How about the time we were traveling down Highway 50 outside of Strong City, Kansas with our windows open when two semis passing in the opposite direction created a vortex inside our motorhome and pushed both driver and passenger side front windows out from their seal.

Or the two times we forgot to check to make sure our cabinet doors stayed closed before extending the slides after a day of traveling…two cabinet doors repaired.

Oh, and the leaky living room A/C unit in San Antonio that left water running down our bathroom wall…and we can’t forget about the leaking toilet.

“We can all tend to get caught up in the complications of life that we create; we live life for other people. It’s a harrowing moment when you’re confronted with an end, and you have to make the choice to live your life for you.”

Elliott Knight

Our problems are no more or less than what we experienced owning a sticks/bricks home but we do have to be cognizant that our home rolls down the highway, bouncing over potholes, and things get loosened and thrown around from time to time.

Recap Of Our First Year

Fourteen States

States visited: We visited fourteen states our first year: Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Iowa, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho.

National Parks: Seven National Parks: Rocky Mountain National Park, Great Sand Dunes NP, Black Canyon NP, Carlsbad Caverns NP, Grand Teton NP, Yellowstone NP, and Glacier NP. Only 51 more National Parks to go!!!

Miles driven (motorhome only): 12, 344

Where Did We Stay

Private Campgrounds: 147 days

State Parks, Corps of Engineers, National Forests: 46 days

Dry-docking / Free places (Friends/Families homes, Cabelas, Bureau of Land Mgt, Sams Club, etc.): 120 days

Cruising: 40 days

Hotel stays: 12 days

“In the end, we only regret the chances we did not take.”

Anonymous

What Have We Learned

Traveling full-time has forced us to disconnect from what we knew as our normal routine. It is much more than the Instagram sunset or Mountain View. For us, it was about following a dream of getting more out of life, spending more time together as a couple, and creating memories that will last a lifetime.

“We travel not to escape life, but for life to not escape us.”

Unknown

Rolling down that long stretch of road in our motorhome has taught us more about ourselves than 30 years of routine. Traveling to new places with different cultures has broadened our perspective, making us aware and open to new things. It has forced us to to re-evaluate ourselves and reinvent our lives as we realize that different is not better or worse, just different.

Traveling has allowed us to try new things, whether it was swimming with the stingrays in the Grand Cayman Islands or climbing over a snow pass in Glacier National Park at 10,000 feet.

We have learned to appreciate the things we had taken for granted in our former home. Lets take the dreaded plumbing for instance. Instead of just flushing the toilet and being done with our “business”, we now carry our “business” around with us until our “business” tank is full and needs dumped. How about water? When we dry-dock somewhere, we do not have an unlimited amount of water to do dishes, shower, or laundry. Our fresh water tank only holds 100 gallons so we take “navy” showers and use paper plates/plastic cups. And let us not forget about electricity…when we are not hooked up to electrical at a campground, we rely upon batteries to provide an energy source. It is difficult explaining to your wife that she can not run her 1500w hair dryer for ten minutes because it drains the batteries.

Tracy

Tracy, the expert behind OurNextRVAdventure.com, brings over 9 years of experience in travel writing and RV living. With a Master’s degree in Travel and Tourism Management, she offers in-depth knowledge on RV maintenance, scenic routes, and campground recommendations. Connect with her adventures on Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram.

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Our first leg of the trip ended at Hays, Kansas (613 miles) where we enjoyed a nice steak dinner at the Whiskey Creek Steakhouse for Tracy’s birthday.  After dinner, we dry-docked at the Hays Walmart Supercenter for the night.

We finished up the next day at Emporia, Kansas (213 miles) and spent the next four days with our family.  On September 15th, we parked the Grizzly at Lana’s moms house, said goodbye to our family and fur babies, and drove down to Galveston, Texas (735 miles) where we boarded the Royal Caribbean’s Liberty of the Seas for a two-week, back-to-back Eastern/Western Caribbean cruise to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary.

We had not been on a cruise for a couple of years and were looking forward to spending time on the seas.  The Liberty of the Seas is part of the Freedom class of ships, our favorite fleet.

Our first port of call was Cozumel, Mexico.  It was our first time in Cozumel so we chose to window shop, have a nice lunch at Mr. Sanchos Restaurant,  and stop at the local Starbucks for free Wi-fi in order for us to chat with our family and catch up on emails.

Our second port of call was to the Grand Cayman Islands.  We booked an excursion to swim with the stingrays and it was the best excursion we had ever been on.  The tour operator met us at the port and we were loaded into an open air van and driven to a smaller inlet where we got onto a small passenger boat.  The boat ride was approximately eight miles out to sea to an area referred to us by the locals as Stingray City, an area surrounded by wave breaks and the water ranged from 3′ to 5′ in depth.  During our excursion, we had more than fifty stingrays swimming around us, between our legs, and on our backs:-)

Our third port of call was Falmouth, Jamaica, where we elected to stay on the ship to play golf and catch some sun rays.

We spent a couple more days at sea and arrived back at Galveston, Texas on September 23rd.  We kept our same cabin for the second week of the cruise, which was the Western Caribbean.

On September 24th, we celebrated our wedding anniversary with a wonderful dinner at Giovanni’s Restaurant aboard the ship.

Our first port of call was Roatan, Honduras.  Roatan Island is part of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, the second largest barrier reef in the world and has some of the clearest waters and pristine white sand beaches you will see in the Caribbean.  It is located approximately 40 miles off the northern coast of Honduras. Five months earlier, a large cruise ship MSC Armonia crashed into the newly built Honduran dock at Coxen Hole, destroying the pier in the process.

We booked a ZIP-N-DIP excursion in Roatan through TripAdvisor.  The tour operator picked us up at the dock in an open transport truck and off we drove into the jungle.  The roads in Roatan were narrow and busy but we had a great driver.  After arriving at our destination, we were whisked into groups and given our safety instructions.  The tour comprised of eleven zip line platforms that soared over the native jungle.

After the zip line concluded, we were taken to a wonderful, pristine white sandy beach called West Bay End.  We were supplied with beach chairs, an umbrella, and our personal waiter for an overall great experience.

Our second port of call was to Belize City.  The shallow water surrounding Belize City did not allow our ship to port so we were tendered and used water taxis to get to shore.  Our day in Belize was rainy and overcast so we decided forego any excursion and conduct our own walking tour.  We ended up having drinks and lunch at The Wet Lizard located in the Fort Street Tourism Village.  After lunch, the rain began falling more steadily so we decided to head back to the ship, calling it a day.

Our third port of call took us back to Cozumel, Mexico.  This time around we opted to rent a dune buggy and tour the jungle.  The tour started out at the port and traveled to the undeveloped, eastern shoreline of Cozumel.  The tour guide had a nice lunch stop planned but Lana and I skipped it and headed for  the pristine, untouched white sands along the beach for an hour.  We concluded the tour by driving through the city proper of Cozumel and along residential streets.  I must say we were quite disturbed learning about the deceit living conditions in Cozumel.  What we saw as tourist along Rafael Melgar Boulevard was a facade and not an accurate depiction of how life was actually lived in the city of paradise.

We attended a cupcake making class on board…

…and on September 30th we docked back at Galveston, Texas, got into the car and headed back Kansas.

Tracy

Tracy, the expert behind OurNextRVAdventure.com, brings over 9 years of experience in travel writing and RV living. With a Master’s degree in Travel and Tourism Management, she offers in-depth knowledge on RV maintenance, scenic routes, and campground recommendations. Connect with her adventures on Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram.

ournextrvadventure.com

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