storming, forming, norming

In tech management theory there is some pithy combo of the above gerunds which describes how a new team gets its bearing. Storming through … issues (?) Forming … a new team identity (?) And then norming the new working dynamic. I think there’s a fourth one too, maybe it’s … transforming? Performing? Clearly, I only grasped the general concept here.

I will leave this one to the Netflixers in the comments since googling tech mantras is strictly outside of scope of #soloyolo. I believe Mick Dreeling was the one who originally told me this, which makes sense bc he was my manager. Mick, if you’re reading this, please educate the people.

Anyway!

A similar process is happening with this trip. The storming in this case is quite literal bc there’s been a storm every afternoon so far.

But the forming of new habits on the road is also coming into place. From how I pack up the car, the order I set up camp, even how I time out my days to avoid the thunderstorms and heat are all shaping up into a little routine. Albeit a very effortful one!

Each day feels a week long, full as is it of decisions and new experiences. My rationale for the shape and immediate timing of this trip was to make a decisive transition between chapters. That is definitely happening as it already feels like I have been on the road for about a month.

A final additional norm that’s emerging is to avoid trying to stay in national parks….

This has lead me to some truly stunning smaller state parks which I doubt I would have tried otherwise, like Valley of Fire in NV and Kodachrome Basin near Bryce Canyon. It’s been fun to puzzle through this first week and learn on my feet!

Finally, it turns out the most majestic way to #vanlife is in a Toyota Corolla. I think the pictures speak for themselves.

That’s all for now, can you guys lmk if the pictures are so small they look terrible to view? I am doing this trip laptop-free and Squarespace’s blogging feature/mobile app are surprisingly terrible.

✌🏼