Can you believe it? We decided to take some time off from full-time RV living and in this post I’m going to explain why and how it went.
We purchased the RV in 2019 and expected to originally hit the road in early 2020 for a 1-2 year travel sabbatical. I couldn’t wrap up my job until late January 2020 and by then we’d also decided to “burn the bridges” and take a no-turning-back approach and sell our home. The new plan was to load up everything we had into the RV and into our 10×10 storage unit and drive away on April 1st of 2020…but, you know…2020. By mid-summer we’d RVed some western states and then returned to sell our house in the winter when it was looking like the world would survive. 2021 was a full year of western states. 2022 we headed for the east coast and eastern Canada, including the Canadian Maritimes. 2023 took us through the deep south and we angled up into Banff, Jasper, and B.C.
As winter started to roll around, we were experiencing decision fatigue. Moving from place to place every 1-3 days for the last 2.5 years is not much different from planning a trip every week – routes, where to stay and what to do while there.
In addition, we
- received news that my step-mom, Sue, finally got a diagnosis – ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease)
- welcomed two new granddaughters that we’d barely seen (one near Bend, OR and one in Phoenix)
- had a “squishy” RV floor, as the foam used in construction was compressing from full-time use and
- needed warmer weather for winter that I’d hoped wasn’t in Texas or Florida.
The combination had us seeking out a short-term, but fully-furnished, apartment in Phoenix and we were lucky enough to find one!
Using shopping bags, trip after trip from the RV to the third floor, we managed to move into the apartment in late October. My generous brother agreed to loan me a car so a few weeks later I flew to Montana and drove it to Colorado where Doug met me to complete the drive to Phoenix. He and I took a circuitous route through Arches National Park and Mexican Hat on the way back to Phoenix.
Once we’d moved in, the long shower was much appreciated along with the huge cooking and food storage space , but we found ourselves a little lost in the big 2 bedroom, 2 bath apartment with no specific plans or places to be! We missed the RV. At one point, Doug sat on the couch, I sat right next to him and the dog climbed up in between. We were gathered in one corner with 3/4 of the couch left unattended as we were used to being together…close together. LOL! I had no idea it was going to be this difficult to adjust back to “normal” life!
Luckily the holidays were right around the corner so we
- attend one granddaughter’s third birthday and Halloween
- had thanksgiving with our friends, went to a holiday parades, saw neighborhood lights, shopped and wrapped gifts, and even put up Christmas tree (which we hadn’t done in 4 years!)
- baked cookies, made Christmas cocktails with friends, and watched holiday movies
- dressed up to see the Nutcracker for my birthday, and
- watched granddaughters open our Christmas gifts.
In January,
- we went out, for the first time ever, on New Year’s Eve
- had Doug’s daughter and son-in-law as well as our friends, the Lisacs, visit.
In February,
- I celebrated stepmom Sue’s and my Dad’s 77th birthday in Colorado!
- We vacationed in Maui (separate post on that), and visited Doug’s sister and brother-in-law
- We visited my sister and brother-in-law in Las Vegas (more on that later).
Throughout our stay, which ended on April 1,
I made several more trips to Colorado to spend time with family, we saw the AZ Botanical Gardens, had our friend Dave Sherve visit us, and attended several live music events with my bestie, Cindy, and her husband, including a phenomenal Ashley McBryde concert. In addition, Doug rode his new mountain bike, we spent time with Doug’s son Hayden and his family. We enjoyed gorgeous sunsets, some BBQs, practiced line dancing at my BFFs house, went for walks, and read.
We also had time to repair the RV flooring, re-assess what we were carrying in the RV, build some puzzles, stream some shows, hang out with friends, and think about next steps.
All this is to tell you that the world didn’t stop when we paused RVing. It changed a bit, maybe slowed a bit. It gave us some much appreciated time with friends and loved ones (although we wish we’d had even more, particularly with Mama Sue who passed on March 7th). It allowed us to recharge, regroup, and get ready for 2024. We have just 9 states left to see in the RV and are hoping to get it done this year! More on that later.
More winter video highlights from our Arizona sabbatical from the RV travel sabbatical (hahaha!) are below:
