Oh this resonates! We had a tiny pop up camper for several years that was great when the kids were young. We outgrew it, though, and had to let it go. Sad day!
We are RV full timers and I understand the letting go part. Ours is in the shop getting a Brazilian bum lift 🤣 (our back frame broke). She is 21 years old. At first we were told to scrap her and get a new one. The hurt I feel was like when my first born left for college.
Then the questions. Why am I so attached to a pile of metal-as you said. The adventure, are we ready to give it all up?
Held up in a hotel for the past month has granted me the time for reflection.
I had to go back to my Motorcoach to water my plants and get some things. As I approached and saw her lifeless, bum in the air, tires thrown everywhere covered in grease. I thought to myself, this is too much.
As I pryed the front door open and stepped inside I was overcome with emotions and began to weep. Even though she is lifeless at the moment I felt the belonging. No, we are not ready to move on. There is still more adventures to be had. This is home.
Thank you for this thoughtful piece. I grapple with similar emotions relating to my own vehicle-based travels. I'm not entirely convinced that upgrading to something newer is the best solution though, if that's what you're thinking of doing. Personally, instead of spending extra thousands on an 'upgrade', I would prefer to spend it on synthetic fuel (eg Coryton https://coryton.com/), which has a far lower footprint. An LPG conversion can also massively reduce certain emissions (not carbon), although it's becoming harder to buy in the UK. (Also, every night in a van is a night you're not powering your home, so there's a slight offset there.) A difficult equation though, and not one we can easily calculate our way out of. Your van looks/looked mega :-)
Wishing you many new adventure both in the new van and out.
Farewell trusty Starwagon and here's to new adventures in the new adventure van . . . .
I sold an teardrop camper last year to get a bigger one. I really miss that little one though.
Oh this resonates! We had a tiny pop up camper for several years that was great when the kids were young. We outgrew it, though, and had to let it go. Sad day!
We are RV full timers and I understand the letting go part. Ours is in the shop getting a Brazilian bum lift 🤣 (our back frame broke). She is 21 years old. At first we were told to scrap her and get a new one. The hurt I feel was like when my first born left for college.
Then the questions. Why am I so attached to a pile of metal-as you said. The adventure, are we ready to give it all up?
Held up in a hotel for the past month has granted me the time for reflection.
I had to go back to my Motorcoach to water my plants and get some things. As I approached and saw her lifeless, bum in the air, tires thrown everywhere covered in grease. I thought to myself, this is too much.
As I pryed the front door open and stepped inside I was overcome with emotions and began to weep. Even though she is lifeless at the moment I felt the belonging. No, we are not ready to move on. There is still more adventures to be had. This is home.
Farewell sturdy workhorse, I've been there and know the confliected feelings
Thank you for this thoughtful piece. I grapple with similar emotions relating to my own vehicle-based travels. I'm not entirely convinced that upgrading to something newer is the best solution though, if that's what you're thinking of doing. Personally, instead of spending extra thousands on an 'upgrade', I would prefer to spend it on synthetic fuel (eg Coryton https://coryton.com/), which has a far lower footprint. An LPG conversion can also massively reduce certain emissions (not carbon), although it's becoming harder to buy in the UK. (Also, every night in a van is a night you're not powering your home, so there's a slight offset there.) A difficult equation though, and not one we can easily calculate our way out of. Your van looks/looked mega :-)