Traveling with Girlfriends vs. Traveling with Your Partner

Southeast Asia is the part of the world my husband wants to visit most, but he could not join me on a tour of Malaysia, Laos, Thailand, and Brunei. Fortunately, my girlfriends were ready to go. During this trip, I realized that traveling with your girlfriends (or sisters or daughters) is different from traveling with your partner.

Difference #1: Fast vs. Slow Travel

Fast travel squeezes many stops into one trip, planning to return to the place you could not get enough of later. Slow travel means taking the time to experience the local culture. Bill thinks it’s just insane to do the former. But not me and my girlfriends. We can get our photos taken at a famous landmark. Then, next!

We started with an overnight layover at the Kuala Lumpur Airport Hotel for a much-missed authentic Hainanese chicken dinner. The following day, we arrived in Vientiane, the Laotian capital. A day and a half got us to the top six attractions. We even had time for a Laotian Catholic mass. Then, off to Brunei!

We also had an overnight layover at the Dom Mueang International Airport. Even if there was a Wat just around the corner, we hired a car to see downtown Bangkok. We got awesome night views of the Grand Palace, the iconic Wats, and the home of the father of the King. The next day we were ready for our day and a half in Brunei where we visited eight top attractions.

Difference #2:  Fast vs. Slow Shopping

Women take their time before buying (huge understatement). We scour a shopping area to survey what things are available for women. When we find something we just must have, we bargain for the best value. Men don’t have the patience to do this; they would rather read a newspaper with a favorite cup at a cafe. They go to the specific store where they always like to get an item. Full stop.

At the Malaysian airport, we shopped for souvenir items. In Laos, we squeezed in a trip to a Night Market near our Ibis Vientiane Hotel. We even made it to Chatuchak, the biggest Night Market in downtown Bangkok, to buy $1 scarves. Never mind how much the car ride to get there cost us! In Brunei we got stuck in the mall asrain poured. We were able to get lovely scarves (again) for a “steal.”

Girlfriends invariably find something; then the rest of us would say, “Me, too!” Or there is a real answer when I ask, “Does this look good on me?” Shopping with them is quite synergistic. The only drawback is, Bill’s not there to pay for the item(s). The solution: have an extension of his credit card!

But there are similarities, too.

Similarity #1: Culture, History,, and Landmarks

Both love culture, history, and landmarks. Bill would also have gone to the same attractions with a big difference: it would have taken a couple more days. He would also add a visit to war memorials or play in bodies…of water. He would also not spend any time taking photos except to humor his wife.

Similarity #2: Local Food

We loved the most popular Malaysian Hainanese Chicken Rice chain in the KL International Airport food court. In Laos, we spent big bucks to savor a Laotian meal at a 5-star hotel. In Bangkok, we had a sumptuous seafood dinner at the popular Kuang Seafood Center. Finally, in Brunei, we splurged on a full-course meal at the 6-star Empire Resort. Bill would have loved and paid for them!

You are lucky if you can have both!

Are All-inclusive Resorts Worth Your Money? (Part 1)

We just completed the first four weeks of a thirteen-week all-inclusive stay at El Cid Resorts’ El Moro Beach Hotel. Bill has long wanted to retire in Mexico and, since I did not want to primarily for health care reasons, we have compromised on this program. I have gained x pounds even with a focused effort to stay slim by exercising daily. It is not really the pounds but it’s where they land. There is a noticeable “baby bump” that I do not like. It makes me not want to don a swimsuit in this beach paradise!

the four El Cid Resorts in Mazatlan

This is what all-inclusive means in El Cid Resorts. It means all-you-can-eat and drink at any of the following food and beverage outlets whenever we stay in any of these vicinities: four Mazatlan hotels (El Moro, La Marina, La Castilla, and La Granada), two Cancun hotels (Ventus and La Marina), La Ceiba in Cozumel, and those that will open in the new Cabo San Lucas facility. This year, we are in El Moro in Mazatlan. 

some of the restaurants in El Cid Resorts

These are all that are available for our use:

