Should I Delay My Departure

[user 29503]

I'm on the final stretch in building my van.  For family reasons I'm sticking around until after the Holidays, so midnight December 31st is my finish deadline. 

The country isn't the worst it could, but lets face it, its not good.  Inflation, gas prices can't be trusted and have proven to get worse, COVID, COVID restrictions, vaccine mandates for big companies (Amazon).

Should I park it for a while, see if things settle down or go right ahead and leave?

 

[cherterr]

Only you know for sure.  I, too, consider all this ‘junk’. Lol.  We can either let it paralyze us or get going.
  Frankly, from what I see: TV makes you think the worst- and people who are OUT there don’t seem to have as many issues as we might think.
  Sometimes life just needs its space and we must be sensitive to what our inner voice is telling us.
  I always want to take off for RTR- but keep skipping it because - well- I don’t really NEED to be somewhere else in winter.  It’s warm here. I’m so cheap I always decide to save my money for escaping the heat in summertime.
  You could take shorter trips til you decide. Maybe seeing the reality of ‘what’s out there’ will help you make up your mind.  :heart:

 

[WanderingRose]

Tomorrow is not guaranteed.

If you are ready…go.

 

[John in Montreal]

Oil prices are not that high. I expect gas prices will go much higher as global demand for petroleum recovers to pre-pandemic levels.

 

[MrNoodly]

Delay it until when? Until things get better? Why should we believe they will? And why should you believe you'd be better off staying put in the place you wanted to leave in the first place? Because it's familiar, and therefore somehow safer?

I've been vandwelling for eight years and it's as if most of the Big Problems & Craziness have been on another planet. Why did all the philosophers go out into the woods or desert or mountains? To get away from the BS, the noise, and the insanity so they could think, so they could get their head straight. Sure, I've been affected by food and fuel prices, but the rest of it? Nah, not away from "civilization." And when I need to rejoin the "normal" world, I put on my mask, get my supplies and leave.

 

[mattvei]

things will always be in flux. You can find an excuse to rationalize anything. As long as you have an attitude of flexibility and persistence, and the funds to back it up, do it now.

 

[user 29503]

Delay it until when? Until things get better? 

Like Bob quotes, you get more money, but you can't get more time.  The "Swarm" is on it's own planet.  Like you said, if I stay, I'm joist loitering around a place I hated before things got bad.

 

[Freelander]

You don't have to go far. Its not like to have to be somewhere in a week if it takes you to week there that is part of the journey. Take small trip first, and enjoy the ride.

Just slow down and enjoy life, there are enough places to go and visit, with out worry. If you wait until the time is right you will never go. Just let the map take you wherever to want to go.

I have a few long trips planned, and it takes me all summer that is good. I'm in no hurry to get anywhere.

The only reason I am sitting in an RV Park is because had a few things I needed to work out before hitting the road full time again. And besides I got a job driving a school bus here that covers the lot rent. I plan to leave here no later than June 5th but if the push me I will leave before then.

Only you will know when its time, but if you wait to long time catch you. I plan to be in Quartzite next winter, but that can change anytime.

 

[jacqueg]

I'm on the final stretch in building my van.  For family reasons I'm sticking around until after the Holidays, so midnight December 31st is my finish deadline. 

The country isn't the worst it could, but lets face it, its not good.  Inflation, gas prices can't be trusted and have proven to get worse, COVID, COVID restrictions, vaccine mandates for big companies (Amazon).

Should I park it for a while, see if things settle down or go right ahead and leave?

So what?

I started right as it became apparent that COVID was going to be a serious thing. I haven't found it cramped my style much. 

If you're really not sure, you can always stay where you are for a while, and begin by taking shorter trips. But whatever you do, don't finish your build and then let it sit indefinitely. Use it!

 

[flying kurbmaster]

Yes I would delay…..it is completely crazy past the boundaries, gaz is too expensive, and rising, there are too many guns and crazy people wandering freely, large areas where you can’t buy food and most of the rivers are void of fish, game is gone, the mid west has dried out, vast areas of desert with no vegetation along with very strong winds. Most police forces are on the take. The west coast has burnt down and the cities along east coast are under water. A lot of the bridges have fallen so finding ways around gorges or over rivers is difficult. You could try to sneak in to Canada but you would have ditch to the van as they are no longer allowing anyone in by road, bear attacks are on the rise. Mexico is another option but it is dangerous due to the cartel gangs policing the northern half of the country, it is expensive to bribe your way through, again you would have to ditch the van they are not allowing Americans in due to the large number of refugees trying to get out of the US. The news is not covering this that’s why you don’t hear about it. If you are eating three a day don’t stray you are one of the lucky ones. I hear there are small bubbles that seem to be going about there lives as normal if you are in one of these then stay don’t risk it. You know the old workplace safety saying nobody move nobody gets hurt has never been more relevant.

