What Intentional Living Actually Looks Like When Life Is Chaos
As you’re reading this, we should be somewhere on the road headed toward SoapCon.
I say “should be” because this is us, and there’s always a chance we’re still trying to remember what we forgot, reorganizing the SUV in a gas station parking lot, or wondering why something we absolutely packed is nowhere to be found.
We left Sunday morning for a two-week road trip built around SoapCon, family, friends, learning and a little adventure along the way.
It sounds exciting—and it is.
But here’s the part that makes the timing especially ridiculous: we had only four days at home to recover from spending two weeks in California before leaving for another two weeks on the road.
Four days to unpack, do laundry, repack, prepare food, organize schoolwork, handle business responsibilities, check on everything at home and get three people ready to leave again.
Nothing about that feels peaceful or picture-perfect.
Intentional chaos, maybe—but still chaos.
Intentional Living Doesn’t Always Look Peaceful
When people hear “intentional living,” they may picture a perfectly organized home, slow mornings, matching storage containers and a beautifully planned routine.
That is not what it looks like around here.
Around here, intentional living sometimes looks like making breakfast burritos ahead of time so we can warm them up at gas stations instead of buying fast food every morning.
It looks like packing homemade snacks and putting together our own version of Lunchables because they’re easy, everyone will actually eat them and they’ll save us money on the road.
It looks like schoolbooks, assignments, chargers, snacks, product ideas, travel plans and probably a few things we won’t discover we forgot until we’re several states away.
It also looks like coming home from a two-week trip, taking one look at the laundry and everything that needs to be done, and realizing we have four days before we do it all over again.
Intentional living doesn’t mean everything is calm and organized.
Sometimes it simply means stopping long enough to ask:
What will make this easier, more meaningful or better for our family?
Preparing for the Road in a Way That Works for Us
We aren’t trying to make every meal from scratch while traveling or pretend we won’t stop for snacks along the way.
This is still a road trip. There will be gas-station stops, unexpected cravings, schedule changes and days when the original plan goes completely out the window.
But we can prepare for some of it.
We made breakfast burritos that can be warmed up at gas stations. We packed homemade snacks and easy lunches. We’re bringing our healthy-ish version of road-trip food—not perfect, but more affordable and a little more intentional than buying every meal along the way.
That’s pretty much how we approach natural living too.
It isn’t about doing everything perfectly. It’s about making better choices where we realistically can and letting go of the guilt when real life doesn’t cooperate.
There’s a reason that became the Suds & Buds motto.
It isn’t just something we put on the website. It’s how we actually live.
Homeschool Is Coming With Us
Kaylee will be doing school on the road because one of the best parts of homeschooling is that learning doesn’t have to stop because we leave home.
Yes, there will be regular schoolwork.
But there will also be maps, new states, changing landscapes, historical stops, unfamiliar places, conversations, problem-solving and plenty of lessons we could never recreate at a table.
She’ll see parts of the country she hasn’t seen before. She’ll watch a small-business owner—her mom—travel across the country to learn more about her craft. She’ll experience what goes into investing in a business and pursuing something even when it requires a lot of work.
That counts as learning too.
Honestly, some of the best education happens when we leave the routine behind and experience something for ourselves.
Leaving Home Takes a Village
Taking a two-week trip wouldn’t be possible without someone staying behind to care for all the critters.
My mom is taking care of them while we’re gone, which is no small favor around here.
We have horses, dogs, cats, chickens, a rabbit and enough daily animal-related responsibilities to make leaving home feel like coordinating a small farm operation.
Knowing my mom is there taking care of everyone gives us the ability to go, learn and have this experience together.
Intentional living also means recognizing that we don’t do everything alone. Sometimes the only reason we can say yes to an opportunity is because someone else is willing to step in and help.
Making Time for People Who Matter
This trip isn’t only about SoapCon.
We’ll also be seeing a few friends along the way, including my best friend of more than 30 years.
Actually, when I stop and do the math, “more than 30 years” doesn’t quite cover it.
I think I was 16 when we met, and I’m 54 now.
Somehow, nearly four decades have passed.
Life gets busy. People move. Families grow, responsibilities pile up, and sometimes the people who have known us the longest end up living far away.
A road trip like this gives us the chance to make those connections a priority again.
We could plan the fastest route, focus only on reaching SoapCon and hurry straight home when it’s over. But if we’re traveling this far, we want to make room for the people and experiences that matter too.
Those stops may add miles and time to the trip, but they’re also part of what makes the trip worth taking.
Why We’re Going to SoapCon
SoapCon is the reason this whole trip came together.
I’ve learned a lot by experimenting, researching, making mistakes, trying again and building Suds & Buds one product and one decision at a time.
But there is always more to learn.
Going to SoapCon is an investment in the business I’m trying to build. It’s a chance to learn from other makers, discover new ideas, improve my products and processes, and connect with people who understand this strange, wonderful world of soapmaking.
It would be easier to stay home.
It would definitely be less expensive and require a whole lot less packing.
But growing Suds & Buds into the business I know it can become means occasionally doing something that feels inconvenient, intimidating or slightly crazy.
In this case, it means loading up the SUV and driving across the country.
The Trip Won’t Go Exactly as Planned
I already know something will go wrong.
Something will get spilled. Someone will get cranky. Plans will change. We’ll miss a turn, forget something or discover that a stop we thought would take 20 minutes actually takes two hours.
It means we’re a real family having a real adventure.
We aren’t trying to create two weeks of perfect photographs. We’re trying to create memories, reconnect with people we love, learn something, spend time together and see where the road takes us.
There may be beautiful scenery, exciting discoveries and meaningful family moments.
There will probably also be crumbs in the SUV, schoolwork spread across someone’s lap, tired people disagreeing about where to eat, and at least one moment when I question why we thought this was a good idea.
Both things can be true.
Maybe This Is What Intentional Living Really Is
Intentional living isn’t about controlling every detail.
It’s making the breakfast burritos.
It’s packing the schoolwork.
It’s accepting help from my mom.
It’s making time to see friends who have known me since I was a teenager.
It’s traveling to SoapCon because I want to keep learning and building something meaningful.
It’s giving Kaylee experiences beyond a textbook.
It’s taking the trip even though the house, trailer, business and endless list of projects will still be waiting when we return.
Our life may never look calm, polished or perfectly organized.
But it is ours.
And underneath the animals, the projects, the homeschooling, the small business, the road snacks and the general chaos, we’re trying to make choices that move us toward the life and business we want to build.
Just intentionally.
We’ll be sharing pieces of the trip along the way—the pretty parts, the chaotic parts, SoapCon, the friends we see and whatever adventures find us between here and home.
I’m really glad you’re here.