1.    9 Restaurants

La Concha-international food

El Patio-Argentinian food

La Marina-international food

El Alcazar-Italian food

Ban Horu-Japanese food

La Pergola-international food

La Cascada-Mexican food

La Alhambra-international food

La Terraza-international food

2.    5 Snack and Drink Bars

La Gruya

El Patio

La Conchinita

Snack Bars at La Marina

3.    2 Lobby Bars

El Moro

La Castilla

4.    4 Exclusive Elite Lounge, one at each hotel

some of the facilities at the El Cid Golf And Country Club

It also means free use of the facilities of the Casa Club (the Mazatlan Golf and Country Club owned by El Cid) such as the swimming pool, tennis courts, the fitness center, and sauna and steam bath. Discounts are available at the golf course and the Spa Garden. There are also huge discounts for boating and fishing at the Mazatlan Marina Yacht Club which is at the La Marina premises. El Cid also owns Pronatours and tours come at sizable discounts there, too.

the beach fronting El Moro

There is a beachfront and two pool complexes with swim-up bars and large hot tubs for resort guests to use at La Granada, La Castilla, and El Moro. In addition, there are three private pool complexes and a private beachfront for the exclusive use of Elite members like us at El Moro and La Marina. Finally, at every hotel, activities are organized targeting various interests of guests. We have taken courses in Spanish, salsa and other Latin dances, cooking, and mixing drinks, for example. There are more.

some of the activities we joined

In addition, Mazatlan is a great Mexican town to visit. With a population of 500,000, it is considered the Shrimp Capital of the World, has the longest Malecon in Mexico, and has, for an icon, the highest lighthouse in the world on a hill by the bay. There is a vibrant downtown center and many short day trips can take you to colonial villages, a few islands, and even the city of Durango up in the mountains.

It really means great vacations with abundant food, adequate facilities, and many adventures at one great location. But there are major drawbacks to this lifestyle, not the least of which are unwanted weight gain and unwarranted expense. Others may set in for those who stay too long (like us). Boredom with the food, activities, and facilities and the increased feeling of isolation even amid plenty of people (due to lack of solid social circles unless you are adept at meeting strangers) may all set in.

But these are negatives that arise only because of the way we use the benefits. If we exercise moderation and balance, then there will be fewer. of them And with better planning, there may be none. I am developing a few Best Practices for All-Inclusive Resort Stays and will post about them after the eighth week as Part 2 of this series. It is a lifestyle that deserves honing because it is the best that one can have. We are giving ourselves the chance to enjoy it before we leave his world permanently. We do believe it is worth the money and an analysis of costs will be in Part 3 after our twelfth week.

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I hope you will stay tuned.

CHOOSING A RESORT LIFESTYLE COMMUNITY FOR A TRAVEL BASE

After Bill and I got married in 2008, we went RVing for eight years. It seemed like a never-ending honeymoon until we began to feel we had completed North America. So during the last three of those eight years, we parked our RV at the Viewpoint RV & Golf Resort in Phoenix during the winter time. The rest of the year, we stored it to travel abroad. Doing this enabled us to establish our healthcare needs in the #5 state in healthcare in the country. Admittedly, we were also getting old and tired.

We began to make many great friendships, more stable ones than those we found during our RVing days when we had to leave people just as we had gotten close to them. And we warmed into the lifestyle, literally and figuratively. Winter is when many snowbirds converge in Arizona (from the northern states and Canada), looking for activities in warm weather. That is the cornerstone of what is called the resort lifestyle. We bought into it and moved into Viewpoint as a permanent travel base.

To best describe this kind of living, let me list the facilities available at Viewpoint. It has two golf courses with a country club that has a golf-pro shop, a restaurant/bar/grille, and two party rooms. There is a Main Clubhouse with two swimming pools, three hot tubs, hobby and craft rooms, and two ballrooms. The third clubhouse called NorthPoint has a swimming pool and two hot tubs, a sauna, a fitness center, a dance studio, a laundry room, a card room, and four meeting rooms. The newest gathering area is the Fitness and Leisure Center (walking distance from our unit) that contains a Fitness Center, a pool and hot tub and two party areas. There is also a Ball field, ten tennis courts, and five pickleball courts.

During the height of the season, there are about fifty clubs in operation. While Bill plays golf or tennis or takes walks with the Hiking Club, I busy myself with the Technology Group, the Photography Club, and the Authors’ Forum and also participate in Karaoke Night, Scrabble Afternoon, Poker Night, and the Block Happy Hour. During the off-season, Viewpoint’s full-time residents created the Summer Socials Committee which is currently hosting an activity every 6:30 pm on Fridays and every 4 pm on Saturdays. If you feel lonely in Viewpoint, it would be your own fault. In fact, a calendar of appointments is an utmost necessity.

