Kindling. Chapter 6: Scott and Kelly
Bucharest, Romania — August 2025, The Day Before
Previously, Marcus and Leenie took their first gondola ride in Venice and Marcus admitted he still hasn’t finished the Leenie limerick. Read Chapter 5.
The first eight chapters of Kindling will release to all subscribers on Tuesdays and Thursdays each week. Starting with Chapter 9, only paid subscribers can see past the preview.
Chapter 6: Scott and Kelly
Bucharest, Romania — August 2025, The Day Before
Kelly turned her attention back to Scott. He’d asked a fair question. “I loved how we rode bikes everywhere in Riga,” Kelly said. And then we shot up to Finland for the day. What a great city.”
From Riga, they’d gone to Spain to hike and bike the Camino, followed by a week in Paris, and eventually made their way to Romania.
“You know honey,” Kelly said, averting her gaze, then her eyes crinkled as she smiled at him. “What if we did next year differently?”
She felt a shift in their Nomad Life approaching, but didn’t know what a change in lifestyle would be. She was starting to tire of the constant travel. Although India and Africa still loomed, she could feel the pull to return to some favorite places.
Kelly checked her watch. The afternoon was passing quickly.
“Let’s talk about our plans later. I want to squeeze in the Museum of the Romanian Peasant,” Kelly said.
While hiking, Kelly had seen women in the villages wearing the traditional blouses called ia, their geometric patterns hand-stitched with the specific stories of each family’s lineage. Her grandmother had been a professional seamstress her whole working life. Kelly wanted to honor her grandmother’s memory with a visit.
At the museum, exhaustion set in. She managed to send a few pictures of the famous tops to her sister, who appreciated the ode to their grandmother. Although the gift shop tempted Kelly, she passed. There was never room in her bag for anything that wasn’t multi-functional and lightweight.
When they arrived at their hotel near the Greek Embassy, Kelly asked for a late checkout. Why get up early?
While Scott took the first hot shower, Kelly started on the recombobulation of their stuff. They organized their gear to maximize weight distribution, moving hiking clothes into backpacks and computers into carry-ons which they paid to portage to the next hotel while on the trail. She pulled everything out of their bags and strewed it all around the room across the bedside tables, the bureau, and the floor.
With showers taken, they settled into the comfy queen-sized bed; a nice duvet cover and a top sheet, a rarity in Europe, would be good to snuggle. They’d have time to repack in the morning.
“Are you too tired to meditate?” Kelly asked about Scott’s nightly routine.
“No.” He’d started the habit a few years prior after a month with fellow nomads in Buenos Aires. The guys would gather every morning on the rooftop of one of their apartments. One of them led a group yoga practice followed by twenty-minutes of self-reflection. They’d kept up the practice and their friendships despite being spread around the world. “Which book are you reading tonight?”
“I think I’m going to add some notes about Romania. I want to send some thoughts to the trail managers and annotate for my blog.”
Scott finished his nightly meditation. “Good night, Kel. Easy morning, right? No alarms in the morning. Time to sleep in, pack. Have a cuppa tea?”
“Yup. There’s a continental breakfast downstairs.” She kissed him. “Happy nomadaversary, babe.”
Scott smiled, then rolled over to sleep.
Before shutting her eyes for the night, Kelly tried, once again, to sync her Kindle. Her favorite possession still wasn’t working correctly. She’d been fiddling with the settings and had hoped that some good wifi in the hotel would be effective. She could download books but she couldn’t upload anything. It’d been months since she’d been able to backup her notes and screenshots.
She placed her Kindle on the nightstand and turned out the light.
Next: The story returns to the rustic past of the Arizona desert. Colleen is about to settle further into school life, unaware that a fast-moving friendship is about to shift her entire world.
Author Notes:
While we were in Bucharest, we had the chance to squeeze in a meal with some other nomads passing through. They’d found us on our youtube channel and reached out. We love to meet other full-time travelers.
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