I got an email yesterday from a long time RVing friend saying that he was reminded of my blog post a week or so ago titled Info RVers Can Use, in which I talked about having a magnetic Hide-A-Key somewhere on your RV so you could get back in if you ever lock yourself out. He said they are staying at an RV park in Yuma, Arizona and that one of the neighbors has a sign in their window that says “We have two cats inside. In case of emergency, there is a Hide-A-Key under the front step. Please rescue our animals.” Bob asked what the point of having a Hide-A-Key was if you tell the whole wide world where it is? Why not just leave the RV unlocked in the first place and post a note saying so?
You have to wonder how some people’s minds work. Years ago my father had a friend who owned a jewelry store. He always kept a lot of cash and jewelry on hand in a safe at home. He told my father he was worried about someone breaking in and forcing him to open the safe, and asked for his advice on what kind of handgun to get for home protection. Dad advised him to get a 4 inch barrel .38 revolver, then took him out to a range and gave him some instruction. He also impressed on his friend how important safety was, especially since he had small children in the house. The fellow said he had thought about that and decided that for safety’s sake he would keep the gun in the safe, unloaded, and the ammunition stored in a bedroom closet. Again, what’s the point?
We once met a fulltiming couple in their first year on the road, and they told us they had taken early retirement because the husband had such a stressful job that he was dealing with ulcers and chest pains on a continual basis. They thought the laid-back lifestyle of fulltime RVers would be good for him. Well, it might have been, except for the fact that this gentleman created stress everywhere he went.
At any given time, he had a year’s worth of campground reservations made and paid for because he worried they wouldn’t have a place to stay. Each reservation was for two weeks and the campgrounds were spaced no more than 250 miles apart. On at least two occasions that I know of, mechanical issues forced them to delay their arrival at a campground for a day or two. Instead of just shortening the stay at that place, he changed all of his reservations so he could maintain his two week schedule everywhere he went.
It was a fulltime job just keeping up with that, along with his constant fretting about all things mechanical. He checked his motorhome’s tire pressure every day. Including every day that they were parked at a campground. Even though diesel pushers don’t require the same oil change intervals as a passenger automobile, he insisted on getting his rig’s oil changed every 3,000 miles. Then, after every oil change, he had to constantly stop and check to make sure they had tightened the filter and the oil drain plug so he wasn’t losing oil going down the highway. They lasted about 18 months on the road before they bought a place somewhere, because fulltiming was just too stressful for him. What’s the point of making taking early retirement and making a lifestyle change like that if you’re just going to find new ways to stress out?
We knew another couple who dreamed of traveling the country seeing all of the places they had never been. They spent two or three years researching RVs, came to a couple of our RV rallies, and finally sold their home to go fulltime. But once they had moved into their RV, they suddenly became afraid of venturing too far from familiar territory. What if they got sick or broke down somewhere where they didn’t know anybody? What if they ran into bad weather? What if…? So they bounced around to different campgrounds within 100 miles of their hometown, and I’m pretty sure they never left the state. Again, what’s the point?
My father used to say that no matter how well things were going in your life, if you worked hard enough at it, you could always find something to worry about. I guess he was right.
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Thought For The Day – If you’re looking for a happy ending and can’t find it, maybe it’s time to look for a new beginning.
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
How well I remember – and long for- the day when we could stay in a real campground (not an RV park or RV Resort – they are different things) and not worry about locking our door every time we turned our back on the coach for even one minute. I am lucky to still live like that any time I can. Remember you do not lock a tent.
And so many people think all their problems/stress will go away when they go on the road in an RV. The truth is lots of your problems/stress are internal and you take yourself with you where ever you go. Being happy within yourself goes a long way to making wherever you are/live a fun experience. In our 21 years of full time part timing (we maintain a stick house for the winter), we have seen so many people come and go in RVing. There are just some people who aren’t able to RV and be happy. So if you want to go RVing really look at yourself and your spouse and evaluate your personalities. Can you really live in a sardine can and be happy? We found we can. Enjoy each day.
Your stressful friend reminds me of my sister and her hubby who were about to diverse so decided to have a baby to see if I would make them closer. 5 years later they are still at each others throats all the time, but have a poor child stuck in the middle of their misery.
It’s what you do inside your head that counts, not where you do it.