This lifestyle fits very well into our travel plans. Whereas we traveled full-time before, now we carve out certain periods of the year when we relax and relate at the Resort. Our travels are around summer when we visit our children and grandchildren in colder areas (Calgary, San Francisco, Melbourne, Anchorage, Boise, and Denver) and/or use our month of timeshare points in Europe or elsewhere. Now that we have another three months of all-inclusive timeshare in Mexico, we will spend our winters in a “second home” in Mazatlan (or alternatively Cancun or Cozumel) as snowbirds from Phoenix. Spring and fall we will spend in Viewpoint when fewer activities mean even more relaxation time.

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It is indeed a great base for travels, this resort lifestyle community we found. It is ideal for us who have seen a lot but want to see more even at this age. Now we can do it more comfortably, in easy-to-use timeshares for our travels and in a resort lifestyle for the rest of the year. Perhaps, because of this home base, the family will visit us more than we visit them. It all definitely defines how cruising should be past 70!

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USEFUL SPREADSHEET+RESOURCE LIST FOR MAXIMIZING FUN ON THE GO

with the Naked Cowboy in New York City

These are the words I found in dictionary.com that define FUN:  what makes you smile/laugh/feel happy; not necessarily free-spirited or structured, ordinary or out-of-the-ordinary, just lighthearted or deeply intense, simply the first time and pioneering or repetitive and memorable, or alone or with someone.  This string of contrasting words led me to create a spreadsheet to remind me of ways to have fun whenever and wherever I am. This would be useful so I don’t do the same things again and again and later find I've been forgetting others.  

There are two columns: Alone or With Someone. There are four categories on horizontal rows, each one with contrasting perspectives, each one with a different color of text: 1) free-spirited or structured, 2) ordinary or unordinary, 3) light-hearted or deeply intense, and 4) first-time or repetitive. The only criterion I had for filling up each cell is FULL ENJOYMENT, not wealth production, not knowledge generation, nor reputation building.

MY SPREADSHEET FOR FUN

       

                                               Alone                                            With Someone

1.   Free-spirited               Writing a blog post                           Tubing, canoeing or kayaking

                                   Taking photos                                    Hiking a little-known trail  

Structured                  Attending a local talk                         Playing cards, local games, etc.

                                   Hearing a good homily                      Local dancing

2.   Ordinary                     Planning/cooking meals                    Local dining,  Having cocktails

                                   Reading a book                                 Dogs & s’mores around a campfire

                                   Working out at the gym                     Watching a movie

Unordinary                 Planning trips/parties                        Going to a local theater  

                                   Finding a bargain                              Visiting a museum    

3.   Light-hearted              Riding a carousel                              Having a picnic

                                   Learning to Cook a Local Dish         Karaoke/jam session

Deeply Intense           Playing video games                        Managing a complex project 

                                   Sketching/painting                            Dining potluck style

4.   First-time                  Flying a kite                                     Posing at the Arctic Circle

                                   Riding a bike                                   Riding a motorcycle or helicopter

Repetitive                  Looking for yellow things             Visiting family and friends

                                   Processing Photos                         Calling family and friends

MY RESOURCES FOR FUN

 

riding the Cadillac at the Ranch

You may say that the list is the same whether you    are on the go or not.  There is a big difference, though. You can definitely work on this list a lot faster while on the go because you are already in places that have the resources and facilities and the people around are most probably like-minded. The following paragraphs list three not so obvious resources that may be available wherever you go. They do not include sights and landmarks nor the amenities around your lodging of choice. In RVing, we wrote about the resources around campgrounds here.  

Anywhere you are, you'll find public institutions like libraries that are full of DVDs, CDs, books, and magazines to use. Visitor Centers are sources of info and discount coupons, great for outlying areas. Good substitutes for activities are community centers or senior centers (once we admit it)!  Colleges and universities are also great resources.  At Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, for example, we discovered the Bing Crosby House that stored much of the singer's memorabilia. Churches, from the small Quonset huts in remote areas to the massive cathedrals in large cities, have functions other than Sunday services.  An added benefit is that you will probably get more taste of the local culture in these places.

And, of course, countless commercial establishments fight for our dollars but let me cite those that are not so obvious ones. My favorite is to treasure hunt at thrift and antique stores, especially those that are found near affluent communities. Farmers’ Markets also give us valuable produce like big, juicy watermelons for just $1. We love to window-shop at sprawling malls that become great treadmill substitutes. Wide open drive-in theatres let you do your thing in the privacy of your car. When you run out of time to cook a meal, go into a Costco for some needed staples and have a round of the free food samples for lunch!

flash mob dance in old Vegas

But the resource you can always count on is your family or friends. Bill went back to his hometown in Pittsburg, Kansas where we found the best spot to camp in the whole wide world. Jack Dock, the husband of Rosemary (Bill’s sister), cleared out space on his driveway and extended an electrical outlet for us from his garage. In short, we were close neighbors for almost a month, reliving childhood times, sight-seeing together to nearby towns, alternating cooking meals, and playing lots of games.

