Everything is a compromise… OR
Tuesday, August 28th, 2007I have realized a while back that I never write about my living accommodations lately. Being there is a reason for everything, there has been a reason for that fact. But, I am coming to terms with it… I have had issues living in an RV! All my life I have been a camper, meaning tent, bevy bag and going way back… well, spending nights behind a church, gas station or under a bridge. The past twenty years, traveling 6 months a year every other year, sailing the other ones, I lived in a tent… and loved every minute of it, still do… still miss it.
I was always the one on the left… I remember expressing myself quite often when witnessing a set up as on the right… “if you ever see me with an RV, just shoot me!”. Friends use to joke about it as they never visualized I would ever go this route. I have said it enough for it still being embedded in my mind! What happened? Creature comfort?… age? That is what has been hard to believe on my part… a picture is worth a thousand words, that’s for sure.
I keep trying to plan such overnighters, leaving the RV behind, but it is just not happening… yet. I have been the same when it came to riding. Trailering was frowned upon! There was never such a thought… it just was not something conceivable. One has a motorcycle… well, they leave home with it and come back with it. I remember all those trips from Florida to the Georgia Mountains for a few days of riding in the mountains… 1200 miles round trip on a straight flat sleep inducing slab! It did not matter… I did not even own a trailer!
And slowly things changed. I suddenly had a trailer behind a Jeep Cherokee… I started sleeping in the Jeep… Then it was a bigger trailer, covered this time, where I also slept in it after taking the bike out. It lead to the Bronco with the Pop Up camper… You know the rest of the story! When this all came about, when starting to plan for us to live under the stars, the idea was to live in a tent… a Hillfiger tent. Pricey, but the best there is. It was October when we left. A friend of mine had already been living on the road for a while… right down by the river… he always wrote! His suggestion?… take the Bronco… winter will be cold in a tent… you are not that young anymore.
I don’t remember if those last words where his or my subconscience! So a trailer was purchased… a wide one to accommodate the rig. Boxes… and more boxes… as, why not, I had room now, I could take the kitchen sink with me. And as the RV made its presence… having a shower with hot water and a toilet… which the Bronco was lacking, well, now I miss the Bronco and its simplicity, not to mention its ground clearance.
Well, yes, no joke, this IS nice! It is a 23 feet 2000 TIOGA! With a V-10, great gas mileage, better than the Bronco anyhow, and of course still pulling the trailer and still trying to plan at least an overnighter in this tent of mine that has been folded in its bag for the past 10 months now and only used once… Of course that one time, when it was cold and raining, I started wondering “why am I doing this?”. Am I getting old or what?
It was plain fun to hunt Wi Fi down at one time!… and then sit around to do my thing. A few months ago I purchased my own Dish, took the installer course, got a modem with great blue lights flickering with no end. I am in touch… you can say that again! It has helped a lot posting this Blog from areas where I would have had to ride at least 50 miles trying to find a connection and Spirit waiting in the sidecar, it has helped a lot staying in touch with friends… and has stolen a lot of the free time that I had before!!!
I have a kitchen now! I had a friend show up today, Ray, and cooking was a breeze… not much more room than before, but it is all in front of me instead of using steps or a box for counter. Spirit sure is happy… that I don’t step on him anymore, that he can take at least a dozen steps either way while inside! He can even eat inside now… in this RV of ours!
Another friend of ours showed up also today, this morning for a couple hours of conversation, George, who has been living on the road now since 2004. No motorcycle, no dog, no sidecar… His RV is 27 feet… a giant of the road! As I went inside and sat for a while, I kept thinking as it seemed as long as a bowling alley… glad that I stopped at 23 feet!
Everything is a compromise… nothing is free… it is all about how much you are willing to spend to get “that” comfort, that commodity throughout the days and the nights… while we are living on the road. I would never “travel” with an RV… but, I am coming to terms “living” in one. Figure that one out…
You be well…
Ara & Spirit
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Ara Gureghian
853 Vanderbilt Beach Rd #245
Naples Fl 34108
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August 28th, 2007 at 12:51 pm
Ara & Spirit, keep enjoying the adventure …good blog today.
August 29th, 2007 at 4:09 am
Nothing wrong with a few creature comforts, Ara. I’m sure Spirit appreciates a nice inside place to sleep. And, a hot shower after a long ride usually hits the spot. Age gets us all.
August 29th, 2007 at 7:03 pm
I found a lot in the last post that just seems to me to be part of aging.I now live in a house, a very small house, after 20 years in sailboats and I don’t miss the liveaboard life at all. I wonder about that but its true. We are the lucky ones living our desires and growing old without regrets, without wondering if… Besides a dog deserves a decent place to call home even if you don’t!