I'm a perfectly ordinary girl. I was raised in a small town by parents who were imperfect, but loving and supportive and I am still very close to. I went to a very good college where I squeaked by and got my degree. A couple of years later I moved to Philadelphia to live out my big city dreams. With a rough economy and all I've gotten by on a couple of increasingly terrible jobs but have made enough to generally pay my rent and eat well enough. I've had my ups and downs but life hasn't been too terrible. I'm a perfectly average 20-something and was taking a perfectly average path in life.
And now I'm going to do something crazy.
A couple months ago my bland and typical life took a bit of a different turn. That's when I met Robby and that's when I fell stupidly in love.
On paper at least, Robby is the last guy I should be with. He's a few years older, divorced with three kids, perfectly content with living on a disability check. He's scruffy and more than a bit jaded, especially when his back is bothering him. His life has been a lot different than mine. He's a community college dropout who has spent most of his adult on the road, thumbing rides or hopping trains to head somewhere, anywhere. He's done things in his life I can't even imagine, some of which honestly scare me a bit. But, even though we really haven't been together all that long, Robby is one of the best things that's ever happened to me. We have the kind of relationship where we'll call each other twice a day without anything to say but can sit up all night talking about nothing. I genuinely love him in a way I wasn't sure I ever would love someone.
So now, I'm giving up my normal humdrum life, at least for a little while. Armed with little more than some bus tickets and a pawn shop mandolin, we're heading south. About a year ago Robby spent some time in Key West. He knows people there and we can hopefully at least get a place to crash now and then. While this is all new to me, he has years of experience playing on the streets for cash, spanging (that is, asking for spare change) and just generally living outside the norm.
So my perfectly normal life is taking a decidedly abnormal turn. Over the next couple of weeks I'm finishing out my time at my crappy low-paying job. I'm packing up all my stuff, still not sure where I'm storing it, and fitting everything I need into one backpack. After a couple weeks with his family up north, we're heading to Key West with what we can carry on our backs. I'm giving up my paycheck, my house, my normal life and heading on a hobo adventure.
It's crazy, it's risky. Over the next few months I'm going to be hungry and dirty more often than not. I'll probably drink too much and have to dodge the cops at least a few times. We have no real plan of when, or how, we're going to get back. This is not something normal, settled, well-educated and well-brought up girls do.
This is my adventure of a lifetime, and I honestly cannot wait.
