Our first month on the road went by both fast and slow. Here are some things we've learned:
Plans are important, but not too important
We started off our adventure with no plans, most the time we didn't even know where we'd be sleeping that night. It was stressful and tiring. After our time in Florida we figured out it was best to have a rough plan of how far we were driving and where we would be sleeping. Well, that didn't last long at all.
So far we've made numerous plans and stuck to zero of them. We planned our trip from New Mexico to California and we didn't follow it at all. Sure, we feel better making a plan, but it's not the end all be all when we don't follow it.
Don't ignore the RV's issues
As you probably know, Bernie is old. She's a beast and a machine, but she's still old. We've had a few overheating problems with her on our trip. We got an oil change after driving an insane amount in one day, our engine was hot, our oil was thin, and it was leaking out of our rear main seal.
The techs added some extra oil for us because of the leak but they ended up adding a little too much, when we checked our oil we saw that it had been over filled but didn't feel like looking up what it meant- bad idea, our engine overheated in Big Bend National Park.
Accepting help is cool
We've been a little leery on accepting help when it's offered to us, we don't know people's intentions and how much knowledge they have on our issues. When our engine overheated in Big Bend a super kind man named Tim looked at our engine, saw we had too much oil and actually drained the excess oil for us. We sat with him for about an hour talking and swapping stories.
Tim helped us tremendously and we had great conversation to add to it! We wouldn't have had this awesome time or help had we not been open to his offer for help.
Ask Questions
When we're not 100% sure, we ask. It eases our mind and allows for less confusion later. We ask so many questions, especially when it comes to mechanical RV stuff, we're pretty clueless and like to make sure we're understanding everything correctly.
Treat yo self
Budgets are cool (just kidding, but they're important) but make sure to give yourself some leeway when it comes to doing things you like to do.
Dylan and I love to go out to eat, I mean who doesn't? We're so good with our budget that it's okay when we take a day and splurge a little bit with some good chicken wings or pad Thai.
Communicate
Great communication is seriously one of the most important things when living in a 24 foot RV with another person. Dylan and I talk about everything. We need to make sure that both of our feelings are told and our wants and needs our communicated. Some days we sit down and just talk about everything that's been on our minds so we can be sure that everything between us is super clear.
Do your chores before they become chores
One thing we're still struggling to do is to clean up after we make the mess rather than waiting until the next morning. The RV is a tight space, it gets messy super quick but only takes a few minutes to tidy up.
It's so easy to do our dishes right away and we usually end up cursing when we wake up in the morning and have to do a pile of dishes before we can even make breakfast. It's such a simple task that makes our mornings even more enjoyable, and let's face it, good mornings make for good days.
Be in love
This is the easy part. We love to do small things for each other, we're not in the position where we can go out shopping and surprise one another with their favorite food or flowers, we only have one vehicle which is also our home, wherever one of us goes, the other goes. Even though we can't express romantic gestures in the way we once used to, it's still so easy to express love in other ways; picking out the other's outfit, singing, making bagels, offering to do the hated chore, dancing, making a nice dinner, etc.
Being on the road with each other has been such the journey already. We've experienced and seen so much in such a short period of time. We're excited for where the next months will bring us and can't wait for all the new places we will see.
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