If there’s one thing Jim and I have learned after leaving our conventional life behind, is that every wrong turn or unexpected meeting happens for a reason. You can spend a lot of time mapping your life or your road trip or whatever, but ultimately there is a greater force in control of the shape that your life takes. There are no coincidences.

So what is that force? I don’t think of it as “God” but instead, the power of Intention.

The results of my life are the end result of all of the different types of intentions that I’ve put into it.

From negativity to positivity, every day of my life is a reflection of my choices.

Redefining “Bad” and “Good”

In my previous life, I might have perceived our current situation of being stuck in Livingston while our dog recovers from his illness as something really negative. After all, we didn’t get to fulfill our goal to journey down the Great River Road, and I just broke my Mom’s heart by telling her we can’t come to L.A. for Christmas because of Wyatt’s upcoming vet appointments at A&M.

Despite all this, for now we are making the most of this unexpected detour by remembering all the good that’s right in front of us, like:

1. We get to hang out with some really nice members of the full-time RVing community. There’s no need to explain our lifestyle choice, everyone here gets it whether they’re 80 or 30. Everyone here has an interesting story to share and something to teach us.
2. It’s a chance to hunker down, work on making money and re-build our emergency fund.
3. The weather is fabulous.
4. Escapees park rent is cheap.
5. Finally, getting to meet people who’ve been following our blog for a while, like Stephen from Bunkhouse Tales. This new full-timer showed up in the park this weekend, saw our rig and said “Hey I know those guys!”

We had a blast last night getting to know this ex-Wall Street suit -turned-long-haired-nomadic-photographer. He’s been on the road one year now, and loves the lifestyle, but has reached the same kind of turning point where Jim and I were after our first year on the road;

do we continue living this very free lifestyle and make our own rules as we go, or fall back into the safe routine of “normal” living that people expect from us?

You see, a few months ago, Stephen also ran into our long-time RVer friend Kevin, founder of NuRvers. If that wasn’t a sign that this guy needs to follow his full-timing dream, I don’t know what is.

Stephen, the Universe is telling you something. If you’re reading this, I know you know the answer that’s right for you . . .