The bag of recyclables was in the middle of the aisle again,
and I kicked it in frustration. After being on the road for a month in the RV,
I was tired of the inevitable clutter and lack of enough storage space. At
home, we have a cabinet that is dedicated to various recyclables, and another
that holds trash.
Much as I enjoy RV travel, I must admit there are times when
I long to get off the road for a while, to return to a better-ordered life.
Though I am far from a perfect housekeeper, at home I do have more space for
storing things, and more time for housework. The laundry doesn’t pile up (and
certainly doesn’t sit in a duffel bag in the shower until it gets moldy, as can
happen when we are traveling!). I do the dishes every morning, rather than
leaving them in the sink to conserve water. I’d like more opportunities for
personal care, too. I’d like to shampoo my hair on the same day when I need to,
and take a shower whenever I get dirty.
Another thing I miss is the El Dorado County Library, where I
belong to an enjoyable book club and hang out often to read magazines and
newspapers as well as to check out books and videos. Not having yet invested in
an e-book reader, I sometimes run out of reading material when we travel—and
for me, that is a major problem. There simply isn’t space in our RV for more
than a few paperbacks.
Keeping up with world events on the road is difficult, too.
(I’d be lost without NPR.) Unless I have wi-fi on a Tuesday, I am liable to
miss The New York Times’ weekly Science
Times. Finding the print version would be even better, but that often isn’t
possible. At home, I would simply walk down the hill to the local newsstand to
buy it.
I miss the sociability of life at home, too. I’m far from
being a party animal, but do enjoy talking with neighbors, salespersons, and so
on. It’s nice to chat with people I meet often in everyday life. Because of our
travels, I see too little of friends and family in California.
On the other hand, one advantage of RV life is the
opportunity to visit old friends in other parts of the country. Many people of
our age seem to travel very little, and so the RV can take me to them. I can
visit my old college campus, go back to cities where I once lived. In spite of
the irritating aspects of living for months in an RV, at this time of my life
it seems preferable to staying at home. And so, I hope to go on roving about
for as long as possible, until old age or illness prevents it. There will likely
be time enough for staying home in a tidy house and remembering with nostalgia
what it was like to travel in an RV.
