A Soul Searching Morning

[highdesertranger]

x2 on a hobby that keeps you busy. prospecting can fill that bill as Gary and Wabbit hinted at. once you get the fever you will have no spare time on your hands. in fact you will have to force yourself to take a day off now and then. highdesertranger

 

[waldenbound]

Ian, thank you for being so candid and honest about what to do when the honeymoon period is over. That's an uncomfortable thought that comes to my mind too. What if I go through all this planning and preparation, then I hate it?
The thing is to have a purpose. Have a hobby, volunteer, take on a workamping job. Remember that idea on the gatherings section on having a "seed?" Something that provides purpose?

 

[rvwandering]

After years of going full speed, working 40 hours a week and renovating rental properties in our spare time, we found it hard to get used to all of the new found freedom that comes with fulltiming.  That's not a problem now :-D but it was for several months until we got settled into this life. It definitely did not feel right to be doing nothing.

 Consider what you would do if you did go back to stationary living. Would you move back to the same area? Would you go back to work? Is there anything that you've always wanted to do but didn't have the time?  You'll have the same feelings no matter where you live or what you live in but the chances of finding something that you really enjoying doing are greater if you are on the road with all of the different environments and choices.

 You also have skills that would be helpful to others and the opportunities to volunteer are endless if you don't want to be tied down to a job.

 Spring is coming soon and I'm sure that will help a lot!

 

[Oopslala]

I'm also going through that stage as well. I'm in Truth or Consequences stuck in a hotel for the night due to brake line blowing.

If you're into hunting, something that may interest you to keep busy is shed antler hunting. You don't have to get into the stressful mountains if you stay in Arizona and New Mexico and plan the route. Definitely check out the dirt roads into national forest before you drive in or you may end up losing a brake line.

Its a good exercise and your pup will love it too. You can pretty much find deer sheds anywhere but for elk you'll need to go a little higher.

Edit: sheds are the horns that fall off every year, no animal harvesting required.

 

[bullfrog]

Are you sure you are not just at the limits of your medication? Back east or here in the west? Everything you are missing is here except familiarity. You now have the time and freedom to learn about a better way to live. Note I didn't say travel or see things. We do that because weather or landscapes sometimes keep us from doing the things we enjoy. You can now some what control your environment in order to do more of the things you enjoy and find new things you couldn't do before. What did you enjoy back there? Try doing them in different locations which may lend themselves to more enjoyment than they did back there. Change or practice your living skills to make life slow and easy for you. It can take time to do this only you can know what you like or dislike but this has to be done no matter what your location. As an example if you like to work, work everywhere you go. I like to work and have worked almost 8 of the 12 years since I "retired", but now I only work doing things enjoy in places I enjoy doing them. When the weather constantly makes doing the work a pain, I give my notice and move! Enjoy walking on the beach you can experience a different one in the best weather season of the year! Try finding groups of people who do the things you enjoy. Like your dog, go to a dog park and talk to people who like dogs. If they are locals find out what they enjoy doing maybe you will to. Volunteer at a dog shelter. Adventure and explore. Don't just survive in your RV although at first this may take up most of your time, this form of living is just a tool to allow you to enjoy your life more. Once you get survival down work on making the most out of your new found freedoms to enjoy life more. This life style takes courage and requires you push yourself to the limits most of the time. You have to work at it, and not everyone wants to. If you like being in a rut, you can find one out here but here you can do it on your own terms which is very enjoyable!

 

[jimindenver]

Ian

I think sometimes we spend so much time and effort getting ready to do this with preparing the rig and downsizing that we forget to prepare ourselves. We forget to ask the question "what do I want to do" I see people say they want to see this country but only generalize about just what they want to see. I think it leaves us without a plan to follow, a goal to work towards besides existing, a purpose.

I know I spent so much time getting ready that I barely looked up my route days before heading to the RTR. I have a loose idea of what I want to do but can't tell you exactly how or when. Sometimes I feel adrift, sometimes I am bored out of my mind. I really didn't consider what I would do if I didn't like this except I know it's not back to the life I had before. In fact I think that was the goal of everything I had done just to get away from that situation. Now that I am away I am starting to look forward. I am starting to ask just what I want to see and how do I get there. Getting my dog Max certainly added purpose and I rarely have time to be bored.

So what was it you envisioned yourself doing as you got ready?

 

[akrvbob]

All our lives we have been told who we are and what we are supposed to do--and we faithfully did what we were told and became who they said we should be.

Now for the first time, that's gone--and it's terrifying! Without societies structure, we have no idea who we are, we only know who we were told to be.

You can be and do anything you want. As soon as you read that last sentence your mind was instantly filled with objections about all the limitations on you that keep you from being and doing what you want.

