theboondork's RV blog

responsibility

7/15/2023

the pics are few for you to view, but clicking will give you something to do.

Pink flower.

I was planning on getting up this morning and putting the new vent fan in the Lance's roof, but something got in the way that looked suspiciously like procrastination, especially when the temperatures tomorrow are going to be even hotter than today, and it didn't make much sense to put it off.

Yes, that looked a little like procrastination, but I rationalized it by realizing it was Saturday and why should I work on the weekends. Most folks are off on the weekends; my daughter and her husband are off on the weekends, so why should I be the only one working?

Full-timing is a job; in fact, it's a full-time job. I work full-time daily, and I deserve the weekends off. Full-timing is a mentally and physically challenging job that few people are successful at. Just look at all the people that fail at full-timing and have to sell their RV and go crawling back to retirement living, probably in Nebraska, and deal with the boredom of normal retirement life.

It's easy to do a poor job of full-timing because the challenges are great. Being totally and completely responsible for your everyday life is difficult at best; not everyone wants to live that way, but for full-timers, "it's just part of the job."

There's no one there to hold your hand and ensure you're where you should be... YOU have to do it yourself.

The trash doesn't automatically disappear every Wednesday morning..... YOU have to take it wherever it needs to go.

Where your going to be living next week is not automatic... YOU have to make that decision.

Weather is not something you see at a distance... For full-timers, weather is up close and personal.

If you feel sick... YOU take responsibility for your own health care.

There is no automatic support system where you're at, and Your mostly surrounded by strangers... It's up to YOU to find ways to take care of your problems.

You can't blame others for your problems... YOUR free; so where you're at, and why you're there, is totally up to you.

When things don't work properly, you will be a happier camper if you can fix them yourself... YOU have to learn some new skills.

Loneliness can follow you like a bloodhound if you let it. It's up to YOU to find joy in being yourself, and happiness spending time with yourself.

Everybody wants freedom, but with freedom comes great responsibility and a lot of folks don't want the responsibility of being somewhat free, which is why most folks quit full-timing after a short period of time. That's neither right nor wrong, its just the way it is. There's plenty more things that make full-timing a tough job, and more than qualifies me to get the weekends off.

Theboondork

Pollinator.

6 Comments

OFM

7/15/2023 06:46:42 pm

Yes you are correct that full time rv living takes a lot more effort than most realize or expect. It makes my summers in grandkid land that much better with less decisions all the time. Well written my friend,

Tom

7/15/2023 08:22:36 pm

Thank you Barney, you're very kind.

It's the same way here in Denver Barney, everybody takes care of me keeping me happy and well-fed, so I don't have to worry about much of anything.

Tom

Linda

7/16/2023 01:42:28 pm

Freedom of choice only works if you are single. I had to choose between my marriage or full time RVing. I chose my marriage so no more full timing for me. I miss it. But, I would miss Dave more. I know that for sure because of my attempts at solo snowbirding when I was ready to go back to Dave long before the weather would let me travel north.

7/16/2023 02:27:48 pm

I can appreciate that Linda, and I wrote what I wrote in my blog from my point of view as a solo full- timer. But of course if there's two or more of you, you have less freedom of choice, but more hands to do the required work of full- timing.

As I said, there's no right or wrong way to be a full-timer or giving it up after a period of time; we're all free to live the way we want. You knew what full-timing was like, and you knew what married life was like, and you chose the latter.

But freedom of choice doesn't only work if you're single, I'm married, and I've been married for over 50 years; my wife understands that I'm basically a loner that enjoys being by myself and really needs freedom every once in a while to be myself, and not necessarily live in a way that society thinks is normal, such as living by myself out in the desert.... And we get along a lot better when we're not constantly around one another.

PS... Dave's a lucky guy.... Even more lucky because he's able to fly around in a plane with no wings, that takes a tremendous amount of luck.

7/17/2023 01:51:27 pm

You blew my mind! You have never before mentioned having a wife! I would never have guessed that! Our daughter is happily married but she spends most of her time living alone in her semi-cab making deliveries so I know it happens. Good for you having figured that out.

7/17/2023 04:03:44 pm

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned being married in a couple of my blog posts saying that when we decided to sell our house after there was nobody living there but us anymore, I wanted to go on the road and travel, which I've always enjoyed. And she wanted to move to Denver, to get out of the mountains, and back to civilization, buy a low maintenance condo, help take care of the grandkids, and under no circumstances live in a trailer. And since the thought of living in Denver amongst the crowds of city slickers that all dress like they just stepped out of an REI wasn't very appealing to me, we decided that we would both live the way we wanted to... And that's what happened.

We don't dislike each other, we get along great, we just wanted to live a different lifestyle for a change. So she bought a condo about 2 miles from our daughter's house, and babysits the grandkids while my daughter and her husband are working, and I spend the summers parked in the driveway, helping out with whatever I can, including some babysitting, and so far everyone is happy.

Sometimes I forget that I've been writing this blog for about eight years and sometimes folks don't remember what I wrote eight years ago, or only started reading my blog last week and don't care what I wrote eight years ago... I hardly care myself.

Tom

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