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So what more can I ask for? There should absolutely be no more time for boredom.  The axiom ‘More for Less’ which I lived by in the corporate world, also applies in the cruising lifestyle. You don’t have to spend tons to enjoy any place. That makes Cheapskate Carol a happy girl and when I am happy, so is Bill. What are your definitions of and resources for fun?

Vegas Will Make You Go Back Every Single Time

Las Vegas is one unique destination. Glamor, glitter, and gambling are magnets for travelers. What's more, airfare to the city is usually low, lodging is inexpensive (especially on weekdays), and the food is awesome. No wonder it was voted the gathering place for my reunions in 2018. I have had three in a row since January 2018. After all three, we will go back again even if Bill again has to drive that 5-hour stretch through US 93 that connects Phoenix to Vegas. Having done so six times in four months, he can already do it sleeping. I have realized how Vegas will make you go back every single time.
  

Eating Our Hearts Out

The first was requested by my daughter Claudine who turned forty last February 7. She found great deals for the weekend of January 26-29 and convinced us to join her in a landmark celebration. Her family (husband Arnold, children Enzo, Kai, and Jax) and my eldest Trisha and her family (husband Deejay, children Krishna, Yeye, and Kenji), and Bill and I all congregated in adjoining rooms of Circus! Circus! My youngest, April and her family live in Melbourne and could not join us.

It turned out to be a weekend of gastronomic delights. The clear highlight of our stay was the Buffet of all Buffets for $60 pp. This entitles one to as many buffets as you want from Caesar’s Palace, Flamingo, Harrah’s, Paris, Planet Hollywood, and Rio within a 24-hour period. We started with the Le Village Buffet in Paris for our Saturday lunch, then for dinner we upgraded to the best Vegas buffet, the Bacchanal Buffet in Caesar’s Palace with an additional $35 pp, and then finished off with the Sunday brunch at Harrah’s Flavors, the Buffet.

With Vegas nights always ending in the wee hours of the morning, we just couldn’t squeeze in a breakfast buffet! Regular prices for each of the three buffets we took are $25, $60, and $25 for a total of $110. We still saved $15 pp. It would’ve been $40 savings had we been up in time for Sunday breakfast. We did not regret the decision to do this food indulgence but our tummies surely did! The Flavors Buffet was okay, Le Village was good, but Bacchanal was great. If you are going to choose just one, let it be Bacchanal, the #1 buffet in Vegas! It includes things like bone marrow, lechon (roast suckling pig), all kinds of seafood, steak, and lamb, and different styles of salads and desserts, etc.

at the Bacchanal Buffet

Reminiscing our Hearts Out

The International School of Manila (High School) 50th Reunion had been in the making for a year. We all got our acts together and met on March 15-19 at The Orleans Hotel and Casino. The first two days were the mini-gathering among a group of friends who sang together in high school. They called themselves the MJs (Marie, Miel, Mimi, Jo, Joy, Jean, and Judy). We couldn’t find Marie and Miel could not make it. Even if I was not part of the original group, I joined as a legitimate M-Me!

On the last three days, Alice, Florence, Stephanie, Hank, Ernie, Lynn, and Elmer joined us. We had a Senior Lounge where many pictures of fifty years ago were pasted onto the walls. It became our gathering place for the weekend. We had a welcome dinner and farewell cocktails at F&B outlets in our hotel but the main event was a celebration of all those who had passed on and a grand Filipino dinner bought from one of our fave Filipino food hang-outs in Manila, Goldilocks!   

And that was the distinctive feature of this reunion...a trip down memory lane. It wasn't just about friendships but also of Filipino food! The MJs looked for Max’s, Jollibee, ChowKing and Red Ribbon, all standard fast food places in Manila. So we had a fill of all the comfort food we had been missing. In fact, we all took home lots of goodies like ensaymada, sans rival, and empanadas. I suppose this happens not just to Filipinos. Vegas features all kinds of ethnic cuisines.

the Class of 67, ISM

Gambling Our Hearts Out

Four friends (and their spouses) from I/ACT, the Institute of Advanced Computer Technology in Manila, decided to just hang out together in Vegas from April 21-23. Precy, whom I had not seen for thirty+ years has retired in the Sin City with husband Pat. Fides, who still works for Microsoft, and husband Benjie flew in from Seattle. Loy, who still works for an IT consulting company in Chicago, flew into Phoenix and drove with Bill and me to Vegas. I/ACT no longer exists but we always feel the urge to see each other again, whether in the Philippines or in the US. It was just that type of company where people become friends for life.

