Roads Less Traveled
Mr. Bigstuff wants me to entertain the RV lifestyle. He has romanticized about the idea of packing the dog and a few bags into our mobile home away from home in order to find adventure across the country. I love his sense of adventure. There is nothing romantic to me about RV living, though. In fact, the entire concept was an eye-opening exercise in the concept of a different shared-experience among couples. Mix in a little ADHD magic and that differentiation can be even more divergent.
Take “Operation RV” for example. We both love the idea of traveling the country, ease of finding a place to lay our heads each night - an RV can play into a certain amount of spontaneity if you are willing to spend a night in the Wal-Mart parking lot along the way. It means we can travel with out trusty 4-legged companion and not worry about finding places for him to rest his paws while providing us a little flexibility in our own activities that are NOT dog-friendly. He loves the idea that the super-pup could hunker down in an A/C-cooled space while we watch our boys play a double-header. I share that love - we brought him to a series last fall and it was probably the biggest learning experience of the spring - baseball + Labrador retriever = frustration (for all of us).
My beloved thought of all of the things that I might want/love/need in our vacation vehicle: a kitchen to cook(because this is a passion of mine), a nice comfy bed, AC, flexible seating, enough room for the boys to visit and or for us to bring a few along. He’s a thinker. I love that about him. However, cooking in a pseudo kitchen is not my favorite place to be on vacation - I love my super spacious kitchen at home, with plenty of room for cooking and chopping, a fridge that can hold all of my goodies, and a true oven. Unless we are going big, that isn’t going to happen. He also researched the smallest of RVs so that I might enjoy driving it. Um…danger, Will Robinson! This mama has no desire to drive something 6 feet longer than our big SUV…especially when we are talking highway miles and national parks.
Where Mr. Bigstuff sees exciting adventure, I see chores and a buzzkill to the concept of traveling across the country. He sees an all-in-one vehicle. I see an increase in planning and a decrease in spontaneity. I plan and coordinate all day long every day that I am not on vacation. While I am fairly adept at it, it is work. I love vacation where we can park our car wherever we want, stop when needed, dine where it feels fun, and sleep where I don’t have to change my own sheets or hide my bed away every morning in order to eat breakfast at a table. I see gas guzzling and feel tied to a vehicle that might limit my experience in a new space. I see maintenance that rivals boat ownership and figuring out how and where to empty the toilet reservoir. That last one is a big minus in my book.
Full disclosure, he might be right and I might be a buzzkill. So, I have encouraged him to rent one or two for a trial run. Open minds on both ends. The vision of utilizing this type of vehicle for travel is very different for each of us. He sees all-inclusive vacation living. I see extra chores and limited parking. But one thing we share is the desire to get out and see the world, together. I’m so thankful for that.. and also for the open conversations we have come to have around perceived shared experiences.