Road Scholar

My husband, Kory, and I, took a slightly unusual honeymoon in 1991.  We both quit our jobs right after we got married, put our belongings in storage and bought a motorhome and a small car to tow behind it.  Since we both love to travel, but neither of us had seen much of North America, we decided to spend at least one week in every state and province.  We had a saying painted on the side of our motorhome that became our life’s mission from then on out, “Don’t get so busy making a living that you forget to have a life.”

We came home two years later when the money ran out.  That trip reset all our priorities as we had previously both been workaholics.  As the saying goes, “No one ever said on their deathbed, ‘I should have spent more time at the office.’” 

The number one thing I learned from that trip was – don’t work if you don’t have to.  Really, there are books out there written about living simpler lives.  Americans are so consumption based they need to keep working to pay for all their stuff.  It was amazing to me we were able to live for two years with everything we needed inside a 34 foot vehicle.  What’s the point of the rest of the stuff we had in storage?

Prior to that trip I was sold out to the corporate life.  I managed the computer center for what was then the local telephone company – Contel.  It was a job I was responsible for 24/7 and I burned out far too young.  I made more money than I ever dreamed I could, but for what purpose?  I guess so I could blow it all on a motorhome trip that taught me some valuable life lessons that have stuck with me ever since – like:

-       People don’t always believe what you say, but they always believe what you do.  None of my employees believed me when I said I was going to quit and hit the road, but when I showed up in an RV on my last day, there was no more doubt.

-       The best part of any trip just may well be the journey, not the destination.  I always appreciated my surroundings no matter how different they were from what I was used to.

-       Altering agendas to make time to visit friends is a good thing.

-       Music is essential.

-       Reliving old memories along the way is priceless, but just be sure to move on.

-       Stopping for breaks keeps exhaustion from setting in.

-       Dump the garbage frequently – literally and figuratively.  There’s no point in letting it pile up.  It not only takes up space, but after awhile it begins to stink. 

I’ve heard that we always have enough time, money, and energy for what’s most important to us, and I have to agree.  That journey was life altering.  If you ask me, life is just one big road trip.