One Year Later!
It has been one year since we left our apartment in St. Louis and moved into our Winnebago Brave. My what a crazy adventure this past year has been!
Was it easy? No. Was it worth it? Absolutely!
Between adapting to the gypsy lifestyle, Scotty acclimating to a new job, setting aside time for adventure, and taking an extended holiday to attend to family matters, the blog has taken a back seat. Apologies to those of you that have been eagerly watching the blog and waiting on tales of adventure. It has been lingering in our minds as well! Mainly, because one of the major objectives of our journey has always been to share!
So…we’ve been using our “shelter in place” time to play catch up (on life and the blog). Below is a reflection on the past year and a brief summary of some changes we’ve made to the blog.
April 15, 2019 - Day 1 at Dr. Edmund A. Babler Memorial State Park in Saint Louis, MO (our first park in the RV). So excited for our upcoming adventure!
April 18, 2020 - Day 368 at South Carlsbad State Beach in Carlsbad, CA. A lot has changed in a year!
Oceanside Harbor
Where Are We Now?
We are currently in Oceanside, CA. We arrived one week before the state of California began shutting down restaurants and issuing “shelter in place” orders. Although the beaches, trails, parks, and other amenities are closed…we are still able to enjoy a drive by the ocean for a glimpse of the sunset on our way to the grocery store.
Our thoughts are with all those negatively impacted by current events and we are grateful to those that are putting themselves and their families at risk to serve the general public.
We feel extremely fortunate that life has not dramatically changed for us at this time, since we were already working remotely. We have been embracing technology as a means to better connect with family and friends and using our down time to catch up on improvement projects around the RV.
WhAT is Next?
Today, we begin the journey back to Missouri to be near friends and family while the world adjusts itself back to normal, and to be there for those that need us. Since we will not be traveling much in the coming months, we’ll be shifting the focus of our blog toward writing about RV living and the preparation that went into getting on the road. We’re hoping this can serve as a resource to assist those currently on the road or others preparing for their own adventure.
Where Have We Been?
We have spent the last several weeks slowly adding content to the blog to catch every one up on our adventures. Many of the posts are picture heavy, with little text, speeding our ability to catch up to current state. Over time we may go back and make them more robust, but at least we’re finally caught up (for now)!
The quick summary? We will give you nothing! Muahaha! You must follow along with the prior posts to know the full tale of our journey. So buckle up for a blog barrage, as we transport you from our last post in The Great Smoky Mountains, across, up, and down the country, and finally landing in Oceanside, CA! We hope you enjoy traveling back in time to experience the places we have visited thus far.
For those more interested in our general travel path, we have added an interactive map to our home page.
What Have We Learned?
Oh so much! We have grown and changed A LOT over the last year as we have adjusted to our new lifestyle and worked to overcome challenges. Although things didn’t always go as expected, we have enjoyed the journey, feel even closer than before, and achieved our goal of changing things up!
Below are three life lessons we are embracing as we start the second year of our adventure. We’ll cover more lessons learned in a series of future posts.
1. Stay Flexible & Grateful
Even the best made plans can be quickly derailed by life. We’ve had to make many adjustments to travel dates and locations over the last year, forcing us to remain flexible in our plans.
RV repairs, family issues, work travel needs, weather, and an international pandemic have all played a part in changing the trajectory and timing of our adventure. As a result, we’ve learned to book refundable flights and stay at campgrounds with generous cancellation policies. We’ve also learned that planning ahead is valuable in helping to secure desired locations at a cheaper rate, but can be quite restrictive when adjustments need to be made. Like all things in life, striking a balance is key.
Throughout these challenges, we’ve done our best to focus on the positive. We feel extremely grateful that we have the flexibility to be where we are needed and recognize that all we can really do is enjoy the moment and let go of the things we cannot control. There will always be more that we want to see and do (it’s just the way we’re programmed) , but we’re thankful for the experiences we have had thus far!
2. Slow Down
We have always been the type that enjoys staying on the move. It enables us to experience a lot of new things and meet new people in a short period of time. We also have a hard time sitting still, as there is always more to see or achieve and time is precious. However, being in a state of constant motion can be hard on both your body and mind. Compressing and moving our home every one or two weeks was a bit stressful in the beginning, but not bad once we established our processes. Being in one place for a short period of time creates a sense of urgency in experiencing all there is to offer in a given location. Therefore, we found ourselves having lots of adventure (which is great), but struggling to take care of daily chores or not creating space for downtime (updating the blog, reading a book, pursuing hobbies, just relaxing, etc.). When we did have time, we were simply too exhausted. Throw in a few challenges and it doesn’t take long to desire some stability.
Our focus this year is to slow down and spend more time in each location. Our initial goal was to spend the entire year traveling up and down the coast of California (staying approximately one month in each place). Plans have obviously changed with the state of the world right now, but it is definitely giving us some of the down time we’ve desired. We are using this time to focus on our health, family, sharing, hobbies, and planning our next adventures (to the extent that we are able). We’ll be spending the summer in the midwest, enjoying time with friends and family.
3. Stay Connected
For two techie people, we recognize that we way under-utilize technology for staying connected to friends and family. We’re starting to correct this by being slightly more active on social media (something we’ve pushed away from in the past), joining virtual parties with friends, sending pictures to a Sky Light photo frame we purchased for a family member, and updating our blog.
We’ve really enjoyed video chats; it’s such a great way to feel connected. Even though we’re not in the same room, being able to see each other helps you forget about the distance. We will be doing this a lot more moving forward!
Picture stolen from my friend’s Facebook page. :-)
Thanks, Leeandra!
We hope you enjoyed our updates. We look forward to sharing more mini adventures and RV living information in the near future (including more light-hearted lessons learned)!
Stay safe and healthy!
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