That's because society always told you that you must obey their orders and do and be what they said--nothing else was possible or acceptable.

It was all a lie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Everything they told you was a lie.

I know how hard it is, but if you can just break free a little bit from all that brainwashing and start to make small steps to questioning who you are and who you can become.

The very fact you are out here says you have the courage and drive to become a totally new person--but you can't give up now when the going gets rough. You are going to have to push through this.

Just like you rejected societies rules about where you could live, you have to reject societies rules about needing to be "a good productive citizen." You are not a cog in a machine to make others rich. You are a human being with your own dreams and hopes.

Find out what those dreams are, and make them come true. What are the things you loved at some time in your life but decided they were foolish or childish and put them aside to be a "responsible adult."Write down a list of all the hobbies and interests you ever had over the course of your life, then start doing those things!

**** being a responsible adult--concentrate on being happy!

Dedicate yourself to finding all the happiness and joy you can find in life--and then sharing all of it with others in whatever ways you can!

 

[MrNoodly]

It's good you were a productive person all your life. You've earned some lazy years. Things will be more interesting and there will be much more to do when winter is over in the northern parts of the country. I've been doing this for four years and I get antsy being confined to the warmer areas during the winter.

Funny, I just got back from a trek across Texas to the Gulf. Yeah, there are a lot of boring parts to that state.

 

[SternWake]

You called yourself a tourist.


The tourist does not know where they have been.

You are a now a traveller.

The traveller does not know where they are going, figuratively, and then, also, possibly  literally.

Don't go back the way you came.  You've already seen that.

If you go back, what then?  

Go accummulate some new experiences instead.

 

[CautionToTheWind]

Perhaps your self-judgment of doing versus being? There is a transitional time where the mind/body will acclimate to. I used to be the same...always running and doing. I didn't know anything else.

Are you content with silence? I think the longer you are away in nature; soaking up the elements, contentment will arrive for your mind/body.

 

[jonsun]

IDK I go through the same stuff though

 

[vtwinkicker]

When I was at the Grand Canyon I was sitting and watching the scenes change.During that time an older gentleman walked by and started talking to me. He was from Maine and on a solo road trip. He was on the road about 2 weeks and said he was thinking of going home. I asked why. He said he was bored and lonely. I asked him what was back home for him, friends? He said yes, but they are always busy so I decided to take this trip. I asked him if he went home what would he do, sit on the couch and watch tv? Yes he said. I explained to him he was here for a reason and not to lose sight of that reason. I asked if he would do this trip again if he went home. He said at my age this is my last trip. We talked on for a good hour and he walked away smiling. I think our conversation was instrumental in helping him recapture his purpose and continue on his trip.

Although I am only on the road about 6 months of the year, when I started I felt the same way. I would be camping in the middle of nowhere sitting around a campfire by myself at night and ask myself, what the hell  am I doing here!?! My first trip or two I went home earlier than intended and then found myself saying what a waste! All that gas and driving wasted! I should still be out there enjoying myself in nature. After 2 years part timing I still get that feeling now and then but it gets easier to catch sight of why I am there in the first place and continue on. I don't know if or when I'll go fulltime but one thing for sure I'll keep going.

 

[SoulRaven]

It is hard to make a lifestyle transition. I started moving around when I was 20 years old, a good 42 years ago. I grew up in MI and spent time in exclusively "green" states after that. I was horrified when I saw the southwest, brown and dusty and add to that the culture shock! After some time, I discovered the hidden beauty of the southwest. That trek across TX, done it a few times and that never, ever got better. Don't give up yet. Maybe a volunteering opportunity if you would like to stay busy or a paid one for extra money. A hobby could be nice, maybe even producing something to make a little extra cash at a flea market. Maybe you need to reevaluate, not the lifestyle itself, but how you had planned to experience it. Tweak it! I don't think you'll be sorry giving it some extra time, giving up too early, you could regret that and maybe not get the opportunity to bring free later. Good luck in whatever you decide.

 

[IanC]