One of the things we did after the office hours was to play Chinese mahjong. In fact, Precy and I did so from Friday after office all the way to Sunday afternoon, non-stop at a friend’s home, just alternating taking naps and eating food. So we played mahjong on the first night, right after we all arrived and after dinner, until the wee hours of the morning, at Precy’s Paris suite. I lost heavily ($2.50), Fides lost some ($.60), Loy was the big winner ($2.50) and Precy won some ($.60).

The following night, after a Japanese buffet lunch, walking the strip, and having cocktails at Planet Hollywood’s Diamond Lounge (Precy is a member), we tried the Fremont Street Experience with its computer-controlled roof spanning three blocks. Then we went back to The Strip, contributed $20 each, focused on one slot machine in Paris and alternated pressing the Play button. It was a major team effort, including in prayers. Although we lost all our money, the innovative way to gamble gave us a thrilling hour of anticipation, screams, and despair. In the wee hours of the morning, we consoled ourselves by feasting on Giordano pizza at the suite, courtesy of Loy. Then we triumphantly climbed into the High Roller at the Linq. Yes, we feel we deserved the name. We gambled our hearts out!

riding the High Roller

As I said Vegas became our venue for eating, reminiscing, and gambling our hearts out. My three reunions combined gave us a taste of the consummate Vegas experience. Unfortunately, I added two pounds to my weight which will take me a couple of months to shed. That is unless another reunion of some kind is scheduled again in the Gathering Place for all Reasons and for all Seasons! And I wouldn't mind going back at all. Vegas has enough to make you go back every single time.

Camping around America, the Beautiful

camping in North Carolina

Excerpts from Appendices 4 and 6 of Carolina: Cruising to an American Dream

Glamping, a recent trend coined from the phrase glamorous camping, technically refers to luxury cabins and tents.  I like to think that it all started with camping in an RV, something we did for eight years of our lives, in different campgrounds all over America. Doing so exposed us to different cities and towns around the country. And it allowed us to meet many “neighbors” along the way.  As a late-age immigrant, I am proud to have completed a fun discovery of America. I hope everyone who seeks citizenship can do so before becoming one.

camping in Joshua Tree National Park

In hindsight, we found four different kinds of campgrounds. They can best be illustrated with a grid having an x and y-axes. If we assign Location as the y-axis and Amenities/Activities as the x-axis, then four quadrants are created.  As you go higher on the y-axis, you go from urban to rural; as you move from left to right on the x-axis, you go from one with absolutely no amenities or activities to one with a ton of them. I call those with many amenities and activities, "resorts," and the ones with little or none, "parks." Then I use the term "nature" to differentiate the rural campgrounds from those that are nearer urban centers for which, in turn, I use the term "city."

We stumbled into the Nature RV Resort in Lenoir, North Carolina when we looked for a spot from which we could explore the Blue Ridge Parkway. We loved going home to the Green Mountain RV Resort. Our site had a sizable deck, looking out to a fresh spring.  Bill loved the large trees, went hiking in the many trails and dreamed of fishing and boating in the lake. We frequented a clubhouse with billiard tables, ping pong tables, and other games. Bill started his golf career with the nine-hole golf course in the resort. But the tennis and volleyball courts were left untouched. As for me, I learned the East Coast Swing from a family that was vacationing for a weekend at a Saturday dance!

camping in Orlando Thousand Trails

What immediately comes to mind as a City RV Resort is the Thousand Trails-Orlando in Florida. It’s just six miles from Disney World and within walking distance of strip malls and big grocery and other chains. My entire family staged a reunion there that Christmas. We loved going to the large clubhouse which was full of game kiosks, billiard tables, ping pong tables, a large TV, a gift shop, and even a diner. We began lots of things there: our religious observance of fitness center visitations, lazy afternoon lounging in the hot tubs and pools and energetic dancing to live bands with neighbors during the Friday night dances. Tennis courts, horseshoe pits, volleyball courts, and a mini-golf course remained unvisited though, as well as the craft and hobby clubs. I will never forget this Resort. It is where Bill suffered a heart attack the day we arrived. But it is also where we met Dan and Beverly who helped me through that episode. Another person I met was Roberta, a struggling writer. who published her book the year before I published mine.

