This time of year I always seem to get a lot of emails and see a lot of comments on social media from new fulltime RVers and RV snowbirds wondering how to handle the holidays. For a lot of newbies, and even for some experienced road warriors, Thanksgiving and Christmas provide a certain amount of angst.
After all, those are supposed to be the important family holidays. An email I got yesterday from a new fulltimer said she and her husband don’t think it will feel much like Thanksgiving sitting alone at the table in their motorhome with a couple of frozen turkey TV dinners. So what do you do when you’re living in an RV far away from your family at the holidays?
We have met some people who travel back to where their family is for the holidays, sometimes in their RVs, and sometimes leaving the RV behind and driving in a car or flying. That’s never been our preference, but it might work for you.
But if you don’t do that, it doesn’t mean you’re going to be all alone. Just about every RV park we’ve ever been at over Thanksgiving and Christmas has a group dinner in their activity center. Often the park supplies turkey and ham, and everybody else brings plates to pass around. So you’re not alone, you’re with a wonderful extended family of like-minded people. Folks just like you who are living their dream.
Besides the food, there is usually entertainment of some kind. It might be a jam session, it might be a program put on by people in the park, or it might be entertainers brought in to perform. There’s usually a room with a big screen TV for watching football, and always lots of friendly conversation. For many RVers, volunteering to help out with these group dinners is their way of having a good time. And if you’re a newbie, it’s also a great way to make new friends.
Some people prefer to go out to a nice dinner someplace, and leave all the cooking and cleaning duties to somebody else. We have done the RV park group dinners, and we have also gone out to dinner at restaurants on the holidays. Sometimes just the two of us, sometimes with another couple or two. There is something to be said for having a great meal, leaving a nice tip, and going home to take a nap.
Of course, Terry and I are always the oddballs, and for many years our favorite Christmas dinner was at a Chinese restaurant. Who needs turkey when you’ve got fried rice and General Tso’s Chicken?
No, Thanksgiving and Christmas in an RV are not the same as being at home surrounded by your family. But that doesn’t mean they have to be gloomy events. Make the most of it. Have a good time. Meet some new friends. And if you do decide to follow my lead and go to a Chinese restaurant, you just may see us there!
With Thanksgiving and all of the Black Friday sales just around the corner, how about a good mystery? What would you do if you braved the crowds of shoppers on Black Friday and suddenly your whole world had changed? Read Black Friday and find out how a simple shopping trip changed one man’s life forever.
A lot of you do your online shopping by clicking this Amazon link or the Amazon Search box at the top right sidebar of this blog. We appreciate that because when you purchase an item on Amazon any time of the year from one of our links, we earn a small commission, which helps us offset the cost of publishing the blog.
It’s Thursday, which means it’s time for a new Free Drawing. This week’s prize is an audiobook of my friend Ken Rossignol’s Pirate Trials: Famous Murderous Pirates Book Series: THE LIVES AND ADVENTURES of FAMOUS and SUNDRY PIRATES. To enter, all you have to do is click on this Free Drawing link or the tab at the top of this page and enter your name in the comments section at the bottom of that page (not this one). Only one entry per person per drawing please, and you must enter with your real name. To prevent spam or multiple entries, the names of cartoon or movie characters are not allowed. The winner will be drawn Sunday evening.
Thought For The Day – There’s never enough time to do all the nothing you want.
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
It’s hard to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas alone … I do it almost every year. My trick is just to get out of the house. At least at Thanksgiving there are lots of stores full of happy Christmas shoppers to put me in a better mood. At RV parks, even a walk around will result in meeting someone who’s probably in the same boat and would love someone to talk to.
There is always volunteering at a facility.
Hi Nick. I clicked on your link to “Black Friday” and ended up buying it after reading the preview. Finished it this morning in one sitting. Left you a 5 star review on Amazon and wrote a blog post review “An Interesting Read,” which I just posted.
http://haw-creek.com/an-interesting-read/
Your books are not my normal fare in reading, but they are a good “fall back” option for me when I run out of other reading material. I’ll be reading more
We have been full timing now for 9 years. Every park we have been in for the Holidays have get togethers in the social hall. Its a GREAT way to meet people and make new friends. With technology the way it is now, my kids and grandkids are only a video away. Everybody has their own way….just wanted to share ?