A Women's RV Forum run by Women RVer's!

For all of you full-timers, part-timers, snowbirds and the like:

Do you remember the day/week you first truly hit the road? I don't mean short trips or camping trips but truly HIT THE ROAD. I'm curious what went through your head. Excited? Terrified? Determined? Didn't even look back it felt so natural?

I know the very first day I was put on "hot side" at my first restaurant job. All sorts of thoughts ran through my head. How in the world am I going to remember all these orders? What order should I do things in? How am I going to be fast enough? What if I get an order wrong? My first night on the grill didn't go as easy as my chef had planned because a local dinner-only steakhouse up the street unexpectedly just down (read: locked out) that same night. My night started out smooth sailing and then.... ORDERS galore! It was intense but you know what? I survived and was darn proud of myself. It was scary for sure, but I did it. I don't know where the time went but next thing I know, I'm teaching the newbies how it's done.

When Kelly and I really started out and hit the road we didn't even have an RV. Had a Jeep Cherokee and a utility trailer that we had all our stuff loaded onto. I think my biggest fear that day was that the tarp covering the load wouldn't stay on. Other than that it just seem as if we were moving.

Then after having the trailer for over a year we planned our first trip. A trip home. Now that made me nervous. Scared to death that either the trailer or that the truck would break down! And the truck did too. A very nice guy pulled over to check on us. He did a quick repair and had us follow him to an auto parts store where he did a complete fix on the truck. He would not accept anything for his time or effort. I still say a little prayer for him.

I do not full-time but I have made it to the big trip to FL category and the lets drive out way to Alaska and back group.....

Either way it has to be different from the full-timers because I know that there is still this S&B place that hold some the artwork that I haven't parted with and the fenced yard that the dogs love to run to with just an open door and no leashes...... Every time I do return it gets easier to clean out another closet or cabinet and take more bags to Goodwill....because I realize how much stuff I really am not interested in keeping...mentally and physically...

When I head off I am still reminded of that college freshman....first night in the dorm...feeling...."how am I going to do this" sort of thing. I did the same thing in the car driving towards the hospital when I went into labor for my first born... It helps to remember that many others survive and I have a reasonable expectation to do as well or better than most. With the trip to Alaska....I really didn't think it would be real but I just kept planning and moving towards the possibility until there it was. With about a week to go, it finally dawned on me that I might pull it off and actually be able to leave Ohio behind. Even while traveling through Canada and Alaska, it sometimes felt "out of body" as if I were watching someone else's travels because hey, did I really expect to make it all the way to Alaska...that was what other people did!

I just try to keep faith in my own abilities to survive and thrive and explore new experiences...and stay open to whatever I might find.

I had a director who questioned me when I was in my mid twenties about what my plan for my future was. He said he had his all planned out...he was a clinical psychologist ..... I knew (and know) that we are suppose to have plans because that is part of what helps us through to achieve our dreams...but... I also realized even in my 20's that if I had been asked 5 years before where I would be 5 years in the future I could not have imagined the journey and outcome. So.....you plan and imagine your dreams and then you take a leap of faith and keep open for the possibilities that you hadn't even known to imagine...so that you might recognize then when they appear....

May be that is why so many of us refer to "Jello" plans. It is that ying/yang of life to balance the thorough planning with being able to change the plans when your instincts, mind, spirit, changes in health or life's necessities, whatever you want to call it....recognized that there might be another path to explore.

What is that quote that states that this life of ours is never a dress rehearsal...it is always the opening night...first showing...for us anyway.....so, yes, for most of us there will always be some "stage nerves".....all those words you used.....excited.... terrified....determined....curious.....

Our minds do have a wonderful ability to learn new skills and the more you travel the more some skills become "natural" or automatic...like driving a car or running errands that you run ever week... So preparing and leaving for long trips and a new way of life may get easier....Again the balance is to be able to relax and enjoy the "this is natural" and I can do this in my sleep feelings with "this is an amazing world we live in" feeling and I want to cherish as many moments of it as I can....even the seemingly mundane and everyday stuff.....

Sorry about all the words....but they just came out....

They were good words, tho!!!

And yes, life is a balance between excitement and the common. Between fear and confidence.

Elation! I was living the impossible dream!

That was my first day of full-timing. By then I had several long trips already under my belt. My first day of RVing was quite different....nervous and excited, definitely a learning experience that first year.

My first day as a full-timer heading out was a combination of excitement and fear. I was not used to driving my rig. Still learning that. I was so proud when I made it to my first CG more or less intact. I did back into a post on that first day, so got that out of the way. I think doing that has really made me more relaxed. I did something wrong but it was not major. My next trip, just finished, was a little more relaxed, but still learning how my rig handles. I am still new to this, but am feeling more like this is home everyday. I figure in 6 months to a year, I won't be able to imagine any other kind of lifestyle. My feet just get too itchy to see the next place down the road. Too many places I want to see in this life.

