My name is Ellen and I am a computer science professor at Edinboro University in PA. I have been a professor since 1989 and I am ready to make a change. I really love teaching but unfortunately that is only a small part of the job. Plus even that can get to you when you have a class of students that simply won’t engage in learning.
I am ready to make a change and have been exploring new lifestyles. In 2014 myself, my husband and my daughters hiked the Camino DeSantiago in Spain. It is a 500 mile pilgrimage from St. Jean Pied dePort in France, over the Pyrenees and across the northern part of Spain. It was a fantastic journey and I discovered how much I loved simple living.
The entire 45 day adventure we lived out of our small backpacks, stayed in simple hostels called albergues, and walked. The walking (often really hiking, do to lots of mountainous terrain) was the hardest part. But I just loved the simple living, with one change of clothes and few luxury items, no time is wasted with the material things that seem to eat up all our time.
We washed our clothes daily and took quick showers. No time spent on primping. It was beyond wonderful. Each day we enjoyed conversation, good simple food – often purchased on the trail at small village markets, and being in the world.
I hated to return to the hustle and craziness of my life as a professor.
It was at that point I felt the real urge to find a new lifestyle. I tried to make my life as a professor more relaxed – but honestly in computer science this is IMPOSSIBLE. There is no time to sit back as things in the field are moving at the speed of light… and that may be part of the problem! So I will need to find a new line of work to support myself as I learn to live on less.
And so begins my plan to reboot and upgrade my life… to find what will sustain me spiritually, physically and financially for the next phase of my life….
(to view my blog – the best place to start is “Introduction” post)