RVing With A Goal

Note: The blog is based upon the seminar by the same name that I present at RV rallies around the country.

Why do you RV? To visit friends and family in far off places? To have your own mobile lodging when you visit theme parks or natural attractions? To have a way to escape cold northern winters while you soak up the warmth of the sunbelt? Have you sold your stick-and-brick home and moved into your RV fulltime? There are many reasons to travel in a recreational vehicle, either full or part time. Your home on wheels can be a magic carpet carrying you away to adventures wherever the road leads. For some, enjoying whatever adventures they encounter along the way is enough to keep them happy and occupied. For others, their RV helps them fulfill goals.

Many RVers we have met in our travels have combined the RV lifestyle with their hobbies or special interests. The ability to be mobile enhances their experiences and allows them to become a part of things they might have only been able to read about otherwise. Some set special goals to accomplish as they travel.

Our country is a treasure chest of historical sites and natural wonders, and an RV takes us right there, where the cannons thundered and the buffalo roamed. If your special interest is bluegrass music, square dancing, wood carving, exploring Civil War battlefields, or visiting the homes and graves of our past presidents, your RV can take you where the action is.

For those enamored with history, visiting all of the major (and minor) locations associated with a particular time period can be a goal. One could easily spend several seasons wandering through New England and down the east coast visiting historical places from the Revolutionary War era. In Boston we walked the Freedom Trail past Paul Revere’s home, to the Old North Church where signal lanterns alerted riders to the movement of British troops, and to Bunker Hill. In nearby Lexington and Concord, we walked across the bridge where the first shots of the Revolution were fired, and stood on Lexington Green, where Patriots confronted Redcoats.

The southeastern United States saw most of the major and minor battles of the Civil War, and it would take a long time to tour the old battlefields of the South before one even set off for the scenes of more distant clashes in places like Gettysburg, or as far away as Arizona, where Union and Confederate soldiers met in a brief, bloody engagement at Picacho Peak.

Some RVers have a goal of visiting the homes and/or graves of our former presidents. It is one thing to know who Abraham Lincoln was and what the history books have taught us. It is something else entirely to stand before his grave and pay your respects to the Great Emancipator in person.

If you are interested in Native American culture, you can visit Indian reservations all over the country, follow the Trail of Tears from North Carolina to Oklahoma, or watch Navajo herd sheep and weave blankets the traditional way in Arizona.

RVers are talented people, and we have met folks in campgrounds who follow the bluegrass circuit, moving from one music festival to another. Square dancers will find plenty of opportunities to swing their partners in every corner of the country. Some people enjoy special events and festivals, and there is something going on every day someplace in this great land of ours. Your RV can take you to cowboy poetry gatherings, craft fairs, woodcarving events, and small town festivals from ocean to ocean and border to border. One popular event many RVers look forward to attending is the Albuquerque Balloon Festival. Once hooked, more than a few find themselves planning their travels to attend balloon events around the country. Others enjoy steam engines and antique tractors, and find special events dedicated to their interests. Do you like old cars? Then maybe you would enjoy the Route 66 Fun Run, held every year in Arizona, where 700 or more classic and antique automobiles drive the longest remaining stretch of the Mother Road.

Route 66 itself is a goal for many RVers, who cruise the old highway, stopping to photograph art deco motels and eat in old time diners along the way. But old Route 66 is not the only historic route in our country. RVers enjoy exploring the Old River Road south from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico, the Dixie Highway, the Oregon Trail and many other famous treks.

Hobbies such as treasure hunting with a metal detector, geocaching, photography, and painting are perfect for the RV lifestyle. Quilters enjoy going to quilt festivals all around the country. For those who enjoy swinging a golf club, one goal might be to play the major courses in every state.

Sports fans love the RV lifestyle. Following the NASCAR circuit is popular with racing fans, while baseball lovers might plan their travels to allow them to take in major games or to watch their favorite teams in their spring training grounds.

Our National Parks should be on everyone’s travel itinerary. The National Parks Service even has a neat little passport book visitors can purchase and record their travels with endorsement stamps found at National Parks and Historic Sites all over the country. I keep mine in the door pocket of our vehicle, always handy whenever we go out exploring.

For some RVers, just attending RV rallies around the country is a goal. There are club and special interest rallies large and small everywhere you could choose to travel. Rallies are a great way to meet new friends, catch up with old ones, and learn more about the RV lifestyle.

Many people feel the need to give something back to society, and the RV lifestyle offers many opportunities to contribute and participate. We know RVers who volunteer for Habitat for Humanity builds, living in their rigs on-site while they build homes for low income families. Others volunteer with the Red Cross, ready to travel wherever needed to assist in disaster relief. Many fulfill their need to help by volunteering as camp hosts and guides at state and national parks, historic sites, and wildlife refuges. A perk with this type of activity is that they usually get a free campsite for their work. We have also met RVers who volunteer to help feed the homeless in soup kitchens and gather canned goods for food banks where they are traveling. Wherever you are, there is an opportunity to help in one way or another, and your volunteer efforts are repaid many times over in knowing that you have helped make a difference.

Whatever your interests, there is plenty going on to keep the wheels turning as your RV carries you to small towns and big cities north, south, east and west.

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Thought For The Day – Obstacles are what you see when you take your eyes off your goals.