What Happens to Time When You Travel?

Our family has spent nearly two years traveling full time, first in an RV and now abroad. Recently, Apple Photos brought up lookback photos from a year ago, from our stay in Sekiu, Washington.

For us, that was probably the pinnacle of our RV journey. We loved every place we went, but I think our family all agrees that we just felt the deepest connection with the town and the people of Sekiu. We talk and think about it often.

Then the photos pull up, and we're like, "Oh my gosh, that was a year ago."

It feels like yesterday. It feels like we were just there.

And it isn't just Sekiu. It doesn't feel like it was that long ago that we left our home in Farmington and started this venture. But when we count all the places we've stayed, including the one-night stops between destinations, we're over 50. 50+ moves in two years...

Even the longer stays fly by

Before we left, we were living what I would call the normal average American family life. The vast majority of our kids' lives had been lived in our Farmington home, where we lived just shy of a decade.

Like most families, we had our seasons where time flew, and we had our seasons where time was slow. But even without me looking back, if you would have asked me how long we had been in Farmington, I could have easily said right around a decade. It felt like it.

But to compare the perspective of time while we lived in a normal home to now, where we are moving constantly, it's like someone engaged light speed.

Traveling weeks are definitely the fastest-feeling. You're going, you're stopping overnight, and you're getting going the next morning. I don't have time to work usually. You're getting to your destination, dealing with traffic and whatever else happens along the way. They're just busy days. But I am amazed at how fast those weeks fly by.

But most of our life isn't spent moving every day. In the RV, we usually stayed somewhere for one to two months at a time. Now that we're traveling abroad, our stays have been similar.

Maybe in that sense time feels slightly slower, but even then, it still feels like it's flying.

I heard once from somewhere that time is simply a measurement between significant events. When I say significant events, it's a change, right? A change that does something to your day-to-day. Moving is a big one: new streets, new grocery stores, new friends, new activities and new neighbors.

Maybe part of what we're experiencing now is that we're learning new cultures, languages and people. It's almost like there are more significant events, even when we stay in one place for a month or two.

The place where time slowed down

There was one noticeable slowdown: Bullhead City, Arizona. We were there for two months and a week or so.

We loved that place in some ways, but it was a challenging time for our family. Normally, we leave when that happens. This time, we had things we needed to take care of there, so we couldn't leave.

That was probably the slowest-feeling time. There's really not been another stretch that felt quite like that one. Everything else has been pretty much fast.

Because we do social media and our blog, we're constantly going back and writing about different experiences. It keeps reminding me of how many places we've been and how many things we've experienced in such a short amount of time.

Our perception of time hasn't changed how we travel. It's more an observation of what this lifestyle has done.

It feels like I've done more in the last two years than I did in the previous twelve. Meaning, more decisions, more changes, more experiences, by far.

And leaving Farmington still feels so recent. Sekiu still feels like yesterday. And it still boggles our minds that we've been in Central America for nearly six months now.

If you're considering the full-time travel life, just know that you will likely experience this phenomenon as well.

And I can't say it's good or bad. In some ways, it's a cool experience. In other ways, it almost feels like my family is growing up faster than I could ever want.

I crave to cherish the moments we spend together, which is more than ever before, and I'm grateful for that, but it also feels like time is moving faster. It's almost like you can't have one without the other.