Stories
The Life I Built Wasn't the Life I Wanted to Keep Building
Changing Orbit did not begin because Curtis's career failed. It began while much of the life he had worked for was still working—and he started questioning whether he wanted to keep organizing everything else around it.
I began to sense that the life I had worked so very hard to build may no longer be the life I wanted.
The feeling started taking shape during COVID. Ericka and I were watching YouTube videos of people who had launched into RV life. What caught me was not simply the RV. It was the sense of freedom I saw in them.
I still had career goals. That part matters.
I was not done with ambition. At the same time, Ericka and I had started talking about travel, more adventure, and a life that gave us more room to do things together.
For a long time, our careers captured most of our attention. Shared life became something we squeezed into the space that was left. Weekend trips, fun and adventure had to fit around demanding schedules.
We had accomplished a lot.
But I started asking whether accomplishment was still enough reason to keep organizing our lives the same way.
Over time, I became more conscious of the pressure built into the life I was living in D.C. The city, the political environment, corporate work and constantly shifting priorities created a lot of motion, but not much peace for me.
The deeper attraction of a different life was not RV ownership.
It was the possibility that Ericka and I could build something together that belonged to us. A shared project. A shared adventure. More of life lived as partners instead of two demanding careers running alongside each other.
That eventually became the metaphor that made sense to me.
Every orbit has a center of gravity.
The old one had been organized around career, outside demands and other people's priorities. I wanted a different center of gravity: intentional living.
Changing Orbit, for me, is not about pretending the life that came before it was a mistake.
It is about recognizing that a life can work—and still no longer be the life you want to keep building around.
The question became simple:
If the old life did not have to fail first, was wanting a different center of gravity enough reason to change it?