People Say They Love Traveling. But Do They Really?

Do they actually love the traveling? If so, why do they choose the shortest, fastest route to get it over with? I think that, with the exception of ocean cruises, hot-air balloons, and short afternoon drives with the top down on a scenic, back road, it's not the actual "traveling" that we enjoy. It's the experiences we have whenever we stop traveling. At our final destination and on route. I know this is true for me right now; I have road-fatigue. I'm writing this on day six of driving six to eight hours daily. (And heck, I'm not even doing the driving. Randy is.)

Seems odd to have this realization on a trip where one of my goals is to be more conscious, to live in and enjoy the present. To enjoy the journey as much as the destination.

The Journey

A week ago, we embarked on what has become a tradition for us: our bi-annual trip to the south-western States.

Leaving home

Departing from our northern Ontario home in January invariably means we're running from the freeze as fast as we can. No scenic back roads. Just driving, driving, driving - on interstate highways all the way. Our first destination is Arizona. Our views from the RV on the first two days: mainly farm fields, towns and cities, industry, bill boards, and traffic.

How do we Alleviate the Boredom?

With conversation, good tunes on the radio, and variety in our overnight stops. We managed to park for free every night, as usual, but we also managed to "mix it up" a bit to keep things interesting. One Walmart parking lot (we needed supplies), one Cracker Barrel Restaurant Parking lot (we don't cook while the RV's winterized), two Boondockers Welcome host locations, and now, a state park campground.

Most Cracker Barrel Restaurants allow overnight RV parking.

Branson, MO had been on our "must see" list for a while. It was almost on route and by day three the sunshine encouraged us to take a break from the drive and check it out. We didn't realize the town all but rolls up the sidewalks in January and February! The normally bustling tourist town boasts over 200 live shows daily from March through December. But on our visit, it was very quiet. We did get enough of a feel for the place that we've decided we'd like to return. Just not in January or February!

The historic shopping district. Since the sidewalks weren't quite rolled up, we walked on them.

The Boondockers Welcome spots were great; the electric hookup they provided got us through a couple of cold nights but the biggest treat was the social element this added. We loved our time with both Matilda and Terry T. They are amazing hosts!

Oklahoma Boondockers Welcome stop

Social time: Our BDW hosts invited us out for breakfast to meet their friends.

One more long day of driving brought us to Roswell, New Mexico.

Roswell: UFO capital of New Mexico

With balmy temperatures in the 70s, we felt like treating ourselves to a couple of days off. We booked two nights in a campground (rare for us) at Bottomless Lakes State Park. This means hot showers, our first hikes of the trip, and access to the RV dump so we can flush our tanks and summerize (I guess that's the opposite of winterize?) the RV.

All New Mexico State parks are a bargain anyway and we think this is one of the more interesting ones. I'll describe it with photos in my next blog. It's a great place to rejuvenate before another three driving days to reach Quartzsite, Arizona.

Yes, folks, we're heading out to see for ourselves how crazy that place is in January. We know we may regret it - apparently it's a zoo - very, very crowded and busy but we’ve never been there at this time of year and decided we'd like to experience it at least once - to see what the draw is for so many RVers. If we don't get side tracked again, we might just make it there before the show ends on Jan 24th.

After that, who knows where the wind will blow us. But we don't plan to head home before the end of May, so please follow along if you're curious. I'm not a daily blogger but I'll provide a weekly recap here. Some of my followers have told me they'd like to connect with us on this trip. We would love that, too! Look for us, Marianne and Randy, on www.RVillage.com. where I'll make every effort to update our location every time we move.

Days On The Road at time of writing: 6

Camping Costs To Date: $10.00