There was a time when the scariest thing I could think of doing was quitting my job and taking off overseas with just a laptop and a vague plan of becoming a writer. Now I’m maybe 6 weeks away (maybe more, depends on which due date you believe) from meeting this baby and changing everything all over again. I don’t know which was scarier… maybe it’s reassuring to know that everyone has kids, and that there’s a well-worn path to motherhood. On the other hand, you can never really know how it’ll be for you, and I feel much the same way as I did preparing for that fateful flight to Madrid two years ago. Excited, nervous, hopeful but utterly unsure of what my life is about to change into. It’s brought me closer to my work, in a way. After a bit, most people accept your traveling lifestyle, or at least you become adept at answering questions and deflecting negativity. Someone would write me, asking “How do I deal with this person?” and I found myself struggling to connect to what that felt like. My answer now (tell them the truth and move on) isn’t particularly helpful to someone who is carving a new life but still hasn’t blown through all those roadblocks. Yet as a Mom-to-be, I’m instantly reminded of the “right-way folks” and the “well-aren’t-you-lucky snarks” and everyone else who seemingly has some agenda about how you live. I’m battling all over again, this time on different ground. It’s through this process, that I’ve come to suspect that there is a growing wave of folks wanting to “do something different”. It’s not just the would-be-travelers but the natural parenting movement too

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