Being able to adapt to the challenges life throws at us are an essential part of the fulltime RVer’s psychological toolbox. They say that the only thing that stays the same is change, and that’s certainly true whether you live in a sticks and bricks house, or a home on wheels.

No matter how carefully you plan, there will be times when all of your plans go right out the window and you just have to adapt to the new situation and deal with it. If you can’t, you’re probably never going to make it as a fulltimer, because this lifestyle, as great as it is, holds a lot of surprises.

You may plan to be at a certain campground at a certain time, and bad weather, traffic delays, or a mechanical breakdown keeps you from getting there, and instead you find yourself spending the night next to a hog hauler in a truck stop parking lot. You may have registered for your favorite RV rally, expecting lots of fellowship and good times, only to arrive to find the grounds have turned into a sea of mud. You may want to see Alaska, or drive old Route 66 next summer, but an unplanned medical emergency finds you stuck in Paducah.

You can’t foresee everything that will happen to you, but you can be very sure that from time to time, something will happen to get in the way of your plans! Being able to just accept it and roll with the flow will help keep you sane, and make your RVing life much more enjoyable.

When we originally came up here to Elkhart, it was going to be a quick trip in and out – get the bus sold, get a couple of minor issues handled on the RV, make a quick stop at the VA hospital in Lexington, and head back to the warm, sunny South. As you know, those plans disappeared Friday night.

I was able to get my medical appointment rescheduled for Friday, and the folks here at Duncan RV Repair have been scrambling to get us ready to go, and have just about everything finished. But now we have this terrible winter storm tearing the country apart and making traveling unsafe.

We’ve been through more than enough the last few days to need any more challenges, so if the wind keeps blowing, and the roads stay slippery and treacherous, I’ll just call the VA hospital and either reschedule or cancel the appointment, and we’ll sit tight until it’s safe to be out on the road.

Yes, we’d love to put cold, snowy Elkhart in our rearview mirror, and we’re really looking forward to doing so as soon as we can. But being stuck here is a minor inconvenience. Wrecking our RV and injuring ourselves on a patch of icy road would be a tragedy. So we’re sitting tight, watching the weather reports, keeping our fingers crossed, and rolling with the flow. Like I said, sometimes you just have to adapt.

Thought For The Day – Better to do it than to wish it done.

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In a lengthy e-mail I received yesterday, a couple wanted to share their great desire to escape the rut they are living in and experience the joys of fulltime RV travel, but they also admitted that they have some serious misgivings, and asked a lot of “what if” questions.

What if our RV breaks down someplace where we don’t know a good mechanic? What if one of us gets sick? What if one of our parents gets sick or dies while we’re hundreds of miles away?

I know that to these folks all of their concerns are unique, but in truth, every fulltime RVer has asked themselves all of the same what if questions. In fact, when we were teaching at Life on Wheels, I developed an entire seminar called The Reluctant RVer to address these questions and others that wannabe fulltimers ask.

Some common concerns that new fulltimers face include separation from family and friends; serious illness or death on the road; accidents or mechanical breakdowns; leaving our comfort zone and stepping into the unknown; losing our financial cushion; adapting to the RV lifestyle; and never being able to afford another home.

Yes, people do get sick on the road, RVs do break down in strange towns, and unfortunately, sometimes family members get sick and even die when we’re not there with them. Life happens. We have faced each and every one of these problems at one time or another. We got through them, and trust me, you can too. We cannot spend our lives worrying about what if, or we’ll never get anywhere.

What happens if we break down in a strange town? That’s why we have our Coach-Net road service. They will send out a qualified repair person or a tow truck capable of getting us to a garage that can fix whatever is wrong and get us back on the road. That’s also why we created our RV Good Guys guide to honest and dependable RV repair shops coast to coast. Nobody can purchase an ad in the guide, the only way a repair shop gets listed is if we have had personal experience with them, or someone we know and trust recommends them. You can order this guide from our RV Bookstore.

What happens if we get sick while traveling? Any RV park manager should be able to point you toward the nearest hospital or walk in clinic in their area. In our case, when Terry was diagnosed with cancer nine years ago, having wheels under our house allowed us to be where she could get the best treatment, and to return for follow-up examinations as needed. Companies like Sky Med will also fly you and your spouse or partner home, or to wherever you designate, and then provide a professional driver to transport your RV to a designated place.

A few years ago we were in Ohio when Terry’s father was diagnosed with cancer. Again, because we have wheels under our house, we were free to travel back to Arizona to be with her family during her father’s treatment and recovery.

Everything in life has a certain amount of risk associated with it, whether we are driving to the grocery store, having a Sunday picnic with the family, or watching a baseball game. I don’t know what calamities may befall you as you enjoy the fulltime RV lifestyle, but you can rest assured that sooner or later something will go wrong. Just as it would if you stayed in your sticks and bricks house.    

But I’d much rather deal with whatever problems fate sends my direction while I’m living my dream instead of being back in my old workaholic lifestyle.

I’ll always remember that when her doctors first told us that Terry had Stage Four cancer, and the outcome looked grim, she said “No matter what happens, at least we had eighteen months to live our dream.”

A lot of people never get the chance to follow their dreams. Don’t let the fear of “what if” keep you from making yours come true.

Thought For The Day – Growing old is inevitable. Growing up is optional.

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