Five Things - January 30, 2023
Welcome to my blog titled “Five Things” where you can expect just that - five random musings or reflections from the previous week or so. In addition, at the end of the blog, I’ll keep a running itinerary of our travel plans. For a photo gallery of our life on the road, our pets, and miscellaneous things I find interesting, you can follow me on Instagram @tabithalord.
So here are this week’s five things…
Our cat Beatrix never seems to learn. Back when we were refinishing the basement after some water damage, she managed to get walled in behind the new drywall. Yes, we had to break her out with a sledgehammer and have a fun conversation with the builders first thing the next morning! Well, since we’ve been living in the RV, she’s managed to get stuck in the closet behind the washer and dryer, and then, another day, she hopped into a drawer when no one was looking and got stuck again. Those little meows in the middle of the night are pathetic!
Regular plumbing maintenance is essential.
You can learn anything from YouTube, including how to clear your RV plumbing before you realize the importance of regular maintenance.
Flexibility is an asset. I mean, it is in regular life, but it’s especially necessary for life on the road. Sometimes flexibility looks like giving up half your day to figure out how to clear the gray water tank. See plumbing note above. Sometimes flexibility looks more fun, like when you can rearrange your schedule to coordinate a visit with some friends. In all cases, things are going to come up. Shit’s gonna happen. By keeping a flexible mindset, I can approach those things with less resistance and change my attitude toward them.
I’m learning not to overschedule myself. Anyone who’s seen my collection of notebooks, my online calendar, and my daily planner, knows I’m a little obsessive about managing my time and scheduling my day. I even schedule my down time. This approach generally works well for me as I’m able to be proactive when it comes to organizing my time rather than reactive. I am however, guilty of making unrealistic to-do lists. At the end of the day, when several items remain undone, I have to carry them over to the next day and rework my whole plan! One of the things I love about this RV life is the simplicity of it. Tidying up and taking care of the animals in the morning takes just a few minutes. There’s a limited amount of actual stuff to maintain and keep track of. This simplicity creates space. So, my focus lately has been not to fill up that space just because it’s there. I want to be as productive as ever, sure, but I also want to appreciate and live into the simplicity.
Not all those who wander are lost.” - J.R.R. Tolkien
Our Itinerary (subject to change):
Feb 4 - March 31: Sarasota, FL
April 1-3: Panacea, FL
April 3-10: Lillian, AL
April 10-19: New Orleans, LA
April 19-26: Austin, TX
April 26 - May 2: Corpus Christi, TX
May 2-8: Lakehills, TX
May 8-15: Carlsbad, NM
May 15-22: Albuquerque, NM
May 22-29: Santa Fe, NM
May 29 - June 2: Alamosa, CO
June 2-10: Colorado Springs, CO
June 10-18: Granby, CO
June 18 - July 5: Central City, CO
July 5-9: Vernal, UT
July 9-13: Rock Springs, WY
July 13-22: West Yellowstone, MT
July 22 - August 5: Jackson, WY
August 5-10: Salt Lake City, UT
August 10-18: Hurricane, UT
August 18-27: Coachella, CA
August 27 - September 5: Temecula, CA
September 5 - October 1: Santa Barbara, CA