Day 1 and lessons learned

The day came! It's time to roll out of bed and hit the road; the day I've been planning and waiting for. I wasn't feeling anticipation nor angst. It was just the feeling of "heading out". I think I was on the road by 8:15 am or so? Who's keeping track when you're not on a timeline?!

One of my goals was to plan for the next destination only. I learned this from my dear friends from years past from Microsoft, Warren and Betsy (https://www.marriedwithluggage.com). They had larger aspirations of traveling around the world but nonetheless, the concept is still the same. I NEEDED to force myself into living in the moment and being present. With being present, it forced myself to dig inside and critically think about my life. With that, I started keeping a note of all the topics I want to write about. Believe it or not, I'm already behind! :-)

My first stop was Congaree National Park. I found myself being my "typical self" as I pushed to get there. I made it there approximately 2:15 pm (after a grocery trip to Lidl to stock the RV with food!) and found out that they close at 4:30 pm. Okay, how much damage could I do in a couple of hours??!! I decided to hit the Visitor Center first. I've found in previous travels that these hold a wealth of information. This one didn't disappoint! However, I did find myself slipping into my old patterns of rushing! Ugh! When I rushed out of the RV, I didn't grab my camera. Once I was in the Visitor Center, the nature trail was behind it which I pushed on rather than heading back to get my camera. Oh no, the park is closing "soon"!! My rationale was that it's a local park that I could come back to.

I did start a new pattern by purchasing (yes, I'm a HUGE consumer as many will tell you!) a National Park Passport. I'll be able to collect a stamp at each park which is specific to that park as well as the date I visited. Additionally, I'd like to try and capture the RV in front of each National Park sign. Since I went to the Visitor Center without my camera (other than cell phone), I did not take any images of the wildlife at this park.

I attempted to slow down on the trail and be present. I must say that this exercise brings up a lot of topics which haven't surfaced or have been suppressed for years or even decades! That's why I'm doing this though... some of my thoughts I'll share and others are my private thoughts. This WILL be me unfiltered though! I've found that social media is a dumping ground of happy thoughts and highlight reels. That's why I've chosen this medium to write my authentic self. If you've received this link from my social media persona(s), here's me!

As it was rounding up to 4:00 pm, I decided to embark on my next destination; I mean, this is the rule, right??!! Do I stay in this area or push forward? I decided to strike out to North Carolina to my long time friend's place. He was flexible enough to, not only take the call, have dinner. I drove to his place in Davidson, NC where we had Mexican for dinner and he was kind enough to offer me a bed/shower. However, my goal is to live in my RV and I couldn't break the rule on night 1! We had dinner and then went for a walk around the lake where he lives. I MUST say that sunset was beautiful!

I ended up staying at a park down the street from his house. Yes, another rule is to be a deviant where ever I can to find places to sleep that I don't have to pay for! If you're paying attention, several rules established:

• No prior planning of next destination until I've arrived at current (yes, I have a rough order of magnitude of my winding route up to MN and back down to the South)

• Get a stamp of each National Park I've visited in my NP Passport

• Get a picture of the RV in front of the NP entrance sign

• Be a deviant (sleeping or food)

  • I haven't brought up my food deviant thoughts! Check out the "TooGoodToGo" app... it's food that will be thrown away that they sell at a discount. What I've found so far, it's usually bakeries or QT / Circle K... I WILL NOT EAT GAS STATION FOOD!

Now that I'm on Day 2 "officially", I had a couple of things that I wanted addressed on the RV. That's the whole point to this trip is to really hone in on items that need to be addressed so that when I head out West, all the current problems will be resolved. I dropped off RV (do I need to come up with a name? Send feedback to theurbandetour@outlook.com ) So, I'll be staying in the quaint town of Davidson, NC for the next 24 hours. Stay tuned!