When I used to live in a brick and mortar building, I took a bath nearly every day. I didn’t bathe to get clean–I used my shower for that. I took a bath for my mental and spiritual health–to meditate, relax, listen to an audio book or a podcast. I would turn the lights down low, light candles and incense, and get in my big clawfoot bathtub with steaming hot water and a blend of my favorite essential oils. Heaven!
Since I’ve been living in my van, just taking a shower can feel like a luxury. I am able to carry thirty two gallons of water with me, and sometimes that must last me for a few weeks. Thirty two gallons is all I have for cooking, making coffee, washing dishes, cleaning up myself and the van and of course, hydrating myself and Cosmo. I never know when I’ll get to the next location that will have potable water for me to refill my fresh water tank, so I’m very conservative when I clean up on the road. I take lots of “submarine showers” and “bird baths.”
So imagine my delight when I was staying with friends and they offered the use of their large garden tub for me to take a bath. Needless to say, I accepted the offer immediately. It felt a little decadent after living such an ascetic life for the past 6 months, but I adjusted quickly. I filled the tub with water as hot as I could tolerate and sunk down in the water up to my chin. I lit a Yankee Candle my friends had left on the shelf by the tub and put on my spa playlist from my phone. I drifted off into oblivion. It was absolutely wonderful.
Tomorrow, I leave Long Beach and all my friends who live here, and I head to the desert. I’m not sure how long I’ll be there, but I suspect that it may be for quite a while. I have many different desert areas I want to experience. When I’m hot and parched, I’ll think back on the refreshing oasis that was my friends’ garden tub, and remember how nurtured and well taken care of I felt. Thanks guys. I appreciate it.