Full timing in the West Fall 2016

[Queen]

We are home in Illinois, safe and sound, thanks! Doing well, very happy to be back to normal.

 

[Txjaybird]

Love taking pics of everything. Thank u for always asking for them. Here ya are! ???

:huh:   WHATSIT?   OK I know it's a pine tree...whats the green and silver thing under it. I was just getting ready 2 PM U and couldn't resist this. You are doing great with the pics of where U been. well I got the phone and the card for a mo service, haven't activated it because I don't know how to post pics, I used to know how 2 e mail on a different phone. Queenie has been on property patrol. 1/4 acre 2 days 3 times in last 2wks. while I work on the Viking, looks better than when I bought it. Be safe in your travels.

 

[Yogidog]

Good thing u got Queenie on patrol I bet it is hot down there to be working! U guys should.take long siestas! Gotta go constant battery issues! Had to respond when I say your post! Wish u and Queenie were here campground would be super safe then

 

[Yogidog]

Since I have been spouting off, here is what I am realizing.  This site and people have been such a huge help and support to me, I feel I should say something about my current concern over the environment, national forests, numbers of people doing this and potential backlash from those not doing it!

First and most importantly I never, ever have a problem with individuals living this way, no matter who they are, I want to support them.  My only concern with large numbers of us doing it is backlash, more rules and regulations.  I have some concern of what we could potentially do to forests but, we are probably doing as much damage in houses, and it seems environmental concerns may be to late at this point.  So after reflection, I have decided I want to support people.

My personal situation and reactions are different from many I am sure. I am a trauma survivor and worked with them for twenty five years, so my perspective is skewed towards being highly reactive.  I know I am not alone in this, and those are the ones I am writing to, I sincerely do not mean to offend others, I just forget others are reading and have a totally different take. 

I have seen and continue to see the worst humans can do to each other.  Violence, rape, addiction, poverty, ect.  So this is often my perspective, I am talking about highly unstable situations most of the time, happened again last night, swear to god chased by a pitbull into car with a young guy who could not have cared less.  Went and camped by the ranger, he confirmed my instincts were right.

So I am not talking about the situation many others find them selves in.  Nice places, working vehicles, money, and support. I am talking from a PTSD perspective about half the time, the part that tells me I am safer alone than with others, like many veterans out in the woods.  The other half of the time, I am being healed in nature, quiet, solitude or with safe supportive people.

So I am going to try it a different way, joining with others.  The people I have meet from here have been such kind generous people.  We have so much in common with love of travel and living this way conversation comes easy.

So back to woods for now and low battery, I have learned if I want to go to remote places and still want to be connected, I need a house battery!

 

[ArtW]

some people are great, kind, helpful, some people are asses, some people are crazy as a shithouse rat, I've seen it all, dealt with it all
sometimes it's just better to avoid contact, too bad you have to discover that by trial and error

I grew up in neighborhoods most people don't even walk through, I sometimes wake up reliving some of the situations that kind of life leads to
Nothing like waking in a cold sweat, shaking, cussing, with a memory of some awful thing that happened to you, or that you were forced to do to someone else (usually both at once)
it gets better, over time
I can't imagine how much worse it is for folks that actually served in war zones in combat units

 

[Yogidog]

Art, Thank u for quick response see if I can type through tears of relief that someone gets it. It is embarrasing to have to keep coming back and being more honest, I only do it because this way of life and people here means so much to me.

The neighborhood's u describe is what I have been living in and around since I starting getting disability for ptsd. Guns pulled on me twice, stuff stole
.
Can't thank u enough there has got to be a easier way than this! And u are right it gets triggered and relived,  the other half of the time it is incredibly beautiful out here!! Hope to see u out here bless u

 

[ArtW]

the weird thing for me is, it never bothered me much when such stuff happened, at the time it happened, after the first few times (the first few times were terrifying)
ugly would go down and I would have zero fear, I guess I lost the flight reflex, instead of the fight reflex, so I respond to aggression and threats with with a coiled anticipation, and a roiling gut (maybe that's where my 'flight' went) and, once the ball starts rolling, immediate, aggressive action, no retreat, no surrender, no mercy. It's only later that i get the shakes, and have the memory-dreams, and hurt inside
just like I don't feel the physical pain of injuries until later
Talking helps, when you can, to the right people

 

[Gunny]

The things that trigger your PTSD or whatever you call your anxiousness are called "Stressers" by my esteemed mental health team. Certain sounds, smells or situations can bring the bad things you have endured back to the forefront.