Thanks for all the great insights folks. I don't feel this way all the time - a lot of the time I feel very relaxed, but times like yesterday when I was inside a lot of the day and the squirrels start working overtime in my head, I get a case of shoulda-coulda-woulda about my previous life. But, the fact is that there were very specific reasons why I left it all behind - if it was giving me so much satisfaction I wouldn't have left it in the first place. I do tend to have 20/20 hindsight and the grass I left becomes greener and makes me want to hop back over the fence. It wasn't all bad though and speaking to friends back home makes me realize that. The network of friends - good, kind and generous people -I had built over the years was the toughest thing to leave behind
Massachusetts is a state that dedicates itself to taking as much money from it's citizens as possible - people back home are incredulous when I tell them that there are actually towns elsewhere that offer free camping in city parks and that having a state cop (making 100 grand a year) every five miles with a radar gun holding up drivers is not the norm everywhere. So unless I suddenly become wealthy or dependent on government subsidy, Massachusetts doesn't offer much hope for someone my age other than poverty.
I do have quite a few hobbies and brought some of them with me (Have the metal detector too) - one of them being sculpture. I saw a Hobby Lobby down the road, so I'll see what they have in the way of sculpting mediums. I had a vague idea when I was planning this that I would look for opportunities to be of service to animals, perhaps at a sanctuary so I need to put some time into investigating those.
I do plan to make my way back East towards the 6 month mark. I have my business equipment in storage that I paid for for 6 months (I was a leather crafter making high end bags and luggage) and need to decide what to do with the machines etc. Also make some modifications to the trailer and perhaps get a tow vehicle with more power.
Anyway, I appreciate everyone who took the time to post a reply. It's a relief to know that others have broken through the barrier of societal constraints to find a new way to live. Thanks all.

 

[highdesertranger]

out west here there is a demand for leather craft, Harley gear, horse owners, cowboys(yes they are still around), house decorations, Hippies, etc. just saying. highdesertranger

 

[IanC]

out west here there is a demand for leather craft,  Harley gear,  horse owners,  cowboys(yes they are still around),  house decorations,  Hippies,  etc.  just saying.  highdesertranger

Yup, done it all. Started as a harness/tack maker, moved to motorcycle gear and then onto the finer products I was making when I went belly up

 

[rvpopeye]

It's all perspective.
I drive through Texas and turn the 900 miles straight through into 1500 and zig and zag between so many cool places that I can't remember them all. Multiply that by the dozens of trips I've made and it's like a whole country by itself.

Covering miles isn't what matters ,it's the adventure . Try a little harder to find that.
Report back on what you found so we can find those places too. Do the same in every state you explore.

It WILL grow on you and you'll never have those thoughts of giving up.
Look up my Detours thread for a couple of alternate routes.

Your leather crafts would be an excellent way to spend some time and make money too.
You will have to spend some time figuring how to bring it with you , so that's another thing you can do while you are looking at some beautiful place you found !
When you get back to your storage you will already have a plan on what to do and get back out on the road to adventure.

I have spent lots of hours swinging a metal detector too . That's another thing to do wherever you are.

Think about getting a mental dog to chase those squirrels in your mind..................

 

[ArtW]

Societal programming: get back to work, shovel!
40 years or more of toil and labor and they toss you on the trash heap for a newer shovel they haven't worn all the shiny off yet, and you actually MISS the labor, miss the crack in your handle they fixed with wood glue and duck tape, miss the scratches on your shiny new blade that let oxidation in, miss the feeling of being used
it's a pretty rotten thing to do to a person, get them so conditioned to usury they actually miss it
I'll stop there

 

[drysailor]

Yup, done it all. Started as a harness/tack maker, moved to motorcycle gear and then onto the finer products I was making when I went belly up

Ian, have you already considered doing some kind of small-scale, custom leather work at a few shows, fairs, etc several times per year, or perhaps instructing at summer camps or youth centers? I know there are full-timers who follow the state fairs around California, doing their own things.
I can still remember making moccasins(sp?) at summer camp; still have a couple of knife pouches, a belt & such that my own sons made at their summer camps & I'm now waiting for a grandson to do the same, maybe this summer.

 

[Vagabound]

Societal programming: get back to work, shovel!
40 years or more of toil and labor and they toss you on the trash heap for a newer shovel they haven't worn all the shiny off yet, and you actually MISS the labor, miss the crack in your handle they fixed with wood glue and duck tape, miss the scratches on your shiny new blade that let oxidation in, miss the feeling of being used
it's a pretty rotten thing to do to a person, get them so conditioned to usury they actually miss it
I'll stop there

Art,

Very insightful post. And also one that looks at an aspect of life that most people would rather not look at.

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As I read through this thread, being at the beginning of full timing myself, I've gotten some interesting perspectives, some good ideas, and some reassurances. I also have one thought running around in my head more than any other, and it's related to what Art said above. 

We were constantly conditioned from birth, and have had that conditioning reinforced through every possible medium, that we must be something specific and do something specific and have an exact plan for what's next.

Even though I now see it for the hogwash that it is, lifelong conditioning like that is not easy to overcome. I bumped into people on the road who were financially independent, yet they were in a near tizzy over the fact that they didn't know what to do next.

I think one of the hardest challenges for a number of people that I have encountered, and for me, is to realize that it is okay to just be. It is okay to have no specific plan. It is okay to just live and experience your day. Not in vacation mode, but every day. 

And it is ok to have difficulties and doubts on the path to learning how to do those things.

Tom