I had taken a three-day and then a week long trip before starting out west for my real full-timing adventure.

Frankly, I was so exhausted from packing, moving, my daughter-in-law's garage sale, getting my Ohio driver's license, and tying up loose ends, I was just glad to be getting on my way.

I was anxious to get to Minneapolis to see my nephew and his family, so I had three long days of driving to get there. And back in late June and early July, it was horribly hot, so that didn't help.

I do have to tell you that the day I picked up my new motorhome, I had to drive it 80 miles back to my son's house. He had taken me to the dealer, but ended up going ahead of me instead of following me because he was afraid to watch me drive!!! Then, I had to use the bathroom in a hurry and didn't want to use the bathroom because it was early spring and it had antifreeze in it so I didn't want to mess up the winterizing. I called my son on his cell phone, and he led me past the "no trucks" sign into a McDonalds which did not allow large vehicle parking. I managed to park it, and ran into the bathroom just in time.

Then I realized I couldn't get out of the spot I had parked in, so he had to stop cars and direct me back out!!! I was SO glad to get to his house and park in the driveway. Whew.

I thank all of you for sharing your stories. I did not know my daughter was going to ask that question but I am happy she did.

I have always been a queer duck. Everyone's dream of their home has been a brick and mortar house. I have never wanted a house but always dreamed of a home on wheels. I have wished for that brick and mortar house for my children because that is what they wanted. I am frighten not for my new beginning but rather if I have waited too long. My knees give out occasionally since I fell off the roof and I have medical problems. What makes that first trip alone in my RV less frightening now is all you beautiful ladies. I feel so blessed to have found you. Thank you.

Roadweaver wrote: What makes that first trip alone in my RV less frightening now is all you beautiful ladies. I feel so blessed to have found you. Thank you.

You are so right, Roadweaver. I, too, feel so blessed & less alone with this group. It is a beautiful place to share our firsts - first rig, first trip, first dump & everyone understands the excitement, the happy dance & the fears.

Can't wait to meet each of you along the way...

Thank you all for your fabulous words! In many ways I guess I expected the replies I've read but in other ways, I just wasn't sure. Though asked to show my mom that she really will be just fine, everything said had been inspiring all around!

If life was truly as hard and terrifying as the nay-sayers make it sound, we'd never leave our beds let alone our houses!

Mom, please live your dream. I've got your back.

Ladies, thank you and keep doing what you're doing. It's further proof that life is as much about the journey as it is about the destination.

HUGS!

Okay Louise, I have to be the one to ask. What were you doing on the ROOF???? Wendy

I want to knOw why you were on the roof too !!

When I was very young my mother subscribed to some travel magazines so I blame her for my wanderlust.

When I traveled for business and was going to someplace dull, I used to sit in airports and listen to them call flights to Paris and such and wish I could just run away from home. Except now I really have!!!

We had been RVing for over six years when we had our "first day on the road" experience. In January of 1978 we, my husband, four of our five kids and a friend left Los Angeles, CA to drive to Argentina in our 24' motorhome. It was a journey of over 25,000 miles and 13 months.
It was quite an experience - http://www.movingon1.com/firsttrip.html We are still RVing but now it is just the two of us in a 40'. will soon be heading out to spend winter in Mexico.

Ladies, climbing roofs is how I make my living as well as crawling under building, going into strangers homes, traveling all over the country alone in my van by myself for months at a time, sleeping in strange beds, cooking in a hotel room every night, always being on with my customer service skills, learned to love to be alone because I never know the people in the various offices and we never have anything in common. What do I do for a living you ask, I am a claims adjuster for homes but I do not work in an office, I am part of State Farm Insurance Catastrophe Team. I go where I am needed, my van is my office. I could be gone from home from 2 weeks to a year. I have been climbing roofs for 20 years and I bring everything I love in that van because of it.

That day, I was two hours from the hotel and tired, the contractor had his ladder up, thank goodness it was a one story house, I said to myself before I climbed up that the ladder did not look strong but I was too tired to drag my ladder out. It was the last roof of the day and I had a long drive ahead. I climbed up to inspect the roof but when I put my foot on the ladder to get off, I had one foot on the roof and one on the ladder, the ladder collapsed. I hit the driveway...stupid me got up in pain, got my ladder, limped to the garage and inspected the garage roof because I did not want to have to come back. On the way back to the hotel, the pain was so bad and my knees and ankle was twice the size by the time I got to the Urgent Care Center. I tried to get out of the car but could not stand. I was out of work for months, when I came back to work, I found I was not afraid to climb but my knees and ankles hurt if the roof is steep. So I do not climb very steep roofs anymore.