 

[Frood]

Don't let fear dominate your decision making process. Take reasonable precautions, but live your life. It may not be how me meant
his words to be taken, but as Ben Franklin wrote: “Those who give up liberty for security deserve neither.” You can travel and live
your life pretty much as normal by taking a few basic precautions and not expose yourself to any more of the world's craziness than
you would experience ensconced in your immobile domicile.

Another phrase that comes to mind is "Don't use a cannon to kill a mosquito." COVID is a fact of life now, and will be from here on
out. Once again, Wearing a mask and carrying a bottle of hand-sanitizer is simple prudence. Moving into a bunker and sanitizing
everything with high-energy short-wavelength UV light and multi-layer HEPA filtration is a bit much (But hey, if it's your choice, go
for it).

(Reference of original meaning of Franklin's quote can be found at:
https://techcrunch.com/2014/02/14/h...jamin-franklins-quote-on-liberty-vs-security/ )

Scott

 

[Tony's Dream]

I have lived for nearly 60 years. I have discovered that if you wait for perfect conditions, you tend to miss out on a lot.

 

[maki2]

Sitting in a sticks and bricks watching all the news stkories is going to cause mental illness as well as damage to your body from all the stress hormones tose news stories generate. Run awy to a peaceful place for your physical and mental health. It is called the GREAT ESCAPE. Calmly head for the nearest exit that leads to a life of dispersed camping.

Quit over thinking and second guessing and worrying about what ifs and just go for it. It is not a life sentence to world chaos as disaster.

As to high gas prices, I am not out here on the road doing constant long drives for sightseeing. I do longer stays in places that are not a long drive to small towns where I can get groceries, have access to a post office, auto suply store and such. So my gas consumption is still very modest unless I choose to make a long drive to another area of the US. Of course I do not camp in California or other regions with extremely high gas prices. On long drives I gas up at truck stop, not in the cities where prices are higher.

This year's RTR is not a campout. It is commute to the location the seminars are held but find your own camping spot. The seminars are great for newbies to the life so you might be exactly the person they are designed for. Good idea to make that your first destination and a place to make new friends with a lifestyle in common. That will reduce your anxiety levels and give you a foundation of can-do-it confidence.

 

[Freelander]

You can either sit in town and listen to the traffic and watch TV, or you can sit beside the lake in the morning listening to the birds and watching the Sun come up.

For me watching the sun come up is a better option.

 

[cherterr]

What a Great thread!!

 

[mpruet]

I fail to see how any of your arguments really make sense.  Let’s consider.

1. Inflation

Inflation has averaged about 2% for decades.  It may seem like we are currently having a higher level, but that’s mainly because for the past few years we’ve had a near zero percentage.  I remember well when a really good home cost less than $10,000.  

Also I remember reading a book about finances when I was in high school.  I remember a statement in it which went something like “You know that you’ve made it big when your annual salary is greater than 5 digits.”  Yep - at the time if you made more than $10,000, you were considered wealthy.  

2. Gas prices can’t be trusted

They never have been trusted.  They’ve fluctuated ever since I’ve been alive.  I well remember when it cost about 35 cents a gallon.  

3. COVID

While covid is a bad disease, it isn’t the first time that we’ve had epidemics.  When I grew up we had a terrible outbreak of polio.  Children ended up with leg braces or even worse, in an iron lung.  Then there was an outbreak of measles and chicken pox. 

4. COVID restrictions

Yes - there are restrictions, but it appears that they are becoming more reasonable.  The border between the US and Canada/Mexico is now open as of Nov. 8

5. Vaccine mandates for big companies (Amazon)

First of all, does this really affect you?

Again, when I was growing up, we had a huge list of vaccines that were required to go to school or join the military.  Nothing new here.

 

[JeanInaBox]

Vaccines for military…. I remember those guns hitting both arms at the same time. Multiple injections all at once. I think I heard it was 7 in each arm. Don’t remember. I felt worse after that than I did the COVID vaccines.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[1shemp]

Remember the old song.You don't know what you've got until you lose it.Don't throw away what you have carelessly.

 

[user 29503]

Thanks to everyone who replied. I want to go.  As a couple of sort of insinuated, the life I live now and the life on the road are going to be to different ones, one detached from the garbage, and one not.  I look forward to the sunrises.

Thanks again.

 

[Silver]

* "most of the rivers are void of fish, game is gone"
Yes.  We can do a better job @ conservation
..
* "west coast has burnt down"
Why do they rebuild in fire zones?
* "sneak in to Canada"
I do not sneak.