An old man in a van is camped a few hundred yards from me. He hasn't come over to visit. I haven't tried to visit him. That seems a little defeatist, considering that I might have visited with him when we overlapped on a road a couple days ago, and he appeared lucid and non-senile. (Which is better than average, let me tell you...)
This is just one example of a more general trend I seem to be settling into: a withdrawal from "fellow" RVers. I'm not really sure I am doing the right thing. It's not a hard-core, cynical attitude. It's more a matter of being tired of disappointment and frustration. The path of least resistance seems to be minding my own business.
Thinking back over the years of ineffectiveness at this issue, it seems that most encounters had something in common: we only had something in common, superficially. In fact they were pursuing a completely different paradigm than me. There is nothing wrong with their paradigms, if it works for them. I just have no interest in them.
1. The old man in a van. Mildred died of cancer a couple years ago. He is lonely, and spends most of his time watching satellite television and drinking. Or he hasn't been the same fellow since he got back from Viet Nam. Or he is living on nothing but social security and camps in the forest because that is all he can afford. Or he and Mildred got divorced 20 years ago, and he is virtually estranged from his own children. He is angry and flares up, almost scaring other people, when certain topics are brought up.
2. The eager newbie, driving 300 miles per day, hitting his RV Dream like it's a July scenery vacation. Then Fred and Mildred blog about the pretty lake, pretty mountain, pretty seashore... Pioneer museum, tour of a candy or cheese factory, or wildlife museum, that they are gawking at TODAY.
3. Singles clubs. In principle these could be quite helpful if people were there because being single does involve some unique challenges and opportunities. But if it is just a thinly-disguised Lonely Hearts club...
4. RV brand affinity clubs. Well, there is a certain practical value to these. But really (!), to define yourself by brand fanboy-ism shows you are the ultimate jackass of a consumer society.
5. "Frugal" RVers, who can't write more than a sentence or two without invoking the codeword, 'stealth.'
6. The perpetual wannabee. Fantasizing about becoming an RVer "someday" has become a pleasant, long-term hobby for them. They'll never do anything of course.
7. Hikers, Greens, Subaru-drivers, national park-loving, dog-hating, postcard-worshippers.
8. Channel surfing with gasoline. Getting bored with a place before the engine has even had time to cool off.
9. "How to" travel bloggers, blabber-mouthing boondocking locations, or obsessing over "practical" problems, with each one leading to today's click-bait.
10. People who visualize Nature as it appears from their cubicle in the metropolitan rat-race, or from a coffee table book, rather than as it actually is.
Must I repeat that there is nothing wrong with these approaches?! It only makes sense to wish them luck with their chosen paradigms. But I'm just not interested.
Of course we shouldn't just have an interest in people who are clones of ourselves. But a certain amount of overlap is necessary. I think it is the basic paradigm of travel that needs to be the same. Not the details.
No doubt there are readers who are going to say that I'm being cranky again. Actually I am just thinking out loud, and am trying to convince myself that it is "OK" to let a troublesome issue go.
This is just one example of a more general trend I seem to be settling into: a withdrawal from "fellow" RVers. I'm not really sure I am doing the right thing. It's not a hard-core, cynical attitude. It's more a matter of being tired of disappointment and frustration. The path of least resistance seems to be minding my own business.
Thinking back over the years of ineffectiveness at this issue, it seems that most encounters had something in common: we only had something in common, superficially. In fact they were pursuing a completely different paradigm than me. There is nothing wrong with their paradigms, if it works for them. I just have no interest in them.
1. The old man in a van. Mildred died of cancer a couple years ago. He is lonely, and spends most of his time watching satellite television and drinking. Or he hasn't been the same fellow since he got back from Viet Nam. Or he is living on nothing but social security and camps in the forest because that is all he can afford. Or he and Mildred got divorced 20 years ago, and he is virtually estranged from his own children. He is angry and flares up, almost scaring other people, when certain topics are brought up.
2. The eager newbie, driving 300 miles per day, hitting his RV Dream like it's a July scenery vacation. Then Fred and Mildred blog about the pretty lake, pretty mountain, pretty seashore... Pioneer museum, tour of a candy or cheese factory, or wildlife museum, that they are gawking at TODAY.
3. Singles clubs. In principle these could be quite helpful if people were there because being single does involve some unique challenges and opportunities. But if it is just a thinly-disguised Lonely Hearts club...
4. RV brand affinity clubs. Well, there is a certain practical value to these. But really (!), to define yourself by brand fanboy-ism shows you are the ultimate jackass of a consumer society.
5. "Frugal" RVers, who can't write more than a sentence or two without invoking the codeword, 'stealth.'
6. The perpetual wannabee. Fantasizing about becoming an RVer "someday" has become a pleasant, long-term hobby for them. They'll never do anything of course.
7. Hikers, Greens, Subaru-drivers, national park-loving, dog-hating, postcard-worshippers.
8. Channel surfing with gasoline. Getting bored with a place before the engine has even had time to cool off.
9. "How to" travel bloggers, blabber-mouthing boondocking locations, or obsessing over "practical" problems, with each one leading to today's click-bait.
10. People who visualize Nature as it appears from their cubicle in the metropolitan rat-race, or from a coffee table book, rather than as it actually is.
Must I repeat that there is nothing wrong with these approaches?! It only makes sense to wish them luck with their chosen paradigms. But I'm just not interested.
Of course we shouldn't just have an interest in people who are clones of ourselves. But a certain amount of overlap is necessary. I think it is the basic paradigm of travel that needs to be the same. Not the details.
No doubt there are readers who are going to say that I'm being cranky again. Actually I am just thinking out loud, and am trying to convince myself that it is "OK" to let a troublesome issue go.
Comments
like to hike and love dogs, not sure of #8, #9 no, #10 nope. But I am sorta boring but friendly usually :) A good solid cranky post, I like it!
Rant aside, we should always try 'to light a candle, rather than curse the darkness'. Getting ready to do that in a couple days. Will that be exoneration for this post?