Reflections on the RVing Lifestyle--Me Time

Gene and I spend 24/7 together.  From time to time folks will ask how that works out.  I’ve had two people ask me that in the past week.  This constant togetherness is part of the RVing lifestyle.

I suspect we were like most couples during our working years.  We each devoted much of each day to our careers and what time was left over we spent doing household chores and running errands.  We ate breakfast and dinner together each weekday (usually), but that was about it.  We tried to save one day of the weekend for an activity together.

Now that we are retired, we still have the household chores which draw us our separate ways.  However, now that we don’t spend all that time at jobs, we do some of those chores together.  We almost always go to the grocery together and, except for refilling propane, we do errands together.  I wouldn’t be surprised if that is not true of many retired couples.

People everywhere, RVer or not, enjoy their hobbies.  I have my knitting, photography, blogging, and cooking.  Gene has his camp stoves and internet surfing.  We each enjoy our hiking and traveling.   In many campgrounds, especially those that host a lot of seasonal RVers, there are “club houses” where the various hobby enthusiasts gather with their fellow hobbyists to do their thing.

Perhaps the primary difference for RVers is the small amount of space we have to be together in.  Gene and I enjoy being together, so the close quarters is not a problem for us.  However, there are times when we each need our own space.

I have always been an early riser and I still get up before daylight.  I enjoy (and covet) my morning time before Gene gets up.  I usually have about an hour, sometimes an hour and a half.  I sip my coffee, read my Bible, pray, and meditate while Peanut sleeps in my lap.  I have that “me time” every day.  If I feel I need more time, I may walk around the campground or suggest we go to the local bookstore or any large space where we can wander off on our own.

Gene uses the same tactic to carve out some time for himself.  He usually rubs on the trailer or truck (it must be a boy thing).  He, too, will sometimes take a walk around the campground.  He is much more apt to stop and talk with the fellow campers and I may not see him for an hour or more.

Very seldom, but occasionally, one of us may leave for a few days on some mission or another.  As a Christmas present a couple years ago, I spent five days with my mother.  It was great for her.  Also a couple years ago, I went with hiking friend, Diane, on the AT for a week.  Gene has hiking buddies, too, and he has been gone for the past three days to the Smokies on a hiking/camping trip.  With temperatures in the low 20s, I’ll bet he will be glad to be in his warm bed tonight.

For RVing couples, the space inside is small, but we have the whole outdoors to live in as well.  It is important to have at least a little “me time”.  We have to be creative sometimes to find it, but isn’t that true of everyone?