spring. Let me show you how that works.
This here is my little water spring with beautiful fresh spring water straight from the mountains, which honestly to me is like the greatest luxury I could imagine. It's amazing. This is more precious and more rare than champagne. Heat.
Not to add to the impression of the crazy tent dwelling auntie. But there's one more thing that I need to do before I get to relax. It's a pretty important ritual. This is the fairy spot because these trees have freaking eyes. They have eyes. Call me crazy. Call me whatever you want, but these trees have actual eyes. Hey, hey, had a good winter and that we get to spend a lovely time here together this summer. Okay, here's some nice sweets.
A pear, an orange. Thought you might like this one, some jam. I think there's some spirits around here. Friendly spirits. And even if there aren't any spirits, I just like to do this ritual as a way of saying thank you to the land for having me because it protects me. It's beautiful. I love it. And so I like to do this just to say thank you. I know that probably sounds super woo, but I think it's just a way to show gratitude. That's all. I guess growing up I never realized that a life like this was possible. I thought that only witches and legends lived like this, you know, on top of a mountain in a tent. But I think travel is what gave me this perspective that this kind of life
is possible. It's doable. and maybe even enjoyable. I would have never guessed. I would have never known 10 years ago. I would have told you that I would want to be climbing the corporate ladder and becoming some kind of boss babe in New York City or London. That's what I would have said 10 years ago because I had no idea that one day I would come to love this. And you know, if you don't allow yourself to change, if you don't allow yourself to change your life's direction and your dreams, you may never get to this point of recognition that perhaps there is another life out there that is better suited for you. It took me many years to realize this, but I am so happy and so at peace here.
It is getting cold. You know buddy that this is my mattress, right? It's not your mattress. Yeah. So where you going to go? Huh? There. Go place. He's like, "Nope." Oh, good boy. Some of you might remember that last year I left my land in a bit of a panic because I had two separate men on two separate occasions intrude on my land unwanted and unannounced. One of those situations turned out to be quite serious and I ended up having to get a restraining order against this individual. None of it was fun. None of it was good. None of it was just it was all a terrible, terrible situation. So, I left my land pretty terrified and
scared and really uncertain about what the future holds. And for a long time I thought about it and I was like should I give in to these people and leave maybe sell my land completely or is there some other way of dealing with the situation and I don't have everything figured out just yet but I just want to say that as a woman I don't want to let people like that intimidate me and situations like that intimidate me. Yes, they are scary but I also have ways of protecting myself. I have agency and there are steps that I have taken already to protect myself much better on my land. So, I feel much safer on it. And I feel like to leave and to sell would almost feel like a defeat, like I'm giving up
just because I'm living here alone as a woman. You know what I mean? I don't think I would have had those situations happen to me if I had lived here with a boyfriend or a partner. But I am alone. So, I've taken some serious steps to create a much better safety and security system around my property. Obviously, I'm not going to say what it is, but I feel much safer here. And of course, I've got my dog, Vil, who's been taking personal protection classes over the last few months and has been advancing in that. I really feel very safe with my dog by my side. So, yeah. I am not sure what I'm going to do, but for now, I'm just enjoying my time here in this beautiful place. And in case anyone is wondering, no, I do not want uninvited guests on my
property. No matter who you are, no matter how you feel about me, I don't care. I don't feel the same way. Don't come. Simple as that. Okay. Good morning. It's been raining for the last 2 hours, so I was kind of like lying inside my sleeping bag, waiting for it to pass, and it's finally stopped. Wait, you just can't wait to get out. Oh god, it's just started raining again. Okay, I'm getting back inside. I am not staying out there in that rain.
I guess you've got some very important business to attend to. Fair enough. There's no way I'm going out in that weather. Just not going to happen. So, instead, I'm going to take an hour or two and put some final touches on my book that I've been writing this year because guys, I have been writing a book all of this year and it's almost done. It's pretty much there. just a few little bits and pieces and it's kind of wild because it feels like the biggest thing I've ever done. Um, it will get published next spring. I will keep you
updated. But it's amazing that I've been able to write this memoir, this adventure memoir with some of the wildest stories that I've experienced during my travels. And you know what? Like the craziest thing for me is that I feel like when I imagined an author many years ago, I imagined someone who would be like sitting in a fancy office, you know, typing away at their manuscript. I'm here in my freaking tent. Okay, I'm in a tent. There's no power here. It's raining outside. I'm wearing clothes that I've been wearing for like 3 days and I'm working on my book on my laptop. you can do this as well. Like there's no
rule saying that you can't be an author like this, that you can't do things like this. And it's just so exciting to like discover all these things and like just be able to do your thing however you want in the way that you want on your own rules and on your own terms. Just make it up. All right, here we go. Oh, you your stick. Yeah. Is that a good stick?
Oh, yeah. I got it. I got your stick. You know, it's kind of cool to know that you can live a weird, wild little life that nobody else will understand. But that makes all the sense to you. I feel like that's part of adulthood is realizing that yes, you can do this if that's what you want. This is nuts. So nuts.
I love it.
