My wife is a wonderful companion, best friend, lover, partner, equal, and just fun to be with...
We avoid campgrounds and she isn't barred from anywhere...
We do extended trips; we are often READY to go home after the first 4 1/2 months... when we get the urge to be home after 4 or 5 months it is often sudden!
We don't have an itinerary... maybe that is the reason our roaming works. Our living room is the world outside of the camper.
Sorry, we don't have the luxury of advice to push on you.
If you should get to east Tennessee please stay a day or three with us...
We find that the TC forum has some very special and generious members... we visit them and even invites some to visit... it broadens our perspective.
Mr and Mrs Sleepy
2003 Lance 1161,/slideout/AGM batteries/255W Solar/propane generator/Sat dish/2 Fantastic Fans model 6150/AC/winter package
AirFoil, Trimetric, LED lights
You talk about having a comfortable place to just sit and relax, if you are talking about in the camper then why not modify the camper to meet those needs. When my wife and I ordered our AF that was one of the things we ordered in it was the sofa in place of the dinette. We wanted a more comfortable place to sit. It has a long dinette that sets in the front of the sofa. I'm going to make a couple of small tables to fit in place of the long one. Look for ways the camper can be changed to make it more comfortable for you. Like someone stated before about the RV having wheels. If it is to cold/warm/crowded get in the cab of the truck and roll for a little ways so you can find the more comfortable place to sit for a time. It also sounds like maybe having a portable hobby that you can take with you to cover some of those bored times would help.
If you can't find a way to be comfortable and happy in the RV then maybe it is time to sell it.
Good Luck
Butch
2006 F550 CC 4X4 Lariat PSD/Torqshift Dark Shadow Metalic Grey
2009 Excel Limited (sold)
2009 Arctic Fox 1140
2006 Dodge 3500 Laramie 4X4 QC SB SRW/Cummins Jake exhaust brake
This summer, for a change, we decided on a l4 day Baltic Cruise followed
by a l4 day stay in England. The trip was wonderful, things we probably
won't see again. After living for 32 days on someone elses' cooking, boy,
did that TC in the yard ever look good!!!! Not to mention our cosy upper
bunk, and being able to drive on the correct side of the road again. Our
house looked good too, but when traveling, it's so nice to have your own bed.
We are leaving for Florida in a week or so, no itinerary, would like to see
the Outer Banks if it's possible, might drive 300 miles in a day or maybe
50......that's the way we camp. No reservations and maybe a campground every
two days...we'll see.
1. I like to "have my house in order" before taking off anywhere. I like to have the decks clear in terms of my home and work so that when I am away I don't worry about putting something off... My wife on the other hand, just wants to "run away from it"!!! ;-) It sounds like you thought you could "leave your cares behind" and it didn't work out that way....
2. If I have alot of stress and am feeling "down" - I limit the intake of caffeine and alcohol. I also drag myself out for walks even when I am feeling exhausted - I always feel better afterwards.
3. I did make my TC much more comfortable by visiting an IKEA store and picking up a mattress topper that was about 2.5 inches thick and had lambs wool filling - it is so comfy that I take naps in the camper all the time. I also added some IKEA down pillows in the sitting area to lean against, etc. Nice and comfy now.
My wife and I have different goals in mind when we travel - seems like she always wants to go somewhere new and explore - which can be "hit and miss". While I want to do repeat trips to a few good places where we can "go back to" year after year. This is especially true since we have the oregon coast right at our back door.
What's worked for us in overcrowded areas is to find an undeveloped Forest Service CG a bit away from the attraction and wait it out. The Labor Day crowd will leave sometime. In the mean time, I enjoy the fly fishing somewhere else. I remember going to Yellowstone one time and arriving when everyone else did. DW, the kids (then small) and I found a small off-the-beaten-path private CG near Gardner, MT. It had its own hot spring! We hung out there taking day trips until the crowds cleared.
Slow down.... It's a vacation only sometime it just doesn't feel like one.
My take - 1. You need a more comfortable RV. Ours is large enough to give us all the creature comforts (comfortable place to sit and read) and large enough bathroom and kitchen to not be a chore to just perform the daily routines. We also found one that gives us enough separation that when I get up early or stay up late I don't disturb a sleeping spouse and
2. Stay away from crowded places. Some people like being shoulder to shoulder with strangers. I don't. We pick quiet out of the way places.
Give your camper one more try but ask yourself what's wrong with the picture - what makes it a chore then see what would make it better. Check out various types of RVs at shows or dealers and find one that really fits you. And stay at each place several days, hooking and unhooking is nobody's favorite thing.
Also - try Cruising - It's another grand way to travel.
Good Luck!
I can understand where you are coming from but from a different perspective. I was really fed up with almost everything. DW said that we needed to get out of town with the kids and go somewhere. We did, we went to a nice State Park in IN. We lived in OH at the time so it was not a long drive maybe an hour or two. I was basically ticked the whole drive, we had a pup and all the extra stuff I had to do plus the kids being 3,2 and 4 months and wife pregnant AGAIN, I had to do most of the work and it was really not looking like a relaxing weekend out that DW said it was going to be. Well we get to the SP. It was packed and to top it off another camper wanted my site that I picked out 2 weeks before. He gave me a long story about how his friends had the site next to ours and he really wanted to be next to them, looked at his site and said fine lets switch. Well set up camp everything went fine and we at dinner. Kids and dog all well behaved. had a nice fire so it was a little relaxing. Only issue is IN SP allow alcohol, I do not care if one drinks or not just respect the quiet hours and others the people around us did not. Only saving grace is this site was surounded by brush and trees so it was not that bad but in a pup we could hear everything including the idot next to us bragging to his friends that he was going to go to the bathroom in some bushes rather then walk to the bathroom. Figured it was par for the course. Well the next day woke up had a nice breakfast and went for a long hike, it was really nice. But here is where the weekend took a turn for the better. That afternoon kids were all asleep, 3mile hike will do that dog was out to as he went with us on the hike and my wife took the baby and went to walmart for something. Nothing going on so I laid down on a blanket just looking up at the sky. It was fall and there was a slight breeze, leafs were just falling down all around me. the other idiots in the camp site next to us were out doing something and it was quite. Just me and the leafs falling down all around me while I laid there watching. It was by far the most relaxing thing that I have ever done in my life, I cannot explain it, just laying there watching the leafs.
