Time to Ponder – and CARPE DIEM

 

When one makes such a drastic change in one’s life as moving to a new country, abandoning a vagabond way of life for good, learning new customs, a new language, it requires at first much thought to ponder the necessity for such changes, then much energy to implement the transition, and finally much patience with oneself to acquire a certain ease with the new “just about everything”.

At first, it was akin to a honeymoon and like all honeymoons, it was followed by a reality check. All this I have met with either vigour, at times ease and even zest, seldom with any trepidation. The problem with being a vagabond for years, is that there is always a more enticing place; the road beckons and its lure never abates. Yet, however much the spirit may urge one to seek farther horizons, the body sometimes begs for rest, tranquility, for less activity, and please, please? . . . less work? I suppose that this is the case as far as I am concerned. Besides, despite my very positive attitude on ageing, I must face reckoning with a lessening of energy. Not necessarily sickness, just being plain tired. So, I suppose that finally staying put at age 70 is “…about time!”

I have avoided facing the need to keep up with the blog for some time now with the resulting sense of guilt. Arghhh… guilt, such a reliable companion! This, coupled with learning Spanish, had become a chore rather than pleasure. Add to this that I felt a bit of a cheat since I was no longer boondocking. Plus during the past weeks, I had to travel to Querétaro a number of times to apply for the FM3 visa, a rather time-consuming affair. Since I had decided to remain in Mexico, getting the resident visa seemed appropriate or else I would have to get out of the country to re-enter every six months as a tourist.

I have lived much of my life with a deeply ingrained sense of duty, responsibilities often taking precedence over the need to rest, to enjoy life. When I moved to my rig, I dutifully kept an agenda of things to take care of. Generator, solar energy batteries, housework, body work on the rig, tires, brakes, suspension, water, dumping, cleaning, laundry, shopping, etc. etc. the list was endless. It required that I keep an agenda of things to do! A perfect continuation of my working life when in fact, I’d reached retirement age more than five years before. I think that the tiredness was mainly of myself getting in the way of good intentions and a more pleasurable style of living.

CARPE DIEM – I have much to learn in the art of seizing the day, living in the day, for the day, this without thoughts about duty or the elusive tomorrow. When I first contemplated the move to Mexico, I kept reading as much as I could on the country, its climate, its customs, its people. I recall a note that I kept that goes, “The Mexican reveres the past, lives for the present, and thinks that the future will take care of itself.” Not a bad philosophy to try and acquire so as to begin to enjoy the rest of my life.

My blog needs to be for the sheer pleasure of it and it is when I allow myself to enjoy writing about all that matters to me, with the hope that a reader may enjoy it, as well. So, from now on my posts will take on a more personal flavour as opposed to adventures on the road and the life of a boondocker. As I had mentioned earlier, the name of my blog will not change, so my apologies to readers who either wanted to experience vicariously the life of a vagabond or get tips on rv’ing. There are so many very good blogs to satisfy the most avid reader and I felt that my contribution was duplicating all that already existed, most of it certainly more knowledgeable or enjoyable. ***

So, here goes carpe diem. . . and a tremendous sense of relief!

*** I will be happy to answer any question about full-time rv’ing that I can, or else refer the reader to a site that will.