Out on a Limb

Since publishing my first post, I have been feeling just a tad anxious each night around four a.m. I just announced to the virtual world that we are about to sell our house, get rid of many of our possessions, keep almost everything else in storage, and travel in a small RV for at least a year. It’s a little like announcing to the world that you plan to lose a hundred pounds over the next year, and inviting them to follow the daily progress of your diet online. What if we fail?

Here’s a little known fact: Charlie and I have not yet slept a single night in our RV. We were supposed to take a shakedown trip to Florida in January, but then I fractured my pesky elbow (I will never call it a funny-bone again), requiring surgery, and all bets were off. We are not going to sleep in “The Rialta” (soon to be endowed with a new name…more about that in a future post) until exactly two weeks before the house closing, when we finally take our shakedown trip, destination Vermont. Then we will face the truth: Can we two aging, snoring baby-boomers be comfortable in a full-sized bed (being accustomed to a king)  that doubles as a kitchen table with two bench seats during the day? What if we hate it????

I’m optimistic for a few reasons. First, we both have experience sleeping in the v-berth of a sailboat, and I have years of experience with tent camping which is much rougher than RV camping. Second, I am not a quitter. And lastly, what choice do we have now?

All this raises another question. How honest do I want to be on this blog? Honestly, I want to be very honest. You followers are going to be my conscience. Writing this is my opportunity to reflect and figure out what I’m learning on this journey. So, if at any point you think I’m holding back, challenge me!

Since I’m being honest here, I want to share this: For the last two evenings we have had dinner with close friends: on Friday, with two other couples, and on Saturday with one couple. Both nights, while sharing delicious food with people whose company we enjoy tremendously, naturally we talked of our exciting plans, which while imminent are not immediate. But each evening, as we took our leave from each other, our friends were saying goodbye to us as if they didn’t know if they would ever see us again. It was more than jarring. We said, “We’re not dropping off the face of the earth, you know, and it’s six weeks before we even go anywhere.” Still, our friends felt differently. It was as if by announcing our plans, we had crossed a line into an oblivion that they felt they would not be a part of. Or maybe they wanted no part of.

So by making such plans, have we made ourselves outcasts, of sorts? Have we already passed a point of no return?

In a way, we have. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still excited. But it seems we are already out on a limb. You guys get to watch and see how gracefully we handle it all! ©

“The Rialta”