Point is I stopped and took some time to smell the roses so to say. Changed my perspective on what I now want to get out of things. Not sure if it will work for you but when you are out and you feel like that try to find a nice spot where you can sit and relax and focus on something else, smell the roses so to say it may change your perspective.
I really did not care about the drunk idiots next to us that night. It was all good.
2010 Passport UL 290BH
2006 Ford Expedition Limited
I think it is possible to experience "burn-out", for camping and everything else we do. Sometimes, things just happen that causes us to "snap" and things we enjoy so much, all of a sudden are distasteful and we just want to get away from it.
I hate to admit this, but it's true. I've lost the passion for camping, for a couple reasons. About a year ago we were notified by the city we had to move our TT because of zoning. I became so bitter over that, it immediately "killed" the love I had for this way of life. All of a sudden, just in the blink of an eye, the TT I loved so much became a real burden, a problem, a new struggle I did not want to go through. We ended up moving somewhere different where could have the TT on our own property, but it took all summer to re-acclimate ourselves to a new home, and stressed finances maintaining two houses, repairs on the old house to sell it, and working very hard on the new house to make it uniquely ours (if you know what I mean). Still, I had an underlining bitterness and anger at the "city" for putting us in a position which disrupted the thing I enjoyed the most .... camping!
Well, it goes without saying, we haven't done much camping this year. Actually, our home is BETTER than any campground we've EVER been too, because it's all country, we have total privacy, and don't have to put up with noise, traffic, kids running through our campsite, or anything! So, it's really kind of hard to experience "solitude" and then go back to the hustle and bustle of a crowded, noisy, pack-out campground! Believe it or not, the best 2 weekends all summer was when we slept out on the front porch of the new house! That was fantastic! It brought back memories of the tent camping days, with the comforts of a real bed under us .... yes, we put the bed on the front porch to do this. Strange, I know! But it really was fun.
Meanwhile, the TT is now just sitting there. I don't have the heart to sell it. But lost the "passion" to use it. I still love the trailer, just no passion to go anywhere now!
So, how am I dealing with this.
Well first, I am not selling the TT. I still enjoy having it in our yard, and I consider it the "play house" I never got to have when I was a kid. So, it's still my toy.
Second, we were incredibly busy over the summer maintaining 2 properties 25 miles apart from each other. We have the old house rented out now, and the "load" both financially and emotionally are very much more relaxed now. So, I hoping over the winter months, I'll recover both emotionally and financially, and actually have more time again.
Third, I think it's OK to change our likes and dislikes. There's nothing wrong with them. Life is in a constant state of flux. Things happen that can change our life styles in a single heart-beat. So, today's "passion" may become tomorrow's "burden." Best advise to provide here, if owning the RV is not stressing you financially, let it sit for a while and quit feeling guilty that you have to use it 24x7. You don't. Neither do I. So, I sat out one season. In the end, my wife and I gained so much more, we are just now beginning to see this move was really, truly, a "blessing" in disguise!
This last summer, we've had more visitors, and over night visitors, and the camper actually got used by other family members who really want to sleep in it, it really did get used a lot this last summer! Actually, we've had more company and overnight visitors and family in the last 6 months than we've had in the last 25 years my wife and I have been married combined together!
So, bottom line is, don't give up on your camper just yet. I'm a firm believer in NOT making sudden changes, to give things a chance to change and adjust, and to gradually accept those changes. If you don't have to sell the camper, don't!
Believe it or not, you're probably heading toward something even better! You just haven't seen it yet. So hang in there!
DutchmenSport
2005 Chevy Silverado 3500 Dually Duramax 6.6L V8 Turbo
Century Truck Cap Commercial /Toolboxes
Northeast Outfitters Canoe
I love the freedom my TC provides. It allows me to go where I want, when I want. Keeps me cool in the summer, warm in the winter, dry in the rain. It provides a place to cook meals, store my stuff and creates a protective place to bed down.
Unlike other forms of travel,I never worry about anyone loosing my luggage, mixed up reservations, eating a bad meal, wondering who slept in my bed last night, long lines, smelling cigarette smoke . . .
I often find myself daydreaming of the next camping trip. My 4,000 mile trip to Yellowstone was with two children not thrilled about spending a lot of time sitting in the truck. Like myself they looked forward to the camping at the end of each leg.
From Pacifica there are some great places in the Sierras you can't really get away from it all, no line, crowds or people. Just the sounds of nature and the pure clean smell of Pines and the incredible forest.
Campers are not for everyone, they contain a lot of the comforts of home in a much smaller area. Hopefully a few smaller/shorter trips will help rekindle your love for the TC.
'08 Ford F550, Lariat, Link Air Suspension, Roll-A-Long Conversion, Twin Turbo 6.4, TorkLifts, SuperHitch, "Monster Duty Truckasaurus"
'09 Host Everest, Dual Pane, AM Solar, Link 1000,Prosine2.0,Tank Htrs,Honda EV4010,HD Motosat,Wave 6. Host Everest Photos
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