Enthusiasm

John and Susan dropped by Benson SKP park while I was parked on my leased real estate. Just hearing them plan their full timing life is when I realized there was change in my enthusiasm for road travel.

I met John and Susan when I was traveling down the California coast in 2010. John sent me an email asking me to stop at Napa so they could tour -- and check build quality of -- my New Horizons trailer. I stayed at the Napa Elks Lodge and toured nearby wine country. When John and Susan weren't working, they were gracious hosts. John -- a wine maker -- gave me the wine maker's tour of the winery where he worked.

After doing John's usual due diligence looking at several trailers, they bought a New Horizons trailer and have been full timers for over a year. After a swing down the East Coast and through Florida, they were headed to California when they stopped to visit me at Benson.

I was awed by the enthusiasm they exhibited about living life on the road. They asked many questions. All I could do was give opinions, my experiences and tell stories. Much of that conversation occurred on the three hikes we took. That along with a couple of social hours, I may have managed to answer some of their questions.

Originally, they are from the East and after working in the wine industry in California, this was their first introduction to the Sonoran Desert. They took me for some kind of Sonoran Desert expert as they questioned me about geography, flora and fauna of the Arizona area we hiked. They may have stumped me now and then, but I don't recall what the question may have been.

My full time RVing plan is written in my About Me page. Those were the dreams 12 years ago. The enthusiasm was there. Stated in the About Me page that I was going to "indulge my passion for hiking, travel and learning".

So what's the problem. Or is it a problem. After the six month stay in Tucson, I managed to find much to keep me busy. Enthusiasm for exploring the local scene had not waned. There was frequent hiking the mountains around Tucson. There were museums, botanic gardens, farmers' markets, walks downtown, UofA campus, Fourth Avenue, etc.

Wondering if the lack of enthusiasm is the road travel. Many interesting places are spaced many miles apart requiring lots of miles behind the steering wheel pulling Wandrin Wagon.

Looking back, this lack of enthusiasm was first recognized in the 2010 post I Get Bored. Why. What happened. Was it just too much road travel? Too many miles between the areas I wanted to explore? Too much alone time? Need for a neighborhood?

In the course of 12 years of nomadic travel, I have seen some of nature's wonders in North America. I have had the opportunity to tour and hike interesting places, take lots of photos and hear the stories of many people. The stories, the photos and my experiences have managed to give me material for the meandering words of columns and blogs for 12 years.

What a great experience. I am so fortunate.

However, driving down yet another -- or worse the same -- road is no longer fun. Fortunately, my enthusiasm for hiking and learning remain.

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John and Susan post infrequently at RVino.