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The Bipolar Tendency of the So-called "Four" Seasons

It must be a real disappointment to most new RVers to see how suddenly the world snaps from hot to cold.  Most people probably fantasize about moving their wheeled house to make autumn last for a couple months.  They would like to think the perfect temperature can be dialed-in by moving their RV 100 miles at a time.

But planet Earth doesn't work like that.  I was astonished by that fact during my first winter of RVing, and it still disappoints me, after all these years.  Currently I am surrendering on my planned slow-migration southeast to the Green River and then south along it.  In the West a slow migration south is undermined even more by the higher altitudes you find along the way.

Can lemonade be made from these lemons?  Perhaps not -- if practical travel plans alone are considered.  But a general can lose a battle and still hope to win the war.  Tactical versus strategic.  Short term versus long term.

Analogous to that, travel can be looked at on a philosophical level, rather than just the short-term, 'where do I sleep tonight' level.  With each additional year of experience, a traveler probably develops from the scenery tourist level of a newbie to a "liver"-amongst-nature attitude more characteristic of backwoods cabin people, gardeners, firewood cutters, farmers, professional fishermen, animal breeders, or Eurasian steppe nomads.

If that argument is correct, then there is a "professional" satisfaction in accepting the unpleasant fact that planet Earth is far from perfect, and that an authentic natural experience comes from accepting hardship as more authentic than plenitude, discomfort as more authentic than ease, and uncertainty as more authentic than security.  Struggling with that imperfection is what the natural experience is mostly about.

Comments

I am 78 now and just realizing how correct is what you just taught me. Thank you. It is important to me and my locations of choice during the year.
Thank you Barney. Your camping locations are close to grandkids. They are your "crop". They are life. Scenery isn't.