We've been on the road fulltime in our RV for just over five months. We've traveled 5,771 miles over 165 days and have thoroughly been enjoying ourselves! In fact, we've been enjoying ourselves a little too much. Some would ask, is there such a thing? LOL, YES! We realize now that we have fallen into two fulltime RV traps that we were hoping to avoid. We knew these traps existed but avoiding them is harder than you think.
Yeah... we TOTALLY fell into the trap of hitting the ground running as full timers and recording videos, but not leaving enough time to edit them. FACEPALM. We are SO embarrassed that we are nearly a year behind on video edits. SORRY! The problem, and it's a good problem to have, is that adventure is all around us, everywhere we turn!
We have our work cut out for us to try to catch up on videos. Our goal is to get back to near-real time as quickly as possible. So how do we even reach this lofty goal? We've climbed some difficult trails so far in our travels, and this will be like one of those hikes - slow but sure footing as we get back on track with editing. To start this new goal in setting aside time for editing, check out our latest video: RV MILES MEETUP.
This is a really important video to us. It was our first adventure trip before we went fulltime. In this video, we travel to Camp Verde, Arizona for the first ever RV Miles meetup! The meetup was a great way to connect with others who RV, bounce ideas roundtable style, make new friends on the road, explore the beautiful southwest area around Sedona, Arizona, and stay at our first RV resort. WOW, we had no idea! Click here to watch:
But how did we get so behind on videos in the first place?
While the answer is simply not setting aside enough time to edit, we dug a little deeper into our issues and wanted to share a few things that have set us behind in video editing that we are working to resolve. The first is organization of files. We originally just did file dumps into event folders for our videos. Now we are working to do a review and sort of those files as soon as we dump them in order to curb how much space we are taking up with files. This also eventually saves us time not having to sort out those videos later. From our experience, We have found that the farther from the recorded event, the longer it takes to sort your files and delete the ones that are subpar.
Secondly, it is ridiculously important to establish routine. Without routine, many things in the traveling lifestyle can be compromised: your health, your workflow, your energy level. The urge to go go go can buck off a routine like a bull at a rodeo, and it's hard to hold onto your sanity when you don't have a good hold on a routine. Logging hours kind of like a time sheet seems to work best for us, it gives us the flexibility to shift our schedule when necessary but the physicality of checking ourselves and holding ourselves accountable to ensure that we put in enough time and effort where we need. More on that in a future blog.
The second trap we fell into is a bit more complicated, and something that is greatly discussed by those who travel fulltime; they call it vacation syndrome. It's really hard when you first start traveling fulltime to avoid vacation syndrome and go slowly! You almost can't help it, you want to see and do everything that you've been dreaming of, like you are on vacation!
While in reality we aren't on holiday, we are experiencing a new way of living. Truthfully we were confronting this problem and just starting to slow down on the Oregon coast when we had to turn away from the Pacific abruptly and start increasing our travel speed back across the country. We weren't ready to leave the PNW but we had to start making our way to Albuquerque for the Balloon Fiesta later this month.
We knew going into fulltime that one of the most expensive parts of this lifestyle is the fuel coast. The slower you travel, the longer you stay in a place, the more cost effective your fulltime lifestyle can be. However, sometimes you have big events planned, like the Balloon Fiesta, that cause you to crunch your schedule when it's not really how you like to roll. It is unavoidable that events like this (or something way-less-fun) will pop up. We are currently feeling the stress of returning to travel both days on weekends and shorter stays in areas we know we will have to visit again to get a more complete experience.
Slowing down and ditching "vacation mode" is something we are working on changing about our travel style. But the biggest lesson we are realizing in our travels is that no matter how much research and time you put into being well prepared for fulltime travel (we spent four years planning and researching!) growth is only possible when you are kind to yourself and self-reflect. So when you feel like you make mistakes, make sure to be aware enough to figure out how to avoid those mistakes again.
Boondocking in the Badlands was so much fun, but OH BOY did we have an uh-oh moment when the winds got so strong that they started pushing in our slides! We are still finding dust from the Badlands! Our next blog will cover how to plan for different variables while boondocking in unfamiliar terrain and what to do when something you didn't plan for happens. Brace yourself!
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