Some years life doesn’t change very much. Some years (or even in a day) life changes dramatically. My last post was Feb 2018. In 2018, I had this goal of doing at least a monthly blog. So much for goals, right?
Where I am and how much I travel has changed
Last year, I was traveling with 3 other women around the southeastern United States. Today, I am sitting in an RV park in Mesa, Arizona work camping.
Ask me if I still love RV living? Yes! Even though for a while now I have been stationary RV living. Meaning living and working out of my RV, but not traveling. And at the moment, I have plans to not move my home on wheels again for another year! When this adventure began, I had visions of traveling to many cool places in my RV and the thought of staying in one place seemed like a punishment. However, traveling can be expensive and I realized that staying put in an interesting place is not a punishment, especially if it serves a greater purpose. Not all of staying in Arizona is my choice. Vanya is dying. She is starting to have problems that are too much of an investment to fix. At least for me. So, I am staying put here to save up enough money to replace her with a new to me RV. During my traveling days, Vanya took me to 12 states: Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, New Mexico and Arizona.
Travel companions has changed
I also have shed roommates. Makayla stopped traveling with me in Jan/Feb 2018 and returned to her life in Texas (family obligations and ready for embracing her next steps in life). Miriam stopped traveling with me in July 2018. She decided to move to Nashville (one of our favorite cities on our travels) and got engaged to a man she met there (more on this to come!). Mom stopped traveling with me in July 2018….sort of. She moved all of her stuff out of our sticks and bricks home in Texas to live with my cousin in the Chicago area. However, she came back to stay with me in the RV in December (after we both met up in Nashville to see Miriam get engaged) and is staying until May when she will be doing some traveling on her own before heading back to Chicago. Our friend, Becky, also stayed with me off and on in 2018 and just returned to her home in Feb 2019. So, now I am a solo RVer…mostly! That change makes a huge difference in how I see my living space. Time for me to consider changing to a different RV that better suits the needs of a single person rather than four people.
My definition of home has changed
I put my traditional home on the market for sale. When I began my RV adventure, the idea of having a home to return to was very appealing. I mean, what if I got on the road and three months in decided I could not live like this? Obviously that didn’t happen and at present I have no plans to move back. My son and daughter-in-law have been living in the house this whole time and so visiting with them was another perk of keeping the house. However, I have not seen my son (except via FaceTime) or my former home in almost a year. My son and his wife want to move closer to their jobs and I don’t want to care for an empty house. I expected a larger emotional response to letting go of the largest part of normalcy I own, but mostly I am excited about using the money to pay off debt and move into a different RV. I don’t feel the need to hang onto that symbol of my old lifestyle. I am ready to be houseless! I used to say homeless, but that’s not quite right. Houseless is more in line with the truth and doesn’t make what I am doing sound quite so desperate. It’s not at all. I love my RV, it’s home! Even if I am considering changing into a different RV, conceptually I live in an RV as my home.
My outlook has changed
I think when I first started this RV living adventure part of me was running away. I wanted out of the life I was living and into something new. Anything new. My life wasn’t bad, just the same, day after day. Living in the RV means there is always the possibly that I can change things. If I really start to feel stuck, even changing to a different campground would present new challenges to be solved (like where to do laundry) and so it makes it feel new even if I only move one mile down the road. This year was the first time in my life that I ever spent more than a week by myself on my own with no obligations to take care of someone else. I became an empty-nester. It was scary and exciting all at once. I felt (and sometimes still do feel) a little lost. Who am I if not someone’s mother? Do I really like certain foods or did I eat them because the kids liked (or didn’t like) something? And I am starting to answer certain things specific to RV living as well. Do I want to boondock? How much traveling do I want to do? What kind of work experiences do I want to have that are RV friendly? If I could go anywhere, where would I go? I guess you could say that I am dreaming again. I am free to design my life any way I want it. I am free to make mistakes figuring that out. Some people go through this earlier in their lives I think. But I have stopped worrying about whether I am late (or early) to the party. I have accepted this is where I am and it is part of my adventure. I can’t wait to see what today brings me. Everyday is an adventure.
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