The City RV Park is used primarily to be near family or friends whom we would like to visit or as a base from which to explore a famous large city. I remember how we religiously went out every day to take the train and subway link to Boston. We did not meet a lot of people because everybody was busy, like us, visiting the sights in this city that is synonymous with the start of the American Revolution. It became part of my inner journey to becoming an American, where I started to hum the Star-Spangled Banner all day, to Bill's delight.

camping at Kirk Creek Campground in Big Sur

Last but not least, the Nature RV Park is probably what you need when you want to get away from it all. State and national parks, as well as parts of our national forests, Corps of Engineers’ land preserves, beach enclaves, etc., are of this type.  Some national parks, such as the Joshua Tree National Park, qualify; bigger national parks with plenty of facilities, such as Yosemite and Yellowstone, are more like Nature RV Resorts. The best one that comes to mind is the Kirk Creek Campground along Big Sur, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It has a trail that led down to the largest sand beach in the area. It has no water hook-ups, so when young campers ran out, Bill graciously donated some of our supply. I spent many a night by a warm crackling fire under a soft moonlight

chatting with an author, eager to learn about his roller-coaster ride to getting published.

But we also realized that there are available resources for fun other than what the campground offers. We have been amazed at all the possible things you can do, at what living in America offers. My post on Maximizing RVing Resources, Part 2 details things from: public centers like libraries, Visitor, Community, and Senior Centers (if you can already admit that you are a senior!); colleges and universities that make the campus a public center for enlightened living; commercial establishments that compete for our dollars; local governments/non-government associations that sponsor a variety of events; and churches that go beyond religious services. Treasures are also available in all the state and national parks that preserve America’s beauty for everyone to enjoy.

inside the RV when camped

There is a range of things to see and activities to do in and around where you park your RV. You will enjoy whole new notions of fun and meet people who can teach you simple joys or take you to life-changing directions. Camping around the country gave me the confidence not only to receive my naturalization papers but also, more importantly, to become a true American. Now I can say that those eight years were well spent. I came to know and appreciate all of America, the Beautiful.

Cruising in an RV as a Lifestyle

full0time RV cruising in Alaska

Excerpted from Chapter 1, Appendix 1, and Appendix 2 of Carolina: Cruising to an American Dream

Sometimes we cruise along with just a general direction, waiting to be surprised by what new things-- sights, foliage, wildlife, for example--that we may encounter down the road. After driving for a couple of hours, we may shift to cruise-control to relax our tired muscles on the freeways of America. Other times, we will deliberately slow down because the scenery unfolding is just so spectacular.

Now imagine doing all of this cruising, not just in a car, but in an RV! And imagine it being a lifestyle, even if it is not full-time as I wrote about in this previous post.  Cruising in an RV has become very popular. Consider how the RV industry has grown. Today there are more than nine million RV owners (more than thirty million users if we include renters), more than 12,000 RV-related businesses, and more than 16,000 public and private campgrounds in America.

Definition of Cruising

escaping to the beach

Dictionary.com defines cruise as 1) to travel about without a particular purpose or destination; 2) to drive at a constant speed that permits maximum operating efficiency for sustained travel; or 3) to travel at a moderately fast, easily controllable speed. Before I go any further, let me state that I have eliminated 4) to travel about slowly, looking for customers or for something demanding attention, i.e. taxi drivers, policemen, and prostitutes!” To the first three definitions, I add my own take: aimless (no big aims), effortless (no big efforts), timeless (no big limits on time), deeply personal and enjoyable drive through life, usually with a loved one(s).

I like to compare and contrast this cruising lifestyle with the driven one because, for years, I had to endure the latter, bringing up my children as a single parent in the corporate jungles of Metro Manila. Bill was driven in America, too, though not as a single parent. His children were already on their own when his wife passed on due to cancer. While the driven lifestyle is usually characterized by big goals (building a home, bringing up kids, getting an MBA), cruising is marked by little ones (baking a pie, spotting a deer, gazing at a sunset). While the driven lifestyle needs lots of energy to sustain, cruising works at whatever energy level one may have. The driven lifestyle means deadlines but cruisers often say: ‘When I woke up this morning, I had nothing to do; when I went to bed, I was only half done.’

motorized RVs

Kinds of RVs

Let me first give a description of RVs.There are two general classifications: motorized and non-motorized. The motorized version is a vehicle that includes a housing area as well as the engine to run it. The second is a housing unit that is towed by a motor vehicle powerful enough to do that.

