OMG! 173 days until I am out of here!
Recently met with Jess, the young woman who is probably going to sublet my apartment while I am on the road. Omg omg omg!
Read moreA Very Different New Year
Mildred Josephine English-McCann 01/02/21--01/01/15
New Year’s Day, 2015, I was settling in to sort, shred or re-file some more papers from my file cabinets when I got the call from one of the nuns at the Queen of Peace Residence that I’d been anticipating for the last five years. Mom’s health had taken a turn for the worse very quickly. I should hurry, if I wanted to say goodbye.
Read moreThree Zip Codes
This trip, for someone who has only ever lived in three New York City Zip Codes, is a pilgrimage. I need to go off and do a challenging thing, so that I can process what I’ve lived and learned thus far, and know myself better, here in my “Third Act.” I need to learn to take care of myself in the face of geographic and social variations.
Read moreTiny
There is a documentary about Tiny Houses on Netflix. I think it's out there on Youtube too. My friend, Andi told me about this documentary, and last night I watched it.
Read moreThe Traveling Salesman
I had lunch yesterday with Ann and Gerry at The Mountain Brauhaus. They are friends I made last summer while house-sitting nearby, and caring for Fuzzy, the neighbor’s cat.
Read moreTravel Support Team
More Lists
I need to check the expiry dates on my passport and driver’s license. Will need to consider the annual things in my life that will come due while I’m on the road, income taxes, car insurance, and other payments…
Read moreMeeting with Bryn
I am fortunate to have a friend who is among other things, a professional life coach. Bryn Johnson is really good at lists and organization, and we met at a coffee shop yesterday afternoon to talk about my transition.
Read moreFirst RV Show
I went to the Fall RV Show at Rockland Community College in Suffern, NY with Margaret. She offered to drive as “Big Red,” her Subaru Forester doesn’t get much use, and Margaret loves a road trip.
Read moreMore Research
I have been so pressured to get work done I've written nothing for the blog all week! But in my latest Class B/van conversion research, I've found information in a few different places that, very few people full-time in a Class B because there is not enough room in the fridge (the reefer?) (Yeah, I'm just learning to speak RV)!
Read moreRV Shopping!
I drove 50 miles south, to Lakewood New Jersey to Camping World. Gave the receptionist my name, phone # email and address. Now, it’s official!
Tall Paul, used to play basketball. He played in Europe for couple years after school, played for the Knicks for 3 months. Someone came down on his ankle, and now he sells RVs. They actually had no class B/vans on their lot at this time.
Read moreTED Talk About Aging
I watched Jane Fonda’s talk about the third act.
https://www.ted.com/talks/jane_fonda_life_s_third_act?language=en
She has done a lot of research and writing about aging, as it has happened to her. She calls it The Third Act. I like that metaphor. If I view my life as a play, Act I is childhood, Act II is my (young, productive) early adulthood, and Act III would be these retired years.
Read moreFear
I woke up scared this morning. In my bed. In my apartment. What if I hear something while sleeping alone in my camper, and it’s dark? I won’t be able to just drive away if I’m plugged into the electric and water in a campsite. What would I do? Will I buy a gun? A Tazer? Bear repellent? Wasp and hornet repellent? A Louisville Slugger?
Read moreLeaving Folks Behind
I can't leave my boys for a year! Jack is eight, Ted is seven, and Charlie is four-and-a-half. I have been watching these three fabulous grandsons grow up since they were born. I've been in their home to visit or to babysit, or go on an outing, three times a month. I feel like I'd be breaking something in that covenant with them--the promise of being available, being present in their lives
Read moreThoughts About Leaving
I've been thinking about getting my life, my apartment ready for me to be away for a year or so. The first thing I need to do is stop some of the mountain of mail that comes into this house.
Read moreHappy Thanksgiving!
Hogwarts in East Harlem
Today is Thanksgiving. Yesterday was The Feast @ Park East. The teachers cook, we rent tables and chairs, and set up a Hogwarts style-dining hall in our gym. And we feed everyone: turkey and the traditional sides, or ham and macaroni and cheese to kids who don’t like turkey. We also feed forty or sixty alumni who come back to visit and help out. They visit the current classes of students and we set up panel discussions for them to tell of their adventures out in the real world of college and work. It is always the high point of the day for me. I get all teary to see these young men and women who, (just a minute ago) were scared little pups fourteen-years-old, first days of high school.
Read moreVisiting with MR/Marie Howe Poem
In 2012, I lost my best friend to pancreatic cancer. Mary Rose was a former lover, and sister-like dear, dear friend. She had a great retirement package, savings, a beautiful home, but her life was cut short.She was at peace with the situation at the end of her fight, and had six-years to get ready. The long goodbye helped, but my grief at her loss was devastating. The deeply connected day to day-ness of our relationship meant that, when she was gone, I was left with a huge hole in my life. Margaret, Alyssa, and I were the “Mary Widows,” I forget who jokingly coined that phrase, but it stuck.
Read moreFirst Visits To RV Dealers
I met a woman, Kath, online, through the Rainbow RV group. She’s also going to retire soon, and has been researching different kinds and classes of RVs. She sent me a link to one that I fell in love with right away, named, “The Pleasure Way,” I have to admit, I got many weird and interesting hits on The Google because initially, I wasn’t careful with my search terms. “How to pleasure your man…” “How To Get More Pleasure In Bed…” But this does look like the perfect van/camper.
Read moreVeterans Day
Bill Hartmann
We miss you Billy Hartmann, and thank you for your service.
A.J. Fussalva, I thank you for your service.
It’s funny, but when you know a veteran or two it is much more difficult to keep your head in the sand about what all those people are putting up with, the risks they’re taking for us. The disruption to their lives is huge. For better or for worse, they’ll never be the same. Yes, it’s a volunteer military right now, but that doesn’t make it any less of a sacrifice in my mind.
Read moreMoving the Dream Forward
Hi Al, Tom
Just wanted to keep you in the loop of what's going on in my head.
I reserved a small, nineteen-foot camper for our trip next summer, and I seem to have got the RV bug. (I owned a van/camper 30 years ago), and I'm thinking about looking for a used one, and hitting the road for six months or a year after I retire. Maybe I could sublet the apartment, and go travel around to all the places I've always wanted to see, or to see again, while I am young enough and healthy enough to do it.Read more
Acadia in my past. Acadia in my future.
For my first trip to Acadia as an adult Barbara and I bought a van, turned it into a camper, and took Tom, Brian, and my Tommy to Acadia National Park when he was about five. It will be fun to go there now with the next generation. The grandkids can play and we’ll take them hiking.
Read more