A Look Back at 2021
It’s a rainy day here in Mississippi today. No walks on the beach today, no spectacular sunrise this morning and we slept right through reveille. I woke up thinking I needed to update our blog and have a paperwork day inside anyways, so no harm. Since we had to do a run back to Minnesota in December due to Dave’s mom’s passing, we’ve been a little stagnant in our travels around the area and this actually provides me a great opportunity to look back at 2021. I am always the optimist!
When I think back to where we were a year ago, I am amazed at the amount of change we have driven for ourselves. Selling a house we lived at for 20 years, spending spring at the cabin in Northern Minnesota, moving into the camper by April and beginning our actual travels in June. Whew! Even for my type A personality, that’s a lot to do in less than 6 months. Would we change any of it at this point – NOT FOR A MOMENT!
We’ve met some wonderful people on this adventure and I am continually amazed at how many are doing this same type of lifestyle we are enjoying. Selling it all, traveling around and looking for that new place to call home while still living in your own home. Ages range all over the place. It’s not just those that are newly retired and doing this. We’ve met multiple young families with kids where the primary earner would be traveling 90% of the time to do their job and miss their children growing up, so they just take them with them. We’ve met multiple people where at least one of the spouses is still working from their RV and wherever it may take them. We’ve met multiple people that are staying within the parks we visit, permanently because they like living in an RV and have more time to “do” the things they want vs. maintaining a sticks and bricks home. I don’t think there is a right or wrong reason for this lifestyle and it’s become more of a norm than I thought it would be, across the US.
We’ve seen some beautiful scenery as we traveled primarily west last year. By the time we reached Biloxi, we had 18 stops and 5,017 miles under our belt.
Of course, no story is perfect and there are icky items we’ve dealt with. Losing a tire on Homer during an 8%, 4 mile downgrade is scary. (Paying for new tires is even scarier when you see the bill!) No matter how many times I go through my check list, something always moves when Homer is traveling. It’s always a little surprise at what’s going to be flying out the cupboard at you once you stop and if it’s going to break or just plain bounce off your head. Trying to figure out how to make this place a home with furnishings you have to purchase multiple times, can be expensive. (RV furniture sucks no matter what they tell you). $4.00 a gallon diesel really stinks and trying to find a gas station that can handle the length of the truck and Homer is even trickier, at times. Moving frequently enough that you have to actually document which state you are in and when you are leaving again on a whiteboard on the fridge. (Yes, we do this. We kept mixing up Utah and Montana in our heads for some reason). Moving your domicile from one state to another can be tricky and expensive. (Although less costly than staying with a high tax state). And of course, missing our friends and family from Minnesota. All the technology in the world can’t replace getting a hug from one of your kids.
Overall, the good has far outweighed the bad this past year. As much as we are drawn to Biloxi, we aren’t ready to settle here yet. It’s high on the list, but we’ve got a lot of the US to still see and are thinking primarily east coast is where we’ll end up someday. We’ve started pulling our plans and reservations together for this upcoming year. Maine is the big one for us and then working our way back down the east coast to St. Augustine by October 1 again. We’ve got one side trip planned to Texas this winter to see some of the family in March and then we’ll leave here around mid-April.
Meanwhile, Mardis Gras is fast approaching, and we had no idea how much Biloxi has their own version of this celebration. So, watch for the parade photos and of course Rocky and Max already have their new costumes in case they get invited to a ball!
See ya on the road,
Dave and Theresa