I am by no means an expert on PTSD but have lived with it for many years, still do but with the help of some good people and a few drugs (legal drugs I should add) I can function in a socially accepted manner. I still have dreams in technicolor and wake in a cold sweat but so do many others. Knowing there are many others that have the same issue, maybe not caused by the same type of event(s) but still life changing.

ArtW sums it up as well as my shrink, many times just having someone to lean on is what someone needs. I always thought the song 'Lean on me' by Bill Withers was written for me. I have one friend I served with in Vietnam who is my go to guy when shit gets weird. Or more weird, however one wants to look at it. Hopefully the people on this forum can help you when you need it.

I wish you the Best, Rob

 

[Queen]

My beloved and I have been together for almost 27 years, she knows to the instant when it kicks in, she is there if I need to talk but mostly stays unobtrusive. Thankfully, for me, the dreams/nightmares/sweats/uncontrollable sobbing have waned over the years. Now it's just when a reminder is right in my face, I'll still tear up or want to throw down (depending on the stressor), but I breathe through it and move on.

Wish all you peace with yours.

 

[Yogidog]

U guys and girl, know your s... on this stuff, very comforting I will respond tomorrow when on tablet thanks a ton means alot!

 

[Yogidog]

Don't want to use up people's data so I will respond like this instead of hitting reply button

Art this is the power of talking to others that have experienced similar stuff, I forget till someone else says it.  Like I don't have the usually people I talk to about this stuff when traveling, I need to remember that and develop the friendships I have started on here with those that have been through same. 

I do the cold shut down thing too, and I know what u mean about the guilt of what we do to survive in many ways this is the hardest part to accept. 

Thanks a million!

 

[wagoneer]

Yuma is managable November,December and lots of places to camp, good choice.

 

[Yogidog]

Gunny : u are right about it may not be the same events that caused the PTSD but the affectts are the same. For the last couple of years, many friends, the people I spend the most time with, have been veterans.  We intuitively get where each other is at and what we need.  They have made my life so much happier, like u said people to lean on. What amazes me is how much fun we have, when u have seen your life flash before your eyes, little shit doesn't matter so much anymore. 

I consider the people that have been through the stuff and tried the treatments the ultimate experts, I run things by them before I try any new treatment. The doctors and workers have specialized knowledge the people don't always have, but the people have the lived expereince.  Being on both sides of the fence, working in mental health I can absolutely attest both sides are about the same amount of crazy and sane!

Thank u so much look forward to meeting you and your kitty cat

 

[Yogidog]

Queen : 27 years! Congratulations! That is great she can talk when needed and give space when needed : close relationships when they know u are invaluable like u say, they know the history, where it goes too, what helps. I used to say my boyfriends raised me, they were the parents I didn't have, i owe them a dept of gratitude, we still help each other out. One is keeping track of travels, asking where I am, it brings instant comfort.  

Wishing u a good day thank u always!

 

[ArtW]

I think it great you found an understanding partner, Queen, that's pretty rare, in my experience
Long days and pleasant nights

 

[Yogidog]

It helps me to journal, that's how I got out of the house as quick as I did, I know master plumbers son who writes a blog on truck camping also encourages people to keep a blog or journal and I agree. Something happens when I write, I process it quicker, mover on to the next thing and I stay accountable and on task.  So I will do it again and commit more to it, during this growth time.

This is how the traveling goes for me, I go through a stressful hard time but relatively quickly usually within an hour or so something else happens that gets me out of myself and my problem.  The camp host came by again.  We have had good conversations.  This has happened at every campground this trip.  We have a lot in common, like we do on here.  We are out here for long periods, most read a lot.  Every conversation I learn a lot, and they are interested in my experience.  

Los Padres is known across the world for its hiking trails he was telling me, and encouraging me to go. I explained about my fear of domestic dogs and dog fights so he said I could go with him. I declined he has been hiking for years, we are at 8,000 feet, I could never keep up, but it was a nice offer.

