It was Friday before Memorial Day and were scheduled to pick up our travel trailer at the dealer in Pennsylvania. We had already booked the weekend at a campground to let the real learning begin.

We were thrilled that we had reached this milestone at the beginning of the summer season as opposed to the original target date of July 22, 2015. We had planned and prepared, it was just a matter of implementing our dream project. We had purchased the essentials, decorated enough to make the trailer our tiny home/office on wheels. We even planned for the unexpected by taking extended warranty and extra insurance coverage.

We joined clubs such as Escapees, Good Sam, Harvest Hosts and connected with the fabulous community of experienced RVers on RVillage.com. We baptized the Mini Light as the “NOM@D” and it was performing as expected. It appeared as though nothing could go wrong. I was wrong.

Reality hit 24 hours later, we had to rush back to our bricks and sticks due the death of my brother. Luckily we were only a few hours away. We had a hands-on crash course on setting up and breaking camp. The next few days are still a blur to me.

Just a over a year ago, my other brother passed while we were backpacking the Appalachian. We were incommunicado on the trail. Mom will tell you that she is traumatized that something will happen while we are out camping and we will be out of reach. So, the following weekend we decided to bring her along to help ease her fears. She got some well deserved R&R (rest and a relaxation time).

In the end, life happens! There is no planning that can fully prepare you for the ultimate journey, the transition of human existence. We actually feel more determined to hit the road as often as possible, as long as we are healthy enough to enjoy the journey.

Peace!