In the wake of yesterday’s blog about the gentleman who was uncomfortable in venturing off interstate highways, I got to thinking about living and traveling in an RV and how different the RV lifestyle can be among different fulltimers and snowbirds.
We know many RVers who enjoy seeking out new places to visit and explore and never seem to return to the same town twice. For them, the adventure of discovery is a big part of appeal of RVing.
On the other hand, we also know a lot of RVers who seem to return to the same places year after year. They may have family in an area, or have developed friendships with other RVers who always go back to the same campground season after season and want to hang out with them. Or, they may just feel more comfortable in familiar surroundings.
I think each style has its advantages and disadvantages. There’s a lot to be said for knowing how to find your way around a town, knowing where to get the best pizza or automobile service, and which grocery stores have the best selection and prices. And after a long, hard day on the road, it’s comforting to be greeted by familiar faces when you arrive at your destination.
On the other hand, isn’t RVing all about freedom and adventure? I wonder if some folks escape the workaday world rut only to find themselves in a different, albeit more relaxing rut. While enjoying the comforts of the familiar, what delights are we missing?
Yes, we may like Elkhart Campground and it feels almost like home to us, but there may be a hundred other nice campgrounds down the road we might never get to if we spend all of our time parked there. We love #1 Eastern Super Buffet here in Mesa, but we would have never discovered the Green Garden Chinese Restaurant in Clermont, Florida if we hadn’t expanded our world by traveling. The Oregon coast has some of the most magnificent scenery in the country, but if we spent all of our time there we would have never discovered how much we like coastal Virginia.
It’s not a case of right or wrong, it’s really about what works for you. I guess we find ourselves somewhere between the two. The last three winters have found us at Thousand Trails and Escapees campgrounds in Florida, but we plan to spend next winter wandering around Arizona and maybe southern California.
How about you? Do you like the familiar, or do you like experiencing new things? Going to the same RV parks or having a different view out your window every few days? Or are you more like we are, enjoying a mixture of the comfortably familiar and at the same time eager to discover what lies over the next hill?
On another topic, for those of you who are always looking for a new author to discover, check out my interview with indie author Jeanette Raleigh on my self-publishing blog. Check it out and get to know this talented young author.
Thought For The Day – The point of life is to live, not just survive.
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
We too like to move around to new places and can sure tell the “weekenders” from the full-timers. It has been fun to be in Florida with family and friends and we will do it one more time this winter. Then we will explore more of Arizona and southern California like you are going to do. I will buy your book on Arizona and hope to get some good places to see in California. Thanks for all your suggestions.
After spending a lot of winters in Yuma, we are planning on going to Florida this next one!
Thanks Nick for explaining to me why my friends all think I’m crazy. It’s been difficult for me to get off the beaten path as a fairly new RV’er, but as long as someone else says they have been there, I’m up for the challenge. My friends never leave their small town and can’t understand why I would ever want to venture beyond the city limits. There’s a big beautiful world out there and I want to see as much of it as I can!!!
Nick, in our case it’s a compromise. Generally Dee likes to move, move, move, see new things, experience that different view out the back window. But I like to relax more in one place, with friends and familiar surroundings. So we spend our summers traveling to scratch her itch for wandering, and we spend our winters here in Avon Park, Florida for a few months in what’s becoming our home park, Adelaide Shores RV Resort. That satisfies my “homing” instinct. So we’re both happy!
We like both. We have a home base in Florida we return to in winter. We enjoy it here for some months but get hitch itch after a while and then head out to visit some old familiar places but mostly new places. Life is full of new and interesting places, people, things to do. We are entering our 17th year and feel we have barely scratched the surface of the wonderful things to do, see and visit. We think only age, medical problems or finances will make us hang up our keys. We certainly won’t stop because we are bored. There will always be something more just over the next hill.
Agree with you a lot.
There’s no “right” way to RV. There may be a better for for me and a different way for you but the idea of right and wrong when it comes to personal preference is something from the 1800’s and a different world where people had to be told what to think and what do do.
And as a former pastor who’s married all sorts of different couples, the one sure thing about marriage is that each couple makes their own peace between them and each combined life is unique to itself. It used to amaze me that people I wouldn’t want to spend a lot of time around found each other so fascinating — but that’s the miracle of love and marriage. And it didn’t make any difference whether I was in love with them — as long as they cared about each other.
cheers,
Peter
Life Unscripted
We also do both, we winter here in TX at our home base then we will take off for the summer, this year we will be heading west and going to New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming before heading to Iowa in Mid July. We are starting our ninth year full timing and with the grace of God we will have a few more years to travel and see more of this great country. We also realize that this life style is not for everyone.
I agree with Connie & Elaine. We have been on the road for 13 years, and now have settled into a pattern of rotating between SW, MW, and SE for the winter. No favorite so far but we are looking. Next winter will be the SE. Summer on the Pacific is one of our traveled spots. So far, WA has been the best for a whole summer along the coast. We really like Ocean Shores area.
We traveled when we first started full-timing. Now we are moving from A to B. However, we like to experience B&B’s in areas we wish to explore. The cost difference is a “wash” unless the area is in your line of travel.
Right or wrong way I don”t care your blog is the best cure for cabin fever up here in Wisconsin.Love the pictures, life is never boring if you don’t let it be.RVing is never boring. It’t the unkown thats fun, new places, new people.
We sure hope Terry’s dad gets a good report. We bought our home in Sierra Vista Az. in 2008 the year we spent time with you and Terry in Quartzsite. If you recall every nite at Carls. That has allowed us to enjoy nice winter weather but also many shorter trips to all parts of the country spring, summer, and fall. Sometimes think what could have been if we had went full time for awhile, but this has worked well for us. When we get hitch itch we just pull up and go, our plans are always in jello. Best to you both.
Nick, As you know from following our facebook page, we, like you, love to travel to new areas to explore. However, we find ourselves returning to some of the same areas to visit with family. So, we plan 2 trips, 1 in the winter for exploring the west, the 2nd in the summer, when we visit with our family and try to explore the northern states. But family needs also play a major role in our plans. This coming trip (summer), we’ll only be out for 2 1/2 months, then sit at our son’s for the school year to help with childcare. Thus our plans are always made in jello…..marty