Mike Wendland lists his top five goals for the new travel season, which he is eagerly anticipating and planning for while waiting out winter in Michigan.
By Mike Wendland, F426141
March 2014
March is a month that always tries my patience. We experience those first faint whiffs of spring up where I live in Michigan, but snow and well-below-freezing temperatures are still the norm. I want so much to
dewinterize my motorhome, but it’s just not yet time. Come on, warm weather. I’m ready for the 2014 travel season to be in full swing.
It’s not that we haven’t been on the road this year. We’ve been to nine different states since January, but only briefly, and on several of the trips it was just too cold to really do much.
I’m eager to remove the antifreeze from the fresh-water system, sleep with the windows open, see green leaves and sun-warmed sandy beaches, toss a fishing line, go for a bike ride, and walk the dog without having to bundle up like an Eskimo.
I especially want to see our motorhome without snow and ice. For too long this seemingly endless winter, it’s looked like an igloo out there in our driveway. Warm weather just can’t come fast enough for us. You, too?
So, as Jennifer and I — and our dog, Tai — wait for the RV season to really get under way, we’ve been reflecting a lot on the places we’ve been and the people we met in 2013. We’ve also drawn up a tentative travel schedule of our planned destinations for the new year.
We’ve learned some lessons. And I’ve come up with some new goals, above and beyond the specifics of where and when we’ll go. I call it my RVing self-improvement list.
Here are the top five things I want to learn or do better with during 2014:
1. Stop, look, and listen more. Last year was a crazy year, travel-wise. We covered more than 35,000 miles in our motorhome, crisscrossing North America. While we loved every mile, I have to concede that we missed a lot. Sometimes I was so focused on where I was headed that I missed things I should have noticed right where I was. As we set off again in 2014, I want to slow down, stay in various locations longer, and more thoroughly investigate the places we visit. There is no hurry. I need to keep telling myself that.
2. Take more and better photos. I think I’ll take a photo class this year. I want to learn more about light and composition and wildlife photography. Same with video and video editing. Most of my skills I picked up as a television and newspaper reporter, on deadline, covering time-sensitive news stories. I want to follow along and learn from some of the amazing photographers I’ve met this year. And I want to tell more stories with stills. Photographic workshops are available at various locations across the country, and I plan to take in at least one.
3. Read and learn more about the history of the places we visit. Every town has a local history book at the library, and most have a local historian we can contact to help us understand what makes the locale unique. The places we visit all have a background, and coming to understand that and use it in enriching the stories I’m telling will be part of my journalistic due diligence this year. Public libraries are wonderful resources, and I hope to make it a matter of practice that whenever we are going to stay in an area for a few days, I will visit the library and ask some questions.
4. Eat better and exercise more. Travel can wreak havoc on our health. We will prepare more of our meals from fresh, healthful whole foods and local veggies and produce in our RV kitchen this year, instead of eating out. We will avoid at all costs fast food from the chains. I will bring bicycles with us on our trips, and we will cycle, hike, kayak, and work out in some way every day. No matter where we are, we will do something to be physically active and to work up a fat-burning sweat. There is a very real ailment called the “sitting disease.” Google it. It is particularly dangerous to RVers, who sit for long periods of time as we drive and then tend to sit around our campsites too much. I want to cure myself of sitting disease and to be fit and lose weight so I can better enjoy the places we visit.
5. Do more RV mods and maintenance. Inspired by so many of the folks I’ve met through various FMCA rallies and gatherings last year, I will learn more about simple mechanical and fix-it ways I can keep our motorhome running great. I will also look at ways to maximize interior space through do-it-yourself projects. Along with these, I will learn more about how the various components work and what I can do to help keep them working.
So there it is, my top five goals for the new season. I just wish it would begin in earnest. I can’t wait to get out there!
Veteran journalist Mike Wendland, F426141, FMCA’s official on-the-road reporter, travels the country with his wife, Jennifer, and their Norwegian elkhound, Tai, aboard the couple’s Roadtrek Type B motorhome. Mike can be reached at openmike@fmca.com.