There are four kinds of motorized RVs according to size. The smallest are camper vans, very popular in Europe where the roads are pretty narrow. Class B and Class C motorhomes can go up to thirty feet in length and are complete with kitchen, dinette, and bathroom. The distinctive feature of Class Cs is a sleeping area on top of the driver’s compartment, while Class Bs has the sleeping area at the back. Class As is upwards of thirty feet in length with as many as four slide-outs that make the living areas so much bigger when parked. They can tow a dinghy, a dolly for cars, or even a big toy hauler.

non-motorized RVs

There are two kinds of non-motorized RVs: travel trailers or fifth-wheels. Travel trailers are tagalongs of various sizes, from the lighter pop-ups to teardrop campers, to the bigger Airstreams, and even larger ones. Fifth wheels, on the other hand, are those tagalongs with large noses that engage to the load bed of powerful pick-up trucks. These are usually as big as Class As, and like the larger travel trailers, often have slide-outs can also be used to expand living areas. 

                     

Types of RV Cruising

The various kinds of RVs give enthusiasts the appropriate one for the type of RV cruising they choose. In hindsight, there seem to be three types. The first is called escaping when you still want a home and just need to pause to be recharged. You may be a student, an employee, an executive, a business owner, or a housewife with a nagging urge to escape from everyday life. You want the benefits of cruising without suffering the disadvantages of being away from a home base. So you escape with your RV on a weekend or a longer vacation. Smaller, motorized RVs are perfect for this. Bill and I did not go through this type because we were already on the road to retirement when we met. But now that we have settled into a home base in Viewpoint, we may buy a campervan for the hot summer months.

We jumped straight into the second type, the fulltime RV cruising lifestyle. We finally had the time to attend to our bucket list that had grown long because we could not escape often enough in our past driven lifestyles. Given the number of years we had left on this planet, we focused on an intensive exploration of America. In the beginning, we stayed for just three or four days and used a 24-ft. Class C Telstar and a Vino scooter, a pair we fondly called Star and Vino. When we decided to stay longer in the areas we visited, two to three weeks at a time, we upgraded to a Class A with a slide-out and bought a little Saturn for a tow vehicle. We finally had a 350-sq.ft. living space and began to receive guests from family and friends. We did this for five years, stopping only after we had almost finished visiting all of North America.  Motorized RVs are perfect for this RV cruising lifestyle.

snowbirding in Viewpoint, Arizona

The third type is snow-birding. We follow the sun to be warmer, much like birds do when it gets too cold where they stay. During the winter months, we migrate to someplace in the warmer south;.during warmer months, we return to our primary homes. Droves of Americans who live in the northern states, along with many Canadians, drive to Arizona, Texas, Southern California, or Florida for three to six months a year to do this. After a search of the best campground/resorts in all the candidate states, we chose Viewpoint in Mesa, Arizona because it was the biggest and offered many amenities and activities. We did this for three years, using our RV as a home base during winter and exploring the other continents during the other months. Large, non-motorized RVs are ideal for this stage.

Whether you are in a camper van just escaping or in the larger motorhomes fulltime RVing, or in a fifth wheel snowbirding in the south, RV cruising is a lifestyle that can catch anyone's fancy. I have met people who continue their RV cruising well until their 80s; or, like us, moved from one stage to another over eight years and stopped. It was "one hell of a ride," one which we will never regret we took. We were pleasantly surprised by all that we saw and experienced. And now in our 70s, we have gracefully slowed down to a life of cruising saying "We've been there; done that!"

Revisiting the Pros and Cons of the Full-time RV Cruising Lifestyle

one of our many neighborhoods

Since my husband and I met while already on the road to retirement, we did not experience the initial stage of the cruising lifestyle’s weekend RV trips. We jumped right into fulltime RV cruising after the wedding, inspired by the idea of a never-ending honeymoon. We made the RV our home and lived all over North America for five years, visiting forty-nine American states, nine Canadian provinces and territories, and six Mexican states.

