By Nanci Dixon
What to do when the glitter and joy of living your RV dream life fades? It feels like I am caught in limbo, perhaps purgatory or, worse yet, Dr. Seuss’s Waiting Place. Just waiting. We have been living the (my) dream of being full-time RVers and then half-timers for the last nine years.
We’ve RVed for a total of 30 years. We have traversed the United States from one coast to the other. Spent days hunkered down in wind and ice. Explored rivers, deserts, mountains, and oceans. We have raced from national parks, battlefields, and historic monuments to museum after museum. Oh, the joy of it!
I have always looked forward with a sense of excitement and wonder at the next map, the next destination, and the next national park.
But this spring, after many arduous days on the East Coast on an RV caravan tour, I did the absolute unthinkable—I skipped three national parks that had been on my bucket list for years, fully knowing that it was probably a once-in-a-lifetime chance to visit them and stamp my National Park Passport book.
I was tired.
We are camp hosts in a dearly beloved regional park in Minnesota for the next six weeks and then we are free to go. We have spent time with our kids and grandkids and finally met our great-grandson coming all the way from Kazakhstan. We worked on one son’s house, and BBQ’d at the other’s. Spent family time at a cottage in northern Wisconsin. And as wonderful as that is, the visiting lessens year by year. The kids are grown and have their own lives now. Even the grandchildren are making their own way.
Usually we linger, moving from one overfilled campground to another in the area. Having spent the last two months doing the campground shuffle, we will be leaving, heading to parts unknown.
For the first time, I am looking forward to going back to the sticks-and-bricks house in Arizona. Having a house-house has always been a point of contention between my husband and me. For the last two years, I have resentfully called it “your house” and now I am looking forward to the huge bathtub and Sleep Number king bed. But it is 116 degrees there now and no amount of missing a bathtub is going to drive me into the heat of an oven.
So what to do when the joy of living my dream life fades? I can’t just stay in this waiting place. I have (hopefully) too many years to live to just be in a slump. I thought I was too old for a midlife crisis. So what do I need to do? Where do we need to go?
As I am sitting outside at our campsite picnic table in our favorite regional park writing this, perhaps it is just this. Perhaps this is where the dream leads or what the dream is, too: a warm spot at a picnic table. People coming by to say “Hi” and asking about being a camp host, asking how we like traveling, and some even wanting to see our rig.
We have a nice, big, grassy, full-hookup site with several shade trees, the kind of site we seldom have when just traveling through. It is the perfect spot to read a book or take a little nap.
After our rounds tonight, we will have a campfire and my husband will put out all our camp chairs and invite people who will not be strangers long, to sit, talk, and share the warmth with us. Maybe this is just “Season Two” of “Living the Dream”.
##RVT1166
Wow Nancy, I understand completely! I am in the same boat after 5 yrs full-time solo van-life, I’m a tired 72y/o female! Gratitude for this unique opportunity fills me, but running from extreme weather patterns, fires, & feeling unsafe is wearing. Having toured all of US states & Canada visiting NPs, I’m planning to sell RV & go back to international travel. I hope you enjoy cooler temperatures in AZ this winter & find your next adventure!
We are in a similar boat as we step over the threshold into our 80’s this next year. The van life is becoming much more difficult as we have aged. In the last few years we have concentrated more on other types of travel: river and ocean cruises, railroad trips, small group tours. It has been a way to share international travel with my dear wife who could not accompany me overseas during ‘our’ military career. As we say – Keep on Truckin!
Yes, Herman, vanlife gets more challenging with age & I too am looking at cruising & SLOW travel. As our vehicle ages, maintenance is expensive & consuming more time than I desire. Happy travels!
Every thing is expensive and crowded just my opinion only.
Sure sounds like you have turned RVing into a chore, not a retirement. I would suggest you go back to the 3,3,3. rule. Slow down, stop hosting for a bit if you can afford to, get back to relaxing, stay a few days here and there, read a good book, relax. It gets harder to rv the older we get, thus slow down and build your steam back up.
Time to chill. Go to the end of the road, flip a coin, heads go right, tails, go left. Time for unplanned adventure. Blue Highways Rule.
Haven’t been at it nearly as long or seen as many places, but I’m tired. Tired of moving day, tired of trying to find decent spots, tired of repairs and things going wrong mid trip, tired of missing family events, tired of not having a regular Church to attend on sunday. I think I’m just tired. Might be time to regroup. But not sure the hubs is on the same page as I am. I guess that’ll be a discussion to have. Or maybe I just need a break. Who knows. Time will tell.
Head home and park it. That’s what I do when I’m tired.
It sounds though like maybe the issue isn’t about RV’ing.
Been there done that…the issue is too many people.
Yes! I absolutely understand. I love RVing! I enjoy the planning, the navigating, the outdoors, our National wonders but the burnout is all too real. We went from full-timing, to part-timing – recently we downsized from a 40′ diesel pusher to a 28′ travel trailer and a sticks and bricks home in Arizona (too). I agree with the kids and grandkids and their busy lives. I also think the covid lock downs, expensive, crowded parks and our own health scares have tainted our joy. I still dream about adventures but we are keeping our trips more local and a couple weeks at a time. This is a new phase for us. What does this mean? How will life change? What happens next? I honestly don’t know.
I always enjoy your articles Nanci, and wish you the best. Hopefully a nice long stay at your sticks and bricks house will recharge your batteries for adventure.
