I came across a recent quote from an unknown author, “Don’t Give up, because of what people say, use that as your motivation to push harder”. It really made me stop and think about all the changes I’ve gone through recently, and a funk I was in. Thankfully, I was doing some vacationing after my last CARworking trip I did, and was fortunate enough to get to spend about 10 days of vacation, most of that down in Key West.
I, of course, decided to drive the trip from Charlotte, NC to Key West, FL – about a ten hour drive if you don’t count the construction and traffic. Ten hours each way of windshield time to blare the radio and just think. What was I doing? I’m still a bit sad I didn’t end up purchasing the RV I made the deposit on, but I’m a very firm believer that all things happen for a reason, and the way they are meant to be. In fact, while I was in Key West, I was able to take a phone call about a new position within the company we’d be creating, and one which was right up my alley.
I’d get to blog, create videos, and train – not only admins, but customers, end users, end users and administrators, our internal staff, and just about anyone via channels such as YouTube and the likes. This would be an interesting change of pace from where I’ve been focusing my time. In fact, it makes me think, what if I’m travelling around, and each place I stop I make a new video, blog, etc. Think of the possibilities!
Anyway, back to the point, I had been a bit distracted, frustrated, unmotivated. From purging everything in my house and moving stuff to storage, I thought, I need to find something to do soon. My lease is expiring at my house, and thankfully, I misjudged the date and actually have one additional month! Talking with the landlord, I may even get to shorten that if a new tenant wants to actually move in sooner. Yikes! Ok, this isn’t the craziest thing, I’m practically moved out already, now I just need to find what’s next. The only scary part is I don’t have a new place to go (well, except that my parents are super awesome and I know how much they’d love to have me toting along my suitcase and staying!). Not that I don’t want to stay with them, in fact it’s probably the only time I’d be ok with having roommates or living with someone else. It’s very scary how great we get along! But, I keep thinking to myself – if I’m going to move (which at this point I have to), why do I need to move here in Charlotte, when I can move ANYWHERE! I work remotely, I just need to be in close proximity of an airport, and that brought me to looking at places where I could sublet someone’s apartment, house, etc. And I searched high and dry all over the states, including yep, Key West, and even Hawaii! Because, why not?
Ok, so I found a few places, maybe not places I’d REALLY love, and trying to figure out what to unpack, move from storage, and get acclimated to a new place, made me second guess myself. If I do that, will I EVER be living in a RV traveling across the country meeting new people, finding new places, and truly living the American Dream? No, I know I won’t be. And I’ll regret EVERY second of it, after a month!
So, back to the drawing board, and another ten hour drive home of windshield time, I reflected on my trip to Key West with some awesome friends. An awesome time, just long enough to explore and meet people, and make memories. Another quote I have seen often is that you can always make money. Make memories, not money. It really hit home to me, as while I was in Key West, I saw one RV clos
e to our condo who boondocked for a day or two right next to the beach. You’d see them come and go, and sure enough, they stayed there overnight (they obviously didn’t see the ‘no overnight parking’ signs posted next to their RV). But, regardless, how awesome. How awesome to get in the RV, find a place, and just go. Those are the memories. And this RV was a much older, 1980’s Winnebago. Which reminds me, remember the RV in the Westin Parking Lot on my Space Adventure Vacation work trip last week? Here it is again:
I keep thinking the only way I do this, is if I truly stretch my budget. But, I know that now it’s the prime season to buy a RV, and it’s going to take some patience. I can go to my parents house, I can go rent something short term, I just have to solidify my goals and truly stick to them. In the meantime, I will keep looking. I can always go and finance a RV but the financing is something I’m a bit against for many reasons – this could turn out to be a fun time but not something I wish to do long term, or even after a few months. I’d rather not buy and take a loss. Buying an older RV will give me the opportunity to see what I really want in terms of features, length, extras, and a good starting point, learning lessons, and time or experience. I certainly don’t want to learn how close you should NOT get to the gas pump barriers on a newer rig. (I’ve heard the horror stories, and I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before I learn this same lesson!).
There really is no rush – I’ve been saying the whole time this is a major shift in everything I’ve done, and everything I’ve come to know – no white picket fences, no large yards, multi-story houses, in fact, it’s everything BUT! It’s a cozy, perfect sized, no extras, just a few hundred square feet. Oh, and the right sized windows to really see the world!
During my almost 4,000 mile adventure in a ten days from Alabama and Florida, I was able to see LOTS of campers, fifth wheels, and RVs on the road. Some beautiful several hundred thousand dollar ones, to some quite dated ones. But, mostly, seeing the one in Alabama in the Westin Parking lot really made me think, it doesn’t matter the age or what it looks like on the outside. It’s the memories made with it that will really count. The RV in Key West was a perfect example of that, and it really lit the spark under me to want to keep going and find something. Here’s to the continued search, and whenever I find something, I find something. Until then, it’s focusing on moving, purging, and making memories, even if that means CARworking!
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