Melissa Ann Goodwin

Melissa Ann Goodwin

Friday, January 27, 2012

Rules for the Road

RVPainter and I have come up with some 3-word sayings that are like mantras for our new way of living. They are:

Keep it Simple
and
Make it Easy

Those are the two primary ones. We've learned over the years that we have the ability to overcomplicate and make things harder than they have to be. So when we are making choices now, we test ourselves against these two criteria. Does it make it easy? Is it simple?

We also like "Get stuff free" and "Best for less" as rules for the road. The best things in life often really are free, and we plan to take advantage of that as much as possible. And, even though we will be on the road and living in an RV, we don't want to live like paupers. This gal likes her luxury, though luxury for me can be rustic and it can be found in simple things. Luxury can be a really nice beach towel. It can be having a drink and appetizers at a fancy hotel that we aren't actually staying at.  We pay for the food and get the luxury and the atmosphere of the fancy hotel for free.

Best for less means that we look for every chance to get great deals whenever we can. We've got all sorts of rewards plans associated with our credit cards and we've joined several RV-related clubs that allow savings on the RV resorts themselves.

In other news: The Secretary of VA Benefits for NM has emailed RVPainter, and he is going to talk to the Director of the cemetery. The Secretary is "state" and the Director is "federal", but the Secretary seems sympathetic and said that he LOVES to walk in Arlington National Cemetery. I think he'll work this out for us, but RV is skeptical. He thinks the Director is a tyrant who won't back down. Guess we'll find out!

If you have any other rules for the road for us, please pass them along!

16 comments:

  1. Anonymous1/27/2012

    You could tack a little sign on the back that says, "keep back 20 feet, student driver" lol. Should help to make your travels a little safer.

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  2. there is snow in istanbul and the roads are without rule:) i like your blog...see you

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  3. Great rules to live by! If I was RVing, one rule would have to be that I cook over an open fire at least once a week. :-)

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  4. Delores - THAT is a very good idea! That should keep folks away from us. :-)

    Tolga: That sounds interesting ... and scary ...

    Tracy - Cooking over the open fire - definitely! As often as possible - I'm hoping our oven gets very little use.

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  5. DW - we do pretty good living by those rules now. I think the Dictator of the SF National Cemetary will reply "I can interpret the rules for National Cemeteries as I see fit and in the best interest of MY National Cemetery." Time will tell I guess.

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  6. RV: Time will Tell - that's another of our 3-word rules for living.

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  7. I think your adventure sounds fun. Simplicity is never a bad thing.

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  8. Cherish the little things.

    A sunrise, a sunset, a bird call, excellent chocolate.... As I get older I am finding that the little things are hugely important and can make the big things more manageable.

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  9. Does Double Duty....anything that can serve more than one purpose is a good thing!

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  10. Tonja and TEC, small, simple pleasures are the best.

    Donna - that's a good one!

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  11. Great rules for the road! I agree with you that we should keep things simple. So often I find myself complicating things and I need to remind myself to keep it simple. I like the idea of an appetizer or a drink in a fancy hotel! Happy trails.

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  12. I love keep it simple and make it easy. My grandfather always used to say "work smarter, not harder".

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  13. Jess and S.P. When I think back on all the times we made things so much harder than they needed to be! Smarter, not harder - that's right.

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  14. Great mantras! Keep it Simple is definitely one that I've found the beauty of lately.

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  15. We used to own a partial interest in an RV sales company. One of the perks was the ability to 'take' motorhomes when we wished. I only went without hubby once...just me and my elderly mother took a road trip to Oregon to see my son. I learned this one important lesson...Always park so that you can leave going forward. Hmmm, that might be a good life lesson too!

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  16. Hi Peggy! Yes, simple is so ...freeing!

    Deborah - I'm laughing! This is definitely one for us to add: Leave Going Forward. I'll add it to our list. Backing up is something I hope to do rarely!!

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