With a lot of time spent parked lately, and the prospect of three more weeks, we’ve had time to get new perspective on our travels.   I know when we were heading here last December that I said it would be good to stop a while, but it’s getting ridiculous.   We’ve been here for about eight weeks and it feels like longer.

Hey Universe!   I’ve got perspective, really — can I go now?

I think we’ve crossed this country coast-to-coast about seven times in our Airstream.     Every time we start another continental drive I always think, “This might be our last trip.   Better make it a good one,” because we never truly know if we’ll get another chance.   Even the first trip across (east to west), we thought we’d be at this for just six months and so we tried to see as much as we could before “the trip” ended.

The same is true today.   We know we’ll go east and come back west, but beyond that my crystal ball is cloudy. So many things can happen that might sideline us for a long period of time.   So as we head east I’m searching for new things to explore.   We’ve never checked out Arkansas, and we’ve hardly spent any time in Tennessee. We’ve never been to North Dakota, hardly any of Minnesota, and there’s a lot of Idaho and eastern Washington I’d like to visit.

But we also want to visit friends and revisit some great spots.   So I’m conflicted.   If we stick to familiar places we might miss something (or someone) new and great.   Somehow we’ve got to find a balance between the familiar and the novel.   I stare at the road atlas again and again, waiting for the perfect route to pop up and announce itself.

People are asking if we’ll curtail our travels due to rising fuel prices.   No, because really fuel is not a terribly expensive component of our travel.   The trip to New England, via Florida, and back, will probably cost about $2,500-3,000 in fuel.   Sounds like a lot, but keep in mind what we get for that:

• we can take our home with us, so no hotel rooms, no using the “spare bedroom”, and complete comfort at all times
• all the convenience that having everything with us entails, including Eleanor’s kitchen and my office
• unlimited nights on the road with very little added expense (most of the time we’ll be either courtesy parked or getting the monthly rate at a campground)
• incredible flexibility in scheduling; freedom to make changes of route or length of stay at any time without penalty
• much lower cost in food, because we can eat in our own kitchen instead of eating out.

What’s our alternative?   Three airfares back to Vermont would cost about $900 and we’d be living out of suitcases, renting a car, and forced to a rigid, short schedule.   No stops in Texas, Louisiana, Florida, or the Outer Banks either.   No chance to visit friends all over the country.   Bah.   I’ll take the six-month tour in the Airstream instead, even at three times the cost.   On a per-day basis, it’s still the cheapest traveling we’ll ever do.

But hey, maybe next year gas will be $15 a gallon.   Maybe we’ll have some health problem that restricts our travel for a while.   Who knows?   We’ll have to take this trip like it really is our last, just in case.

So I’m planning.   And re-planning.   It has been a huge challenge to figure out a route, and I’m not done yet.   The moving target deadline for the house hasn’t helped.   Because of our later departure we may cut our planned service stop short, too, just getting the necessary stuff done and then moving on. Even as full-timers*, there’s never enough time to see and do all the things you want.   This is a big country with over 300 million people in it, and 49 states you can drive to.   I can’t imagine ever getting bored with exploring it, or with planning the next trip.

* We have been sleeping and cooking in the Airstream for the past eight weeks, so even though we are not moving, we’re still full-timers!   (So there, Gadget!)