The First Step

DAVID: One of the first steps -- the first step actually -- in our quest to become "RVers" is to minimize -- get rid of all the stuff we've accumulated over the years.  This has taken on added importance as Barbara's eyesight worsens.  Old papers, cards and letters aren't as priceless as they once were.  And this week I've been shredding personal papers from as long ago as 2007.  Memories of past friendships, jobs, incidents remembered, but what good does it do to live in the past?  Our goal is to experience new things while Barbara can see them.  And there will be no room for lots of "extras."
One item I've moved from place to place for the last 40+ years is my high school letterman's jacket.  It is bulky and out of style, but it holds many memories.  Still, the time has come to part with it.  If we are to become "nomads" we must live minimally.  I may reduce it to a photo -- much easier to carry along.  I've also taken years of photographs and scanned them to the computer, adding to those my dear brother Roger scanned before his death in 2010. A lot of memories can be stored on a thumb drive.
Update: I DID reduce the letterman's jacket to a photo.  It went out in Monday's trash.  No fanfare, no second-guessing.  It was bulky and it was time to part with it.
BARBARA:  All of the YouTube videos of couples who have “sold everything” and taken to the road in an RV have sparked my interest.  They talk about all of the fun they are having and how close the experience has made them as a couple.  
Dave and I are already very close.  He is absolutely my best friend and the love of my life.  What’s so wonderful about this man is that he has made MY dreams HIS dreams.  For years I dreamed of owning a bed and breakfast.   He adopted that dream after we married, and began looking for the perfect place for us to become innkeepers and entrepreneurs.   We found the one that suited everything we were looking for, but it was too late.  We had just purchased a house and with the loss of my eyesight, (I have advanced Macular Degeneration – I cry whenever I have to actually say that), we just felt that it was another one of those things we have to cross out on our list of dreams.  

I don’t want my AMD to slow us down.  It has already changed my life immensely.   I can no longer read a whole book, I even struggle reading a short text message.  I can’t sew anymore, cannot drive myself anywhere.  I have no depth perception and I am going color blind.  I don’t see much more than a blur beyond 10 feet and I don’t like for Dave to leave me when we are in a store.  I cannot recognize him from a distance.  I’m afraid I might come up to a strange man and grab his arm or something!!   

I know what vision I have left in my “good” eye will eventually go, and I won’t have much motivation to do anything.  I picture myself as a lump of human flesh just sitting in a chair, waiting for someone to tell me when to eat and when to go to bed.  And everyday just living to get up the next morning and follow the same routine.  But, like I said, the videos on YouTube about the RVers has sparked my sense of adventure and I want to see as much of the country while I still have some vision. 

If there was ever a couple who should not take on this quest, it would surely be us.  Dave is a journalist.  He has never had an interest in things mechanical.   I love to see how things work and figure out the best way to do something, but I am on the far side of going blind.   So, we should probably not be taking on this task, but I don’t want to become that lump of flesh just yet.  

My sweet husband has agreed to dream this dream with me for the time being.  He has committed to the preparations of moving forward toward this journey.  And of course, getting rid of all of our stuff is the first step.  So we clean, cull, donate and shred.   We prioritize what we feel is valuable, and determine what we can live without.  We realize that our children do not want all of our “old stuff” because they don’t value the things we did and those things that our parents passed down to us.  That’s perfectly fine, I don’t blame them.   It’s just stuff.  

 We have moved so many times that we receive Christmas cards from only those who can keep up with us!   We are already vagabond nomads, unsettled explorers.   Everyone thinks we are crazy, but we have enjoyed everywhere we have lived, and always are on the lookout for our next move.

 So, what is next but to RV?    I’m up for the challenge!     I have asked Dave to commit to six months or until we find that we simply cannot do it, or it drives us apart rather than closer together.  We hope to find kind, safe people along the way.  Everyone on those videos talks about how nice people are.   We are hoping the Lord will steer us in the direction of that kind of fellow RVers.  

 We realize that this is not going to be easy.   So before you want to tell us how hard it will be, WE KNOW.  We will be studying and researching the best way to handle as many situations as we may encounter.  We will do our best to be prepared for every emergency that may come along.  If anyone has constructive suggestions, or positively stated warnings, please feel free to say something.  But just pray for us instead of raining on our parade.

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