Five Things - April 17, 2023

Welcome to my blog titled “Five Things” where you can expect just that - five random musings or reflections from the previous week or so. In addition, at the end of the blog, I’ll keep a running itinerary of our travel plans. For a photo gallery of our life on the road, our pets, and miscellaneous things I find interesting, you can follow me on Instagram @tabithalord.

So here are this week’s five things…

1. Flexibility is key to our well-being, especially on the road! While we’ve planned out our path for the next several months, stuff happens in the meantime. Instead of feeling frustrated and tense when we have to make changes, we sit with our map and a glass of wine and rework certain dates and places. The more comfortable we are in our tiny, mobile home, the easier it gets to roll with things.

2. We’ve had a blast in New Orleans. It’s a quirky city with terrible roads, but we’ve eaten our way through the French Quarter, listened to some fantastic music, brought our dog to the Vampire Bar, where they served her a pup plate for dinner, met up with good friends from RI, and spent time with one of Ray’s college roommates and his wife. We visited the WWII museum, shopped, and managed to get some work done in between!

3. “Don’t count the days. Make the days count.” - Muhammad Ali

4. I can not stress enough how important it is that we have laundry on board.

5. I’m very excited to teach another Zoom webinar for the ARIA Writing Academy titled ‘Editing: Soup to Nuts’ on Thursday, May 11th at 7 pm EST. A well edited manuscript can mean the difference between a book that’s ready for the world and a document that sits in a drawer collecting dust. If you’re ready to tackle your edits, check out this class. Here’s a link to the full course description and registration: ARIA Writing Academy.

“Not all those who wander are lost.” - J.R.R. Tolkien

Our itinerary, subject to change:

April 19-28: Austin, TX

April 28 - May 8: Medina Lake, TX

May 8-15: Carlsbad, NM

May 15-22: Albuquerque, NM

May 22-29: Santa Fe, NM

May 29 - June 2: Alamosa, CO

June 2-10: Colorado Springs, CO

June 10-18: Granby, CO

June 18 - July 5: Central City, CO

July 5-9: Vernal, UT

July 9-15: Salt Lake, UT

July 15-22: West Yellowstone, MT

July 22 - August 5: Jackson, WY

August 5-10: Rock Springs, WY

August 10-18: Hurricane, UT

August 18-27: Coachella, CA

August 27 - September 5: Temecula, CA

September 5 - October 1: Santa Barbara, CA

Five Things - January 30, 2023

Welcome to my blog titled “Five Things” where you can expect just that - five random musings or reflections from the previous week or so. In addition, at the end of the blog, I’ll keep a running itinerary of our travel plans. For a photo gallery of our life on the road, our pets, and miscellaneous things I find interesting, you can follow me on Instagram @tabithalord.

So here are this week’s five things…

1. Our cat Beatrix never seems to learn. Back when we were refinishing the basement after some water damage, she managed to get walled in behind the new drywall. Yes, we had to break her out with a sledgehammer and have a fun conversation with the builders first thing the next morning! Well, since we’ve been living in the RV, she’s managed to get stuck in the closet behind the washer and dryer, and then, another day, she hopped into a drawer when no one was looking and got stuck again. Those little meows in the middle of the night are pathetic!

2. Regular plumbing maintenance is essential.

3. You can learn anything from YouTube, including how to clear your RV plumbing before you realize the importance of regular maintenance.

4. Flexibility is an asset. I mean, it is in regular life, but it’s especially necessary for life on the road. Sometimes flexibility looks like giving up half your day to figure out how to clear the gray water tank. See plumbing note above. Sometimes flexibility looks more fun, like when you can rearrange your schedule to coordinate a visit with some friends. In all cases, things are going to come up. Shit’s gonna happen. By keeping a flexible mindset, I can approach those things with less resistance and change my attitude toward them.

5. I’m learning not to overschedule myself. Anyone who’s seen my collection of notebooks, my online calendar, and my daily planner, knows I’m a little obsessive about managing my time and scheduling my day. I even schedule my down time. This approach generally works well for me as I’m able to be proactive when it comes to organizing my time rather than reactive. I am however, guilty of making unrealistic to-do lists. At the end of the day, when several items remain undone, I have to carry them over to the next day and rework my whole plan! One of the things I love about this RV life is the simplicity of it. Tidying up and taking care of the animals in the morning takes just a few minutes. There’s a limited amount of actual stuff to maintain and keep track of. This simplicity creates space. So, my focus lately has been not to fill up that space just because it’s there. I want to be as productive as ever, sure, but I also want to appreciate and live into the simplicity.

Not all those who wander are lost.” - J.R.R. Tolkien

Our Itinerary (subject to change):

Feb 4 - March 31: Sarasota, FL

April 1-3: Panacea, FL

April 3-10: Lillian, AL

April 10-19: New Orleans, LA

April 19-26: Austin, TX

April 26 - May 2: Corpus Christi, TX

May 2-8: Lakehills, TX

May 8-15: Carlsbad, NM

May 15-22: Albuquerque, NM

May 22-29: Santa Fe, NM

May 29 - June 2: Alamosa, CO

June 2-10: Colorado Springs, CO

June 10-18: Granby, CO

June 18 - July 5: Central City, CO

July 5-9: Vernal, UT

July 9-13: Rock Springs, WY

July 13-22: West Yellowstone, MT

July 22 - August 5: Jackson, WY

August 5-10: Salt Lake City, UT

August 10-18: Hurricane, UT

August 18-27: Coachella, CA

August 27 - September 5: Temecula, CA

September 5 - October 1: Santa Barbara, CA

Monday Musings 7-27-20

As I get older, my exercise routine not only builds my strength, it maintains my body’s flexibility. A bridge is designed to be flexible in strong winds - it sways so it doesn’t break. A flexible work schedule is often coveted by employees.

Flexibility, in general, is a positive quality. In this uncertain world, where it feels like the goal posts are moving minute to minute, the ability to think creatively, with innovation, and without fear will impact our experience and our ability to act effectively.

I’ve been spending many hours working with a team of educators envisioning how to bring children and adults safely back to school this fall. The collective positive energy of the group, and our ability to think flexibly, is helping us design a program that surpasses the recommended health and safety standards, yet still keeps the children’s experience at the center of our planning. We are required to consider multiple scenarios, and must design protocols to transition between these scenarios. Not an easy task, but as the plans come together, one of the most important qualities that keeps us moving forward is our flexible thinking.

With the current state of the world, It’s tempting to throw our hands up and give in to fear and frustration. But if we do, we’ll be stuck in that space, at least in our own heads. To a degree, flexibility is a mindset, and when we can embrace it, we may feel better about our reality. Things may be different, but we can find a way. Things may be complex, but we can find solutions.

“Blessed are the flexible for they will not allow themselves to become bent out of shape!” – Robert Ludlum