THOUGHTS…

Yes, I’m every woman that said, “no way am I camping!”  

Besides that, after touring for 15 years as a figure skater I felt like I had seen North America. My loving  husband with those puppy eyes said…”but not with me”, ugh now I’m stuck. I spent a better part of a year trying to figure out how I was going to get out of this one. Even went to the HUGE RV show in Hershey PA fully prepared to have a melt down. As we drove home I was thinking to myself, what’s wrong with you, you liked that pottery barn designed airstream and you didn’t pop the Xanax you brought. 

Fast forward, jeff showed me a video one night of a van built in Canada….leisure. Ok, cool lighting, nice lines, and way less $ than other ones JK was showing me…so less exposure when I bail after the first trip. Warming up, but still on the fence. 
My luck an elderly couple who downsized to a TB(twin bed…. more on that later)leisure van from a bus, turned it in with only 1700 miles. Yup, JK found it and it was in our driveway early January. My thinking was, it will give Jeff some winter projects and takes the sting out of selling the boat. At least it’s a pretty color and doesn’t make us look like the Beverly hillbilly’s in CT…..then I started ordering custom carpets…


Our first trip: 
The shakedown cruise was just to Litchfield, CT to Bantam lake. It was a camp ground…my biggest fear. We stopped at a gourmet grocery store (this was Litchfield!), and parked in town for some pre camp shopping, JK is thinking of everything! Our “spot” was right on the lake near the entrance, phew, easy out if need be. So far so good, then a walk with Chester confirmed my camp ground fears: tents, people living in cars, and over stuffed RVs with kids. However back in the sanctuary of our leisure van I put blinders on and enjoyed our view, gourmet meal and a lovely sunset. First lesson for all us skeptics is sometimes you will need blinders on and live in your moment and just have a good time in your own sphere. This whole thing is going to teach me a lot, I can tell. We went home smiling and actually booked another weekend in Oct in the same “slip”. Win for JK! 

Am I ready for the “big one”?

Lea the skeptic:                                               Dec. 29th, 2025

So far we have taken smaller trips with the exception of our month long one this past summer. We planned to be home all of December to regroup before “the big one”. Which was great this year and we both loved all our holiday celebrations with friends and family. Tomorrow we are heading out for our six month adventure.  Through some negotiating, I will fly back in March.

Here are some of my “skeptic’s” thoughts and fears as we depart Dec 30th 2025:

First I started waking up around 3am absolutely panicking mid December.  Last night, as we were doing some final packing, Jeff asked how I was doing?  I admitted I was freaking out a bit and he did say at anytime we can cancel this…so he is trying too.

What I panic about:

Will our friends still be around? Will the people we meet on the road be interesting, scary, kind?

Will I be OK with the small quarters at this age? We both get up a lot in the PM, how will this effect the others sleep?

Will our marriage survive this?

What will happen to my garden, our yard, house?

How will our tenant react to us being gone so much?

What am I going to forget that I can’t buy?

Will we miss important mail?

What if we get sick on the road?

Weather

How much will I miss my own bed, home, neighborhood….or find one I like more?

When I read my list back to myself, I realize I can be a drama queen…still.  Jeff is asking for six months, not a life style change.  So, I’m heading into this with a positive attitude, until I can’t…then I’ll get on a plane and fly home.

Stay tuned as we get “on the road again…”