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…

We bought a new RV! I know, I know, we just bought the first one, but this one is a significant upgrade. Honestly, when we started our journey, we didn’t know if we were going to love it enough to keep going after our initial cross country venture and therefore didn’t want to make a large investment. We also didn’t know what we didn’t know! We’ve learned so much in the last few months, and we definitely love it enough not to place an end date on our travels. Our original RV also had significant mechanical issues right from the start, and this last challenge confirmed for us that upgrading was the right choice. Check out my Instagram page @tabithalord very soon for some pics and videos of our new tiny home on wheels!
Related to the above, whenever Ray and I make a significant decision, we try to balance the idea of living in the moment, since none of us truly know what tomorrow holds, with planning to live a long time and behave responsibly with our time and resources. There’s never a ‘right’ answer to this, but I think placing the question at the center of our decision-making assures we at least make thoughtful choices.
People at RV parks and campgrounds are so kind! When you think about it, who would choose this lifestyle if they weren’t pretty social by nature? The neighbors are generally super close by, chances are you’ll need help with something sometime, and it’s fun to share a glass of wine with a new friend! It’s like being in an airport bar ALL THE TIME!
Yup, we made a third trip to Disney. The campground there is beautiful, and as season passholders, we’d hop into a park for an ice cream cone or a ride on Pirates of the Caribbean but not exhaust ourselves with long lines or long days. We spent some of our very favorite family vacations in Disney over the years, so we were both nostalgic as we wandered. And yes, we imagined someday taking our future grandchildren with us!
Last call for my Zoom webinar through the ARIA Writing Academy titled ‘Pathways to Publishing’ on Wednesday, April 5th at 7 pm. If there are any aspiring authors out there looking to learn more about the modern publishing industry and ways to bring your story to readers, check out the class. Here’s a link to the course description and registration: ARIA Writing Academy.

“Not all those who wander are lost.” - J.R.R. Tolkien

Our itinerary, subject to change:

April 6-7: Panacea, FL
April 7-10: Lillain, 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

I’m currently at work on a new novel. I’m at the point where the shine has worn off, and I have to dig in and do the work. I love writing, but even this beloved career feels like a job sometimes. There are good days and bad. Days where I feel terrific about the words on the page, and days I feel like I have no business sitting in front of a keyboard. There are days I feel good - physically and emotionally, and days I feel like crap.

As with so many things in life, I have to make a decision to stick with my work regardless of how I am feeling in the moment. But, I also believe in listening to my gut and my heart. When something feels off, even if I can’t pin it down, I pay attention.

So, how do we decide when we should stick with something - because nothing feels good all the time, or make a change - because we are really on the wrong path? Outside factors play a part of course. We may have made a commitment, have a responsibility to someone else, or simply have no choice in the moment. But when we do have a choice, when we are able choose this path or that one, this project or that one, how do we make a healthy decision? Here are some things I consider…

I don’t make decisions on impulse. Emotions shift. Feelings change. I’ll sleep on it before deciding to take on something new or making any big changes.

I’ll evaluate my mental and physical health. There’s a difference between struggling with something worthwhile and sticking with a situation or relationship that’s become toxic. I need to be honest about which is which and act accordingly.

I consider the long game. No career is build overnight. No skill is learned without putting in the time. If what I’m doing is interesting, satisfying, and is in alignment with my own strengths, I’ll stick with it.

I can make a course correction. Maybe not immediately, but at some point I will have the ability to point my ship in a different direction. Once I internalized this idea, I could consider decisions that didn’t work out the way I intended lessons instead of mistakes.

“We are the creative force of our life, and through our own decisions rather than our conditions, if we carefully learn to do certain things, we can accomplish those goals.” —Stephen Covey

Five Things - April 3, 2023

Monday Musings 3-9-20