It's been awhile.
We've been on the move and out of touch for quite some time. This is the first place we've found ourselves with 3G and within a mile of a Walmart. We like it!
We spent a good part of today re-entering civilization. We visited the bank and a few favorite stores for some must haves. And, with 3G at our site we both spent a good hour or three this morning taking care of our online business. It was all good.
Like I said. It's been awhile.
This little experience has us thinking. Actually, we had a bit of an epiphany. We've known for a long time that there's a balance we need to strike between sitting still and moving. But, today's epiphany shed more light on that subject. You see, we finally realize that when we're moving in "vacation mode" it's really hard to manage our life. And, when we sit still to manage our life we need the basics: cell service, 3G and a Walmart nearby to survive.
Ever since we started our life on the road, we've pretty much thought of it all the same. Whether we were parked or moving really didn't matter. It's our life and we deal with it. But, today's epiphany has helped us see something very important. When we're sitting in one spot for awhile with all the technology we need, that's as close as we get to life like it was in our sticks and bricks. When we're parked it's easy to take care of things like mail, shopping and all the business of life. When we're on the move that all becomes a bit more difficult. But, we didn't really think about it that way. Until now.
When we're on the move, like we are now, we're pretty much in "vacation mode". We're concentrating on where we're going, who we're meeting and what there is to see. And, we're discovering that at times like this we're giving precious little thought to things like bills, appointments, to-dos or life. Know what we mean?
So, today's epiphany got me thinking. The time we're sitting still is perfect for taking care of household business. When we're moving, not so much. So, we need to do two things. First, we need to schedule at least a month a quarter when we're sitting in one spot with smokin' hot wifi and 3G. That's all we need to take care of business. And, when we get ready to hit the road and be on the move for one, two, three, or six weeks, we need to take care of business before we leave. Because, the cold hard truth is who knows what kind of wifi or cell service we'll have once we hit the road. If we take care of everything before we start moving, we'll cover all of those things that can easily fall through the cracks.
When you're moving every couple of days it can be hard to remember what bills need to be paid when. Research for future trip planning falls to the wayside as you concentrate on all of the wonderful sights to see here and now. By taking care of business while we're sitting still, we have high hopes that we can enjoy these times like this when we're on the move, without worrying about what bill needs to be paid when.
We're looking at the calendar and eagerly planning for those one month blocks every so often when we can concentrate on taking care of business.
It'll make the rest of our travels so much more fun!
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6 comments:
nothing wrong with sitting a spell!!!..good for you and your epiphany!!!
We have our "business" arranged so life can pretty much go on without us! Pension and SS are automatically deposited. All monthly bills are handled as automatic payments via credit card. The credit card is automatically paid monthly. No matter where we are, connected or not, our financial life goes on... except for the annual bills, like insurance (which we handle well in advance. We can take off for the boonies or across borders without too much advance planning. Lots of easy ways to automate bill paying these days!
Receiving mail is our biggest pain, since we don't tend to stay long in one place and don't like commiting to any particular travel plan too far in advance.
Interesting to discover your "travel style", isn't it?
Safe travels!
Great post. I also find sitting still for a while can be a little more frugal. Like Laurie and Odel, all of our bills are taken care of online or auto pay. I even pay my phone bill right on the phone. Mail is sent to one of our monthly spots, and since my best Buddy handles it, anything that is important, she brings to my attention right away. And, all of our pensions and ss are auto deposits.
Stay safe.
wow. you voiced my thoughts... When we are traveling, we are so busy, we don't think about the "mundane" things. what we need to do is to take the time when we are stationary to take care of those things, but, in some ways we need to stop long enough to be "bored" in order to get them taken care of...otherwise we just "wait" and by then we are on the road again and not paying attention. Its hard to describe, and somewhat a vicious cycle. Maybe its part of the adjustment of "full time" living on the road.
Like you guys, we travel like we're on vacation sometimes and other times we sit for a month or two (like Tumwater or Pismo Beach) and can do all of that boring stuff. It all works out for us in that we are never tired of any one way of handling our fulltime life.
We do have almost every single bill paid on auto-pay so that helps. We actually only snail-mail one bill per year and that is for the long-term care insurance which will not allow anything ecept an actual check to pay the premium. Other bills are scheduled ahead online. We fulltimed for 2 years in the mid-90's with no computer or cell phone. There were very few auto-pay options then either. Sure made the lifestyle more complicated.
Glad to read you again today! Enjoy your stay in MI.
Not having a good internet connection might be a big "bump in the road" for my husband. We shall see, he surprises me all of the time, he may just take it in stride.
I enjoy having a good connection, but I could go without fro a few days at a time.
It will all be a big unknown to us both.
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