Last year, after three years of snowbirding at Viewpoint in Mesa, Arizona, and making many friends, we finally bought a home at the Resort. Now, a full year after our RV was sold, I revisit the debate that raged in my head in the middle of our adventure. There are pros and cons to the fulltime RV cruising lifestyle. I wrote about them here. This is an updated post that offers better perspectives, in hindsight. But do I reach the same conclusions?

near the Arctic Circle in the Yukon, Canada

Benefits 

We enjoyed the following benefits tremendously:

Consistently experiencing new things-to-do

Consistently seeing new places and sights

Consistently meeting new people
Closeness to nature and the outdoors
A larger, refreshing view of life
Stress (the positive kind)

At the time this debate was raging in my mind, we had already traveled 21,000 miles, from Alaska and the Arctic Circle to Mexico and the Tropic of Cancer to Florida and Low Country USA.  We would travel 80,000 more miles, but the pattern was set early on. Because of the consistently new experiences, activities, places, sights and people, boredom never had the chance to set in. And the ability to boondock brought us closer to nature and the outdoors.

Since we had not been rooted anywhere really, we were also developing a more accepting view of life, adapting more easily to differences in daily living among countries, regions, and towns; and also becoming aware of universal themes and larger concerns. Our lifestyles were quite driven before we married and fully retired. My husband was keeping a small business alive in a flagging economy after years of navigating the corporate jungle. In turn; I was juggling teaching at three institutions of higher learning while babysitting my grandson after years of pioneering in information technology in the Philippines. The RV cruising lifestyle was exhilarating and reinvigorating.

And, though there was a lot of stress looking for campgrounds, hooking-up and unhooking, planning itineraries, mapping sights to see and choosing activities to do, it was the positive kind of stress; it wasn’t the kind where you earnestly pray that your situation will change or even wish that you were somewhere else.  It was the kind that allowed you to sleep soundly at night with this thought: "That was an awesome day well spent!"

at Monroe Thunderbird Resort in Washington

Disadvantages 

But we also experienced the following disadvantages:

     Loss of the sense of stability
 Many unfamiliar situations
 Time and distance stress on bonds to family and friends
 Inconsistency in involvement with worthwhile causes
 Loss of income
 Uncertainties in healthcare

The very benefits of having something new all the time also brought the disadvantage of instability and a preponderance of unfamiliar situations, especially in the beginning with our smaller 24-foot RV. Once, in Chicken, Alaska, I ended up finishing my bath using the cold water in the sink. I could just not get the Park’s coin-operated shower to operate again when the time for the first token was over.

The most telling was the stress on bonds with family and friends and the inability to work for humanitarian causes we used to nurture.  Technology has definitely helped with bonding (skype, webcam, cell phones, broadband access, laptops, the internet, Facebook, etc.) but “propinquity” was actually lost. And, since we had practically a new parish each or every other week, we could not participate in a regular ministry. In hindsight, we could have parked our RV near our children’s homes for longer times; and, maybe, in Louisiana, parked our RV there to help build homes for Katrina victims, as an example.

What younger people would find most disturbing, however, is the loss of regular income. We found out later that there are options like “work camping” (see workamper.com), parking your RV at Amazon centers for seasonal jobs, or getting a portable career such as monetizing travel blogs. For retired people like us, the income loss just made us more frugal than usual and budgeting more of a regular to-do. This was not a big issue for us. 

But the disadvantage that finally made us settle down sooner than we otherwise wanted is uncertainties in healthcare. Again in hindsight, we should have established a central location where we could return regularly a couple of months a year so that a family physician, a dentist, and an ophthalmologist could take care of monitoring our health. Since we didn’t, we had a few health issues that bothered us more as time went on. We had three wake-up calls before we finally decided: a heart attack, a blood clot, and collapsing in an Auckland street.

at the Rocky Mountain National Park

Conclusion

Today, we come to the same conclusions. It is a lifestyle we hope many would be able to experience at least once in their lifetime. If you do, please refer to my post on The 10 Commandments of the Full-time RV Cruising Lifestyle. I loved the adventure so much I wrote a book about it: Carolina: Cruising to an American Dream. It thoroughly describes the lifestyle; and also my inner journey of becoming a wife and an American. So, yes, we recommend you succumb to the lure of the open road! We are thankful that we took the plunge even if it wasn't forever.

Some parting words, though. A good attitude is not to sweat the small stuff when you face varying situations, people, rules, facilities, schedules, etc. For older folks like us, that may not be an easy thing to do, but it is a good exercise for improving emotional flexibility. And, if you are a “young couple” like we are, the coziness of the lifestyle makes for another great exercise for building closer and stronger bonds. How’s that for advice from a couple that met on the road to retirement?