Thank you, Nanci! 🙂 I think I would be more surprised were you not tired after the DC tour. I am glad that you are where things are familiar and comfortable so that you can recharge. Were you a lithium iron battery, then I guess you were at about 8 or 9 percent (lower?) after DC. My understanding is 10 percent is as low as one should discharge them to get maximum life. People, too, have limitations to get maximum life, life enjoyment. Relish your setting; it sounds wonderful. The nights must be as well if a campfire is part of your routine.🤔 Thanks again, have a great week, safe travels, and safe stays! 🙂
Getting out of the Rv travel mode and leaving that shaded picnic table under the tall pine trees and the scent of the pine aroma and the evening camp fire memories will get you both back on the road in the future. Regroup! Enjoy the green grass and fresh air before you leave for Az! Life is short and it gets even shorter faster as time moves on. Take care and thanks for the word picture! (PS: Get a physical and some Centrum vitamins Nanci!)
With 18 years of RVing, the joy of traveling the USA it is NOT what it use to be. From 2006 – 2014 we lived fulltime and traveled all 49 states. With the exception of major holidays we never had to make advanced reservations. Never told “the park is full.” Now, to get into an RV park you have to make reservations 3, 6 even 9 months in advance. Sorry to also say, but the “quality” of some RVer’s is disgusting. Leaving behind trash and kids chalking up their site (I’ll leave it at that).
This is July and we are taking a trip in November. I have already had to make 2 long stay reservation. That is not the Joy of RVing. I have a feeling that after this trip our RVing days will be over.
For us, it’s the adventure of the open road, staying a minimum of 3 nights to explore an area. Recently, we stayed at Mission Bay RV in San Diego, for 6 weeks due to commitments in the area. But, I have to say, the stay got a bit old after week 4 even though the weather was great and food from local restaurants was exceptional. We did everything in the first 4 weeks, even trying to pace ourselves. So, it’s the open road that draws us and not a long-term stay. Just saying, Nanci, get on the road again.
Your words :”I’m tired.” say it all! I share that feeling!
18 years FT. Have never gotten tired of it. Health is driving us off the road, but we are NOT happy about it. Our first trip was with another couple, lesson learned. No caravans. No joint trips of more than a weekend. Met lots of people whose lifelong dream was to RV, and they didn’t last 6 months. Our intent was a couple of years. Still love it.
Life has twists and turns, you go where it takes you, trying to enjoy the journey.
Looks like both of us have 18 years RVing under our belt. Jerry X Shea – see my post below.
I feel like I could have written that article myself.
I wonder about the folks that do not have a place they can go back to.
I am in your situation now, (after RV ING solo part & full time for 8 years, starting at age 67). It’s the two completely different lifestyles and different persona’s in each that we’re trying to blend. I have a seasonal site now, so I don’t lose my other, nature & people loving self. It’s meeting adventurous, outgoing people that I love! Keep the RV.
I have never considered a caravan tour. I had a friend who did bus tours and tried to get me to go with her. If there is a museum I want to spend the day in I don’t want you telling me I have 2 hours and conversely if there is something I’m not interested in I don’t want to be told I have 4 hours there.
I enjoy the view around every corner…recently went on an 11 day cruise with my sisters and 7 of those days were at sea, HOW BORING.
I have a home base in NV for the winter and spend the summer in MT/PNW with kids and grands. After a few months on the road I long for home and after a few months there I am itching to get back out.
I wrote a comment for this discussion and it was never put in
Hi, Est. I don’t see it anywhere so I don’t think it ever arrived here. Feel free to write another comment, if you want, and I’ll make sure it gets posted. Have a great day. 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com
We’ve been at it part time for about 5 years. As our next trip comes rushing forward in less than 2 weeks and continual maintenance and working on our “second home” for the past month I’m not as excited as I used to be. It’s a biggie, about 2 months, up the 395 to Banff and Jasper and then on to Vancouver island before zig zagging back down south, stopping to see the kids and grandkids in Portland. I remind myself how lucky we are. Oh the places we’ve seen. Can’t wait!!!!
Well due to recent events namely the tragic fire in Jasper we are going to have to adjust our plans. My heart goes out to the residents of Jasper many who will lose their businesses and their homes.
This was the 3rd attempt for us to go see Jasper and Banff, hopefully it will still be there for the future.
I took my daughter and her family there in my motorhome in 2023, what a beautiful part of the world. So sad for the residents and those that lost homes and businesses. N
Sounds like you also have a NV problem to also solve.
How about living in AK in the summer and NV in the winter?
We have been RVing now for 24 years. We have done a lot more on the road after retiring 13 years ago. We have traveled to all 4 corners in the USA and many places in between the last couple years we have been just rving in the southwest. I’m in my 70’s and my wife just turn 80 with COPD and we can’t travel into high elevation any longer. My knees are having a tough time. Today the RV is almost like a Love Hate relationship. It’s getting really hard to load and unload our RV for the next trip. We keep our RV in an off site storage facility due to our HOA community. we are getting close to hanging it up. This may be our last year, it’s just got too physical for us.
I’ll be 81 in December, and every Fall lately when I pull out from Minnesota to head East to the coast to visit friends and family from New Hampshire to Florida, I tell people this is my “Farewell Tour”. But once again I’m sucked into it, being invited by a dear family friend to join them in Orlando for Christmas, and I was able to snag two weeks at a local RV park in the area that just happened to have a spot left. My wife and I made that trip in our motorhome for many years, but now as a widower since 2019 it is no longer much fun, and I do none of the things we used to enjoy. Last year on the trek, two RV parks sent a couple of people over to knock on my door to see if I was still alive.