Dreams to Doubt to Dreams
The Waffling Emotions of RV Life
Sounds romantic to travel from hither to yon. Why else, would hundred of thousands of people take up the RV lifestyle, or be in the process of planning for it. And, why else, would an over-a-billion-dollar industry support the dream, reinforcing the romantic side of this life style.
But reality does not always match the dream. In fact, we often have to adjust the dream to match what the real world is actually like. Check out our article on Going Around in Circles.
When you start dreaming of this lifestyle, you think about all the places you want to visit and all of the things you want to do. But once you start living the lifestyle — laundry day comes around, reminding you that you still have a home to take care of and chores are still part of your day-to-day-life. Then there are the days where you just need to stay home and decompress from too much driving, too much sightseeing, too many activities. And, for those of us where work is still part of life. the only thing that has changed is the abode in which we live in and where it is located. In other words, despite the dream we still have obligations.
Six months into this we have a little more experience under our belt, yet doubts still creep in, overshadowing the dream. It is not all hither and yon. There are moments of doubt, moments of uncertainty, moments of “is this really for us?”
Dream and Doubt #1 — RV Parks and where to camp/live
Because there are so many RVers out there, campgrounds/parks/boondocking spots are all getting overcrowded and sometimes scarce to find. This was the one part of the dream I was looking forward to the most…location, location, location. But this is now turning into the biggest doubt and sometimes the biggest fear and stress. Originally I would have preferred to wing it a bit, go where the dream takes us, but now I worry if we will find a place to stay for a while or even for a night? Or how often will we have to move because you can only get a night here, three nights there? I have always been a planner but I am finding it hard to plan a route when things change so much and so quickly and finding a place to stay is getting so difficult.
Dream and Doubt #2 — Affordability
The original goal, like so many you read about, was to mix up RV Parks with boondocking and state parks. The reality — state and national parks fill up fast. Boondocking is not always available, depending on where you are, and has limitations. Private RV parks can be more on the pricey side. Some parks have a long-term residents and only limited sites available for traveling RVers. And the rumor is that gas will not only go up this summer, it could become hard to get, hence, causing doubts about where to go and how much time to spend traveling.
Doubt #3 — Health Concerns
We are just starting our sixties but I have had some health concerns recently and I worry about what will happen while on the road? If it is serious, for either of us, what will the other spouse do, especially if on the road in between stops and the trailer is hitched up, or while at a park where you are there for only a limited time but need more time to stay? We have tentative plans in place, but they are just that — tentative.
Doubt #4 — Navigating
A BIG Doubt and one of my greatest fears- being newbies at this, I find it hard to find parks that we feel comfortable getting in and out of, let alone backing up, especially state parks and older RV parks, where spaces are tight and very close together. And now that we are the road more and we are still in the learning phase, planning our road trips are getting more detailed and trickier. Example — making sure we do not get stuck some place we can not get out of, avoiding bridges with low clearance, or winding and narrow roads. I am learning how to use Google Earth and other tools better, but they are not always useful or do what I need. I investigate on Google Earth our next destination to see if I can understand how to navigate in the park. I rely heavily on reviews and photos to determine how comfortable I feel about our next destination. I will often call and ask questions of the staff, but take their information with a grain of salt, after all to them “it’s old hat.” Over time we will build more experience and feel more confident, till then… it is forefront on my mind when planning.
Dreams and Doubt #5 — Freedom and Flexibility
The idea of the freedom and the flexibility to just go where the wind takes you comes with a tugging appeal, yet the reality is…it is not as flexible or is there as much freedom as one would think. There may be reasons to not be flexible, nor have the freedom to just get up and go. For example, the PNW had a rare excessive heat wave, but too many plans were in place and could not be altered, not to mention moving from one location to the next (especially with RV parks being full) is not as flexible as one might think, otherwise I would have packed up and headed to Colorado to see our son where it was cooler than the PNW. Yet, we do have some freedom — the freedom to choose our next destination and adventure.
When the doubts creep in, I remind myself of the dream and where it will take us next. I also remind myself that the doubts are there to give us a dose of reality, to not get too lost in the dream, and to teach us that is there is a lot more to life.
