Because We Can - Fulltime RV'ing

 

On the Road Again

 

It has been far too long since we have been on the road. The last three years have seen things intrude into our lives that resulted in our staying put in various locations with only intermittent times being on the road. It's not that we regret having to do so little traveling in our coach because good things came from each stop. It's just that when one is used to traveling all the time, not traveling is somewhat difficult to accept. And conversely when we have gotten used to traveling infrequently, traveling again presents the same scenario in reverse.

As we spent this past winter in the Rio Grand Valley with its lower than normal temperatures coupled with much higher than normal rain, the rain lasting even until we left in late May, our thoughts turned to past years. We missed being down at Puerto Penasco in Mexico. We missed our time in Quartzsite and Imperial Dam. In a way it was a, the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, situation. The answer was to embrace what we had rather than to dwell on what we didn't have, and having wonderful neighbors made that rather easy. The nightly happy hour get together, weather permitting, made for very special times.

Rather than go further into what we did, and it was no different than what all RVers do, I'd like to take this in a different direction. It was early January 2006 when we left our former life behind and hit the road, so now it's been over 9 years that we have lived this Life. Some people plan and plan for the fulltime life, but other things intrude and they never get to live life on the road. Others look to travel around the country, but instead end up staying in one or two locations year around, never really doing much travel other than short trips. Others try this life and discover it wasn't for them, wishing they had never sold their house.

What I am trying to say is we need to understand there is no right or wrong way to live this Life. We kept a house we never lived in for six years while we traveled, finally selling it three years ago for well less than half of what it would have sold for in 2006. We traveled the country for two and a half years, then took our first trip to Europe. We've now been overseas for a total of 12 months in the years since. That's one whole year out of our fulltime Life. And in the next 12 months we have two more lengthy overseas trips planned. Family situations took another huge bite out of our time but the fact that we were fulltimers and could go and live where we were needed made all the difference in the lives of our loved ones.

Now to come full circle and close out this article. Once again we we find ourselves on the road, our initial plans greatly changed yet unchanged. When asked where we were going for the summer our reply was North. Many couldn't understand that we would have no set plans, but those that had lived the fulltime Life understood. We do now have some plans, volunteering at the Escapee Care Center in Livingston, Texas for the month of June, a time of the year it is very difficult to get volunteers. That's because volunteers want to be there in the winter, not the hot humid summer. We were there in July a few years ago and were so blessed.

We never planned to be there this June, its something that happened. We make plans, life intrudes. We don't make plans, life intrudes. The bottom line is to follow your heart because that is where Life is lived. We will return to the Valley for a few months this winter, but in the meantime, we can't wait to find out what adventures are out there to experience as we return to being on the road again.

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