By I’m very good at not posting when something is top of mind, usually because I don’t have time to sit down and write out my feelings to the degree that I would prefer. However I need to get it out even if it doesn’t do the moment justice. So today I am writing about community.
When I began RVing, I was searching for adventure, freedom, growth, and knowledge. Ever since connecting with the Xscsapers, I have gained so much more.
Despite all fulltime RVers being completely independent units, whether solo or coupled up, we have a real community on the road. One that rivals any other community I’ve been a part of in my life. One that matches, if not rivals, the community you’d find in a large extended family.
You see, despite our mobility and our penchant for hitch itch and being on the move, there is an instant connection between fulltimers from a mind boggling variety of walks of life, because it takes a truly unique mindset to decide on fulltime RVing in the first place. When you start, you think you’re alone, but once you meet others, it’s easy to see there are plenty of people out there who think the same way – people you would’ve never guessed are “on your level”, valuing the same deep beliefs and drives in life.
So when we come together in a group like the Xscapers, which is a far cry from the traditional stereotype of old retired snowbirds as typical RVers, MAGIC HAPPENS.
We share our tools. We share our food. There are constant suggestions for a myriad of activities, which you can choose to participate in at your liesure, or not, without judgement. We share support where family members and significant others may not be able to because they can’t comprehend the lifestyle. We have random last minute potlucks and barbecues at the top of precarious mountains for sunset, or outside of a neighbor’s van on a Wednesday because we can. We help each other through our mental and physical struggles. We share our triumphs and our failures. We trade physical goods. We loan forgotten items without second thought.
This last few weeks some of us have been stationary in one area and it has just become an incredible little neighborhood. Although we know it’s temporary, and we may have different neighbor’s next time, the connections are there forever and I’ve gained a newfound respect and understanding of the word COMMUNITY.
What if every block in America knew each other to this degree and cared for each other this much?
My parents recently moved into a new house, and a weekend after the move, a neighbor boy commited suicide in his backyard. Would thