Blogging Hiatus

Current Location: Auburn, WA

Wow! I can't believe it's been over a month since I last posted. I took a break from the blogging world, both reading and writing. I didn't really intend to, it just kind of happened. I apologize to all of those who were loyal followers and those that I follow. I can really appreciate those who find things to write on a daily basis. I don't think I'll ever be there. I don't even always boot up the computer every day! In this techno-centric world, I find it nice to be off-line occassionally.

We've been busy traveling, but not RVing. First was our extended visit to Colorado, where we spent over 3 weeks. We returned to Washington for about a week and then were off to Alaska for the Thanksgiving week. That was an unexpected trip which solidified when we were in Colorado. Both trips were joyous, but we really missed our own home and our own routine.

I've been trying to figure out why I haven't been inspired to write. In part, I'm sure, was probably because we weren't living in our RV and we weren't in our own routine. I suspect there's more, but I'm not sure what. The one thing I promised myself when I start blogging was that I wouldn't let it become a chore or an obligation. I would write when I felt like writing. That's easier said than done. I started this blog for myself as a way to capture the feelings I was struggling with. I decided to make it public so that I could share it with close friends and family. I never expected to have so many followers and I certainly never expected to find such a tight-knit blogging community. Now I find myself feeling that I owe it to all of you to keep writing. And I feel a little guilty for not following all of your adventures and tribulations over the past several weeks.

One of my other primary purposes of starting this blog was for a historical reference of our new lifestyle. I don't want to write about what we had for dinner or how much laundry we did. I prefer to write about more introspective stuff, like feelings and emotions. I also tend not to write when I'm down. And although I can't say that I've necessarily been depressed, the last couple of months have been a little unsettling. I guess I'm feeling a little lost with my life at the moment.

I think I've come to realize that planning is essential in my life. I've always been a planner. I like to-do lists. I like to have a road map and to have at least some idea of what's around the next corner. I've found that I prefer to know that we have reservations rather than just roll in someplace and wing it. I'm sure we miss out on some great adventures by not being as spontaneous as we could be, but planning provides a certain comfort for me.

So with that said, I think that's part of where my struggle is coming from. We have a very loose plan for this winter. We knew that when our gig in California ended we would head to the Northwest and spend some time at Tracy's aunt and uncle's in the Seattle-Tacoma area. We also knew that we would have to find work and figured that a large metropolitan area would increase our chances of landing something.

So what's the problem, you may be wondering? Well, I'm not exactly sure. We've been so busy with our recent travels that we haven't had a chance to start our job search. And now that it's time to hunker down and start that exercise in earnest, we're questioning whether we want to stay in the area. The Seattle-Tacoma area is definitely a metropolitan area in all senses - sprawling, tons of people and lots of traffic. Didn't we leave Denver because we wanted out of the city? What are we doing in another large city? Although we haven't done too much exploring, it just doesn't have the "it" factor. I would much prefer a smaller community.

The Northwest climate is also a huge challenge, especially for someone who is used to sun and semi-arid climates. I like to think that we're adaptable and able to handle most anything, but I'm not sure this is the place for me, especially since this is a La Nina year which means that it will be wetter and colder than usual. To make it even more difficult, we're parked in a fairly dense grove of trees so even if there is sun, we won't have any streaming in our windows. In addition, we have limited power and water resources. Our limited power means that we can't run many of our electrical appliances simultaneously without tripping the breaker, which requires us to turn off one to run another. We're adjusting, but it's a pain. We're also unable to stay hooked up to water, which I guess is not that big of a deal since we'd have to unhook when temperatures go below freezing anyway, but it's kind of a hassle to unwind and rewind the hoses every week.

Tracy's aunt and uncle have been very generous and we are extremely grateful for all they have done for us and feel fortunate to be able to spend so much time with them, but I'm just not sure this is what I envisioned when I dreamed of this life. Part of me says to suck it up and just deal with it. It's only for a few months. And without a current income stream, the smart financial decision would be to stay put. But another part of me feels like we should move on and find a better fit. After all, isn't that the beauty of having a house on wheels? We have a few potential areas we'd like to explore more and hopefully the income will follow.

There's another part of me that's struggling with the feeling that we're not taking full advantage of this lifestyle. So many of the blogs I follow talk about all of the travels so many are doing and frankly I'm jealous. It was one thing to be jealous when we were still in a stix n brix, but it's another to actually be living in an RV and still not taking advantage of it. We were stationary all summer and here we are staying put this winter and we'll be stationary again next summer. When does the traveling part come in? I know our traveling will be limited because of work, but if we're not working, why are we sitting still?

So the question is, do we hunker down and try to find jobs here and make the best of it? Or do we postpone looking for jobs until we find somewhere else to live? Or do we look for jobs elsewhere and hope to find a place to live nearby? There are still some workamper opportunities available for the winter, most just working for site. Should we take one of those and hope we can struggle through without an income?

This is what I mean by not having a good plan. Too many decisions and no clue of which way to go!

I'm sure there are some of you wondering if we are having second thoughts about this lifestyle. Wasn't life easier when we had a steady income? In some respects, yes it was, but we have no desire to go back. I believe that this is all part of the learning experience. We know now that we need to have a more difinitive plan and we definitely will in future years. And as far as this year, we'll continue to work on defining and revising our current plan.

No life is without its speed bumps and this is just one of many in ours. We continue pushing through and figure it out somehow, someway. And in the meantime, I'll work on blogging more often.