Life is Recovery

I recently spent a tough night in the hospital with my grandpa, the guy who stepped in as my bio-dad stepped out when I was only five months old.

Mad with sepsis, he wriggled as a medical tech attempted to conduct an ultrasound of his neck. The procedure took a while, and he was suffering from CRS (can’t remember shit), so he kept piping up with random delusions.

Midway through, the tech said, “Sir, you’ve got to stay quiet so I can scan your neck.”

“But I’ve got a lot to say!,” Grandpa howled like a little boy pinned down in a fight.

Everyone laughed and he seemed to return to reality for a second as he joined in. With the tension in the room cut, the rest of the scan went a little faster.

Life! What an a-hole!

We are now full-time RVers finishing up our second month on the road. I thought I would have documented more by now, not counting cat videos.

The good news: Our house sold within hours of being listed and we got what we asked for it. It was as smooth of a sale as anyone could have asked for, and I am grateful.

By the time we signed the final papers we were a month into RV life and a state away, camping with friends.

The bad news: There have been quite a few bumps in the road, and several were major fears that life forced us to face right away.

I haven’t done much of anything online for weeks. And so, like grandpa, I feel like I’m struggling to be heard and understood because travel life requires you to go with the flow and to let go of any idea of what you had planned.

I’m being too hard on myself. No one is expecting anything from me at present. “But I have a lot to say” and do, so I’m glad to be in front of my computer again.

Facing Fears on the Road

We moved the RV to the nearest Thousand Trails — yeah, we joined up (more on that later) — and began moving the cats in one at a time.

Getting the cats fully acclimated was something we were dreading. I stayed with them at first, then we took turns with one of us working the to-do list at the house and the other staying with the cats in the RV.

We were literally passing each other on the highway. It was about an hour and a half drive each way.

The cats adapted quite well, and much better than anticipated. One even stayed by my side for hours when I thought I was dying.

Turns out is was just a couple of kidney stones. I lived, and am better hydrated and less over-worked now. (Drink your lemon water, kids!)

Then, my husband had a dental emergency right after we moved the RV to our second Thousand Trails in a neighboring state.

We were about three hours away from our home which was under contract at this point. And, despite the fact that there were probably 1,000 reputable dentists between our site and our dentist of 15 years, my husband chose to make the drive.

Next up was a two-week visit with my elderly grandparents, the last night of which included a surprise all-night stay with grandpa in the hospital as he dealt with sepsis.

And did I mention the monsoon-like rain that made it feel like God was taking time out of His busy schedule to shake our RV early one morning? No? Oh, okay.

Let’s just say that when the creek does rise it doesn’t matter how pretty it or its birds are, you get packed and you move to higher ground ASAP.

No hurries, no worries?(!)

I knew it would be after the 4th of July before I would have a chance to spend time with anything resembling “my work,” and here I am on July 6th almost to inbox zero. (Yes, I am that person.)

It’s tempting to lament that my plans aren’t working out, but that’s not true. That’s anxiety being a nag because I’m not placing enough value on my helping my husband adapt to working from the road and all three of our cats to living in a tiny box and pooping in the shower. I’m not giving myself credit for making all of the travel and maintenance arrangements and keeping our supplies in stock so my husband can focus on his work.

The truth is the only plan that hasn’t worked out is the one where the company I was freelancing for said they were cool with RV life and then changed their mind less than a week before we moved the RV to the first park. We stayed there for a month as we moved out of our sticks’n’bricks.

So, that’s another fear faced right away: Getting canned.

*sigh*

But the truth is that everything is okay. We have health and dental insurance and are all better now, and grandpa is in a rehab hospital getting stronger every day. The cats actually seem to be enjoying RV life, much to our surprise, and we are, too. And my husband got a promotion, a raise, and a bonus.

Plus, our monthly expenses are decreasing. (It’s too soon to give you numbers.)

Is RV life difficult?

Yes. At times, it is — just like life would be living in any other structure in any other place when people get sick or big, unexpected things pop up.

Are we regretting making the move? Nope, not even a little.

I have so much more to say — clearly!, but mainly I just want to say that I’m grateful for our health and this opportunity to explore the country in a safe and affordable way.

The fact is that most everything has gone as planned is thanks, in part, to apps like RV Life’s Trip Wizard. (Not sponsored.)

Speaking of, one of my tasks for today is booking more stops on our perpetual tour and completely re-thinking our plans for 2024 now that my husband has his mind set on a fishing tournament in Montana.

I’m signing off today wishing I could magically make my blog perfect and pretty and ensure that all of the links work (they don’t), but I know that time is the magic. I should have more of that soon.

Be good. Be safe. Be your beautiful self.