Day 51 / 314 What is normal anyway?

Saylorville Lake – Cloudy 58 Degrees

“What’s it like?” Answer #51:  When you do the full-time RV thing you feel normal in ways that are not so much different than your old life, but in ways that run parallel to the former definition.

Routine is the conduit for normalcy in most animals, including humans. Think migration, nesting in the same place, family tradition, routes to work, schedules. You get the idea. One parallel many full-timers draw is their location certain times of year. Rather than live in the same neighborhood they often return to an area about the same time each year. Some complete a circuit around the country visiting kids. That is their normal. Some travel with a group like the Nomads, where the scenery changes but the group and the work is about the same.

[caption id="attachment_722" align="alignleft" width="300"] Volunteer Village waking up[/caption]

For us, our new normal is Volunteer Village. It is the closest thing to ‘home’ that we have these days and it suits us just fine. Upon on returning to the old neighborhood, we felt a sense of comfort in the familiarity of the place. It's as if the whole neighborhood leaves on seperate vacations at the same time and most return around the same time.  One could compare it to dorm life from year to year. Basically, the same, but shuffled around a bit and a few different people. With the weather finally taking a turn for the better there will be a rush of arrivals over the weekend. It started this afternoon with the arrival of Will and Judy, a couple who have been in this lifestyle for 17 years and are the very essence of what we hope our experience will be, both in longevity and variety.

Family and friends will visit us here, people in the village will host their own  gatherings and we will all know each other’s business, like a close-knit office or small town. We’ll meet each other’s kids and grandkids throughout the season and know everyone’s pets name and where they like to be scratched. The pets that is. We’ll have campfires, potlucks, happy hours and maybe a couple of little spats over something trivial. We’re a pretty close group here.  I wouldn’t call it change so much as a paradigm shift in our little universe. We have a home, it’s just a more fluid concept these days and we have learned to love it.

Until tomorrow…