Having already discussed this superdog in part one, I now focus on its owner. Notice his countenance. Even in this picture you can see that he (lets call him Art) is miserable. I listened----understood---( he feels lonesome, inept, meaningless, adrift)---and when he was talked out----told him exactly what he needed to hear: 1. That living on the road takes some getting used to. ("do it 6 weeks and it will become a lifestyle" Kerouac)
2. Once mastered, it is ecstatic and even addictive.
3. Experience is accelerated, perspectives broadened, senses heightened, emotions deepened.
....."With relaxed intent we slice through events
Like the edge of a fast moving knife;
So we "road pioneers" live three hundred years
In the span of a single life."......
4. A million full-time RVers are now "on the road". Most are friendly, helpful.
5. And millions of free camping places are waiting to be enjoyed.
6. 100,000 of us gather at Quartzsite, Az each Jan and Feb for a grand festival.
7. THE SLABS near Niland, Ca is open to all----the only permanent free campground in America
8. Solar Panels and deep cycle batteries can power our lifestyle--TV, radio, lights, power tools.
9. Water, trash cans, dump stations, mail forwarding services and propane dispensers are everywhere and cheap.
10. New electronic gadgets (phone and internet devices) connect us to the whole world.
11. $400 a month (carefully spent) will sustain the mobile lifestyle.
12 Delorme detailed maps show the free camping areas.
13. RV organizations like the WINs, Escapees and LOWs connect us full timers so that we never need be lonely or friendless.
14. COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS ART---YOU ARE LIVING THE DREAM.
When I finished---tears appeared and he said: "God sent you to me."
I replied: " I felt the same way when a very nice fellow told this to me. Pass it on Art."
$400 a month?
ReplyDeleteTrust me Rob. I know several who make it on that and less. I usually spend less than a thousand.(considerably less sometimes)
ReplyDeleteDon't trust him, Rob. (grin)
ReplyDeleteThe trouble with giving helpful practical advice, like the author was trying to do, is that it has to make assumptions that might not apply to you.
1. The $400/month assumes that someone else is paying your health insurance.
2. It ignores depreciation and maintenance on your rig.
3. It ignores the relentless erosion of your nest egg by inflation.
I wish the author would learn to appreciate 1000 Watt generators by Honda, et al. Solar panels are great but they have their limitations.
And I wish the scoundrel would stop over-selling the Slabs. (grin)
theBoonie
Perhaps you're right Boonie ( a title you may no longer use while you live in a trailer park) but the man needed a pep talk; "brightside" remarks. I save the darkside for another day. (recommended reading for Boonie: The Audacity of Hope)
ReplyDeleteHonda 1000 generators are indeed a lesser evil, but I've lived 20 years without one. I even run my fridge on solar/battery power.
And Re the Slabs: I guess it takes spiritual eyes to see the miracle of that place. Someday history will honor this rag tag patch of earth as the seed and mother of the NEW VALUES REVOLUTION, modeling similar experiments nationwide. (grin)
With that $400 I was figuring that was just living expenses, and living rent free at that... Slabs or some other collection of no charge spots.
ReplyDeleteWith gas approaching $3/gallon (I saw $2.939 yesterday) $400 will not cover a lot of driving.
I'm guessing the Honda generator talk is an old joke between friends..
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ReplyDeleteI know I can live on less than $400 a month. I paid $300 for my slide-in truck camper many years ago and I'm quite certain it will bring more than that at any time, so depreciation CAN BE a non-issue. My '72 Chev 3/4 ton Camper Special has 340,000 miles on it . . . new pads for the front discs are $20 and take about two of my hours to replace. I can replace the water pump in ONE hour. (I paid $1,200 for my truck in '76 . . . she would sell for more than that any day now too, but she's NOT for sale at ANY price.) With any attention at all, she will easily outlast me at VERY low cost . . . still running with the original transmission; original rear-end too (2nd engine).
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If you don't have money to blow, you don't roll. Pretty simple really.
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As a nation we're already paying three times(!) what the Japanese do (per capita) for health care which covers every man, woman, and child regardless of personal circumstance. I carry a nicely-done pamphlet with me which has places for anyone in an emergency room who refuses me care to sign their name. It also warns them of the consequences for violating federal law. (Nobody has signed it yet.) I say if the dog-lickers don't have sense enough to nationalize health care (as every other industrialized nation has done for decades now), then we force 'em into it any way we can. Health Care Cost? Zero.
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sail4free
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Maybe health care is free to you, but some of us are paying for ourselves and for you too..... Hospitals and equipment are not natural resources, and doctors and nurses need an income to live. Remember, all of the free stuff cannot exist if someone else is not doing the work.
ReplyDeleteWe (collectively) are already paying paying 3 times what the Japanese pay and getting less health care for it.
ReplyDeleteSomeone is making out...