Flexibility is Key… So I am learning.

I have never been one to shy away from change, but I am older now and change is a little more challenging than it used to be. Selling everything we own and planning a life on the road has been a BIG change, bringing an end to a long chapter with so much history. Now, we are starting the beginning of a new chapter, not yet written, yet with so many possibilities and unknowns.

As we get older, flexibility isn’t what it used to be – mentally or physically. Things are tighter, slower, more stubborn.

As an RV newbie, one of my first exposures to flexibility was the constant need to change our schedule, what sometimes felt like daily. For the past several years, our life had been complacent – get up, go to work, eat dinner, watch some television, go to bed – REPEAT!  It was comfortable, consistent, and cautious.

Now our world changes constantly and requires long range planning, not what-should-we-do-for-the-weekend type planning.

We chose an RV park close to home while we finalized jobs and the rental we lived in for eleven years. I made the assumption that we would just stay at that RV Park for about ten days, change location, stay a week, change location, and so on. The goal was to get some experience in locally before hitting the full-time road, but life dictated otherwise and here it is almost two months later and we’re still here.

I found myself having to keep asking (and apologizing) “can we please stay a little longer?” The RV park is managed by the Swinomish Casino and Lodge in Anacortes, WA, and their understanding and ability to work with us as been nothing short of generous and amazing. In return we had to be flexible and move into different spaces to accommodate people who, unlike me, made reservations ahead of time. The Lodge staff was great and did what they could to minimize our moves.

In about two weeks, come hell or high water, we hit the road. Life isn’t quite done with us though, we head south to the Oregon Coast, then back to Bellingham, WA, then back to Oregon, then back to Bellingham, then finally back to Oregon. This was not part of the original plan when we planned to do the coast, but then life isn’t always as planned, so it’s best to stay – Flexible.

After all, you don’t always know where life… or the road is going to take you.

They say, “Timing is everything.” But I have to say, timing sometimes just does not make sense. At least, until later.

For over two years, we had been dreaming and talking and dreaming some more of traveling the country. We knew, almost from the start, that it had to be in an Airstream.

So, here we are – it’s 2021!

A year into a ravaging pandemic, a country broiling in uncertainty, and the highest RV sales in history with more RVers hitting the road and making it challenging. Yet, timing decides this is the year for us to follow our dream. What was timing thinking?

We are getting a crash course in time right now. It started with the financial means to put our dream into action and make it a reality, thanks to a special friend. As soon as the decision was made, time sped up, as if on a racetrack. Within a month, we suddenly had the tow vehicle, the Airstream, I quit my job, prepared to sell everything we owned, and gave notice to our landlord.

I have learned throughout the years “not” to argue with time, just listen and go with it. I just wished it would slow down long enough to catch a breath. But, as you get older, time just flies by and there is always this underlying sense of urgency that time is slipping away too fast, after all we won’t live forever.

Timing is also sometimes about coming full circle or repeating history in some form. In the 60’s and 70’s, Betty and her husband Jim tootled around in their various Airstreams. Here we are, some 50+ years later, starting our journey in our 2018 Flying Cloud, aptly named, Betty Jo. We are dedicating our adventures to Betty, it was her wish and inspiration that we enjoy life, which we hope to do when  venture off to live our dream of traveling.

I am a firm believer that things happen for a reason. Betty became a part of our life in 2008. The relationship grew and we became like family. We were there when she needed someone most and she was there when we needed someone most. In honor of our memories with her, we dedicate our next chapter of life to her and I can only hope that we do her justice.