In the summer of 2020, when the world felt uncertain, my family and I packed ourselves into our 1989 Vanagon and drove across the country. There was no grand plan—just forward motion and a quiet trust that we’d figure it out as we went. We learned how to stay open, how to adapt, and how to keep moving without bracing against the unknown.
With my family in 2020, back in California after spending the pandemic summer living out of our 1989 Vanagon
A nomad knows how to move. Not aimlessly — but with steady confidence, courage, and an open heart. To give. To receive. To feel at peace in the new and the unexpected.
That kind of flow — that ease and readiness — is something you can carry with you. I have been writing about those months on the road. Here's a little excerpt from my unedited scratchings:
While we were unable to imagine the future amid the pandemic, climate change, and social unrest, Glory (our van) could restore to us some sense of home, at least for a while. I could see our family rewriting something familiar as she carried us down the road, where we’d let ourselves go. We’d fall asleep on that road somewhere and wake up with nothing to do but to embrace life all over again. We’d keep moving that next morning if we decided to, in whatever direction called us. Or we’d just stay for a while. On the road, love would manifest itself outside of time and place, intervening in each stop along the dream state of travel, as if planned, but entirely not, to save us.
We introduced our original Nomad earring some years before our van summer, but it was only recently that it occurred to me that there was something elemental about the warm, earthy discs that deserved that name. Not to romanticize, but to recognize, and even celebrate, the strength required to let go, to change, and to keep going. In some way, hearing the name Nomad reminds us of the shifting nature of identity. So I thought I'd keep exploring the shape of this idea in some new pieces for this collection.
Our roots and lives may be vastly different, but we each share a metaphorical path —one that asks us to use our creativity—and even our sense of wonder—to move beyond traditional boundaries. Toward new horizons, and into new belonging. I'm so happy to be on the road of discovery with you.
With love and gratitude,
Patti Pagliei
Founder + Designer, Waxing Poetic
