The Adventure So Far

Tomorrow, June 25th, as I move from one RV park to another here in Golden, Colorado, I will have lived in Bianca for exactly one month.  In the past month, I have moved a total of six times, staying in some of Colorado’s most beautiful parks, and have had a chance to experience driving and living in Bianca.  She has been an amazing home and I feel so blessed to have this time to just “be” and get settled versus traveling around – it has helped me to learn a few things about myself and this life I have chosen.  

Here’s a few things I’ve learned so far:

1. How to execute a turn so that I don’t shear off a light pole, gas pump, mailbox, etc. with either the motorhome or my towed car.  Also how to back into a tight camping spot and how to parallel park this big thing.  Thanks to Gary Lewis with RV Basic Training
2. That Bella picks up on my stress when I’m driving the motorhome, even though my stress is due to her being stressed out when I drive the motorhome.  So I use some essential oils on both of us and just try to relax.
3. I am learning that one of the joys of this lifestyle is just sitting in the park with Bella, reading a book and throwing her ball, with no agenda or timeframe.  Or taking off in the morning in the car, with no idea of where we’re going, stopping along the way to hike or walk around or find a deserted park where I can throw Bella’s ball for a while.  We don’t have to be anywhere at any particular time, including coming home.  Sounds lovely and carefree, and it is – but it is oh-so-hard to slow down that much.  Definitely worth the effort.
4. And I have learned that while living in a class A motorhome is very comfortable, with lots of space (all things considered), driving a class A motorhome is not the traveling experience I want after all.

Way way back (2 months ago), when I read a book by John Steinbeck called Travels with Charley and the idea of having a home that I traveled in sounded exciting, the idea was to tow a travel trailer.  But then, I went off in the direction of a driveable rv,  or a motorhome.  And before I knew it I was buying a class A motorhome, having been bewitched by the size of the living space.  I also got caught up in wanting to prove I could do this when the truth was I felt totally overwhelmed and way out of my league.  The excitement of travel and seeing new places was getting lost until I realized that I just don’t enjoy driving this motorhome.  I love living in it, but not driving it.  And I LOVE driving, taking road trips and exploring the open road.  THAT’S the experience I want, that’s what charges me up.  So, a course correction is in order, and once I acknowledged that to myself and set a few things in motion, I could feel a sense of calm settle over me.  And the excitement of traveling is making a comeback.

Sometimes it’s hard to know what exactly we do want in life, but as I’m learning, if we can at least find out what we do NOT want, the picture starts to become more clear.  It’s all part of the process and part of my journey.

The Adventure continues ….