I want a camper. I want to make a glamper. I want a little Scotty Highlander 1967 camper that looks all of its 52 years, and I want to make it look like a glamorous little home for my creativity. I found a little camper on Craigslist that did not have a listed age but looked well past middle age. It is a Scotty Highlander and I thought that possibly this was the camper I was looking for- destined to be my glamper one day.

I broached the subject to my mom who is in Texas staying with my brother in the hospital. My sister said that I better not buy a camper without consulting the owner of the place where I live. “Didn’t realize you have any carpenter skills…” my practical mother said. Maybe the reason my imagination is taking flight is because she isn’t here. Maybe I’m distracting myself from wishing I were there too. I pointed out that carpenter skills can be learned or bought. My brother (did I ever say he was the idealistic one?) stated that the pictures of my chosen camper didn’t look structurally sound at all. So I broke up with the idea of buying a cheap but rickety little camper, but I didn’t break up with my dream.

Why do I want a glamper so badly? It started the other day when I was called off work because there weren’t enough sick people in the hospital to keep all the scheduled nurses at work. As usual when I plan to do something with my day and find myself sitting at home instead, I began inventing ways of keeping myself busy. That day my thought was- “I should buy a house to fix up!” I helped my dad and sister paint an entire fix-up house a couple years ago. It was one of the last projects my dad and I worked on together. It was very therapeutic, and I would often escape there and paint my heart out in the quiet.

 And so I started browsing realtor.com. Soon even the dreamiest dreamers must come face to face with financial impossibilities, however. My next thought, slightly closer to being reasonable, was the idea of designing a tiny house. Tiny houses are all the rage, and a girl can be entertained for hours while browsing pictures of exotic and adorable little dwellings.

“But you would hate living by yourself anyway!” one of my sisters pointed out. “And they might be little, but they’re such a specialty you would end up putting more money into it than you think.”

My family is incredibly practical for being related to me. “I wouldn’t stay there most of the time,” I said. “I would rent it out as an air B-n-B.”

“Why,” said my other sister, “don’t you just buy a camper and fix it up as a glamper?”

The thought was born in the mind of one of my practical siblings. It struck me as a fun idea. I have been looking for little potential glampers for sale ever since. I want a space to unleash creativity in an environment where decisions do not affect the lives of sick people dependent on me. I want a project to throw myself into when I’m feeling blue. I want a little glamper to take on road trips and maybe loan to other people to give them a happy and glamorous vacation. I don’t have a camper yet. I will wait and see if God brings one into my life. If He doesn’t, I will be content with the life He has given me. I can throw myself into cooking food for my family, and sending cards to my friends, and thinking of creative ways to make my grumpy, sad patients smile. Opportunities for therapeutic creativity surround me if I only look at them. Does this mean I’ve given up on my glamper? No, it just means I’ve put it in the hands of God…