Living Outside The Lines: Straight Outta The RV

Some days, you know, when the planets are perfectly aligned, I’m fooled into thinking I’m a mighty fine character able to leap tall buildings in a single bound…

Becky J Miller | Exclusive to Corridor News

Life can be uncomfortable. Usually the discomfort comes in seasons with short reprieves, but sometimes, it’s a full frontal, unrelenting, assault. How we navigate or endure those challenges speaks volumes about our character.

Some days, you know, when the planets are perfectly aligned, I’m fooled into thinking I’m a mighty fine character able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, and then other days a fly can land in my water, and my neighbors find it necessary to call the SWAT team. You guessed it; my current situation could be a, “Call the SWAT team” phase.

In February 2017 my husband and I relocated to Beeville, TX. He’s a pastor. One of the job perks is housing. The church owns a three-bedroom parsonage with a huge backyard, on a quiet cul de sac. The house was built in the early 80’s and needed a bit of work before we considered it move in ready. Easy, right? We’ll do the work ourselves residing in a hotel until it’s complete. Three months, tops!

FOURTEEN months later, the house is completely gutted, too long of a story for a bi-weekly column, and we are STILL living in a hotel. Granted, it’s a one-bedroom suite with a small living area, and full kitchen, but it was not our spacious four-bedroom, two car garage house surrounded by our personal possessions.

At this juncture, expenses are mounting, and time is our enemy. Privately we wonder if we should approach one of our close friends who own an RV and ask about borrowing it. Camper lots rent for about one third of hotel costs. Imagine our surprise when a family in the church who knew nothing of our conversation, and whom we had no idea owned an RV, offered to loan us theirs. How could we say no?

Commence operation, “Downsize (again) to an RV!” We had approximately four days to make the move. I spent evenings after work packing and organizing, while my husband spent the days doing all the heavy lifting. There were trips to storage, trips to the parsonage, trips to the church, and trips to the RV. We have stuff everywhere!

Packing an RV for vacation is not really fun. I know from firsthand experience because my family had one when I was growing up, but moving into an RV while trying to meet the everyday obligations of life?? #yikes Just think about the clothes situation. For an RV vacation, the basic clothing needs are swimsuits, shorts, and flip-flops. However, for RV living, one needs work clothes, church clothes, running attire, and casual wear, not to mention all the required shoes, jewelry and hair care products.

Now let’s talk about the dietary requirements. RV vacations usually mean grilling meat and roasting marshmallows for s’mores. RV living means canisters of protein powder, protein shakers, bags of ice, ready made items to pack for lunch and “what the heck are we going do about dinner.” When one of us labors at an office all day, and the other is desperately trying to finish out a remodel, who has time, or the desire to cook? And when the restaurant choices are limited to taquerias, fast food or pizza, dining out is not a viable option.

Some would say, “Cleanliness is Next to Godliness”, but that mantra flies out the window when living in an RV. First off, if one forgets to preheat the water heater, one ought be prepared to shower in sub-zero degree temperatures.

In these conditions, discovery of icicles in never seen before places is not uncommon. And for anyone repulsed by the very thought of naked skin colliding with shower walls, you may as well issue clothes pins to all your co-workers because it’s either collide or stink!

How about that RV sized bed? I’ve begged for years to upsize from a queen to a king mattress, but my husband prefers sleeping in the same time zone, well, he’s getting his wish and then some! It’s a good thing we decided never to go to bed angry, because the full sized bed leaves absolutely no room for escape!

I cannot lie, RV life has its challenges, which most mornings are met with a barrage of tears, but I’ve endured childbirth without drugs, recovered from a broken neck, survived two miscarriages, lived overseas, traveled to a communist country, raised three honest, hard-working human beings, and ran 26.2 miles just because I could so I know I’ll make it through this challenge too. Just please tell my neighbors not to call SWAT.

Until Next Time,
Becky J Miller
“Warrior Princess”

Becky J Miller is a contributor and is exclusive to SM Corridor News. You can read more of Becky’s columns in Lifestyle.