So today we talked about his internet group, traveling pals and cheapliving rv, eating healthy, family stuff, problems in campground, Alaska, he was a biologist up there by Russia.  Books we are reading.

What I love out here in the west is no one is concerned I am out here alone, in Florida retired couples were always worried.  Everyone wanted to know how I could do it.  It is hard to explain.

So before he stopped by I was recovering from my stressful hot, morning in town, it is ninth down there and seventy five up here.  I was reading my Buddhist literature.  I quit talking about it on here because we all know what politics and religion can do to people! But it is a huge part of my life and why most of the time I can handle stuff, keep perspective, that my experience, is what being human is about.  I am happy most of the time.  I started about ten years ago and as time goes by, I devote more time to it, I am most peaceful, happy and grateful when I spend time on it.  I have been able to mediate more than I ever have out here.  Some people and I were talking the other day about how faith in whatever can really help on the road, it is essential to me.  

Jesus is still my best friend I will use what ever works. I found basic Buddhism, although I didn't know what it was through, Dialtetical Behavior Thearpy, that teaches mindfulness. After a couple years I started looking into why it works so well for people who mental health system had given up on.  It starts with mindfulness training.  

The things that help me most out here are, u guys on forum, spiritual practice and travel books.  Crazy stuff is always happening to people who travel and write about it and much of it is funny.  The people u meet, where u end up, u have very little control. I really get the meaning of your at the mercy of people's kindness.  This is much of what makes it scary and very rewarding.

So we talked then I returned to my fun book, Dharma Bums Jack Kerouac, he wrote this before on the road.  It is an excellent travel book I was surprised.  I try to read a fun one about the place I am visiting, I read Desert Solitaire when I was alone in the desert recently it was a perfect orientation, describing the plants and animals I could see right and front of me. Made them more interesting, more alive, I noticed more. It also made me worry about what humans do to nature more.  He was in arches National forest working when they came to survey for the road, it crushes some of us.

Any way Dharma Bums I can't believe. He starts out on the beach in Southern California, then they head up to mountain climb The Sierra Nevada where I just spent a month, all the while trying to incorporate their Buddhist learning, just like I do.  So books have always given me a sense of connection, that I am not the only one who thinks and feels these things, comforting.  

No one is in the campground besides the host now, perfect feel safe but have solitude.  Some of the biggest pine cones I have ever seen.  Cold at night but I am well equipped being from Michigan and u all helping me prepare a few months ago. I have a snow suit, long down Calvin Klein coat stylin and a really warm big sleeping bag, older version, I can't deal with those new mummy bags, I need to be able to turn. 

Brad if u are reading thank u for telling me to hit new reply when I cut and paste, then I don't have formatting problem

Things I need want to do.
Solar panal 100 Wyatt on truck, controller deep cell battery. Ref ridge and phone iPad 

I think cutting through the metal on truck is only way to go for pass through I think it could work if not, not the end of the world. Windows, upon really looking at them seem to much of a dive difference. I think if I cut the metal, and put the accordion stuff in it could work.

I need to be prepared when I go back to Michigan it is a zoo and I need to be able to sleep. If I can't figure it out I need to get a different vehicle, but I know this one, 70,000 miles doing great. I could spend money and end up with bigger problems. 

wishing us all a good day!

 

[Yogidog]

I read daily medation books an found a national geographic one yay yesterday reading fro Taoism I totally believe on adversity. I'll see if they come through

 

[Yogidog]

Took advantage of drop in temp and left los padra. mission accomplished in LA yay here at joshua tree now  I know people advocate not posting where u are but more fun to share, these forest are huge, and we move around so much,be hard to find. I realized high winds dont count out here unless trees are growing sideways which they were on way here! ComfortBle in high winds now cute town joshua tree, dr Seuss looking trees everywhere

 

[Queen]

Thanks, Art, I definitely hit the relationship jackpot.

 

[masterplumber]

Hey Yogi, keep an eye out for Nichole Espinosa in Joshua Tree. I know she spends a lot of time there and often works in the library on her lap top. She rides a yellow motorcycle and is currently living on the road. I guarantee you two will connect on so many levels. And she has a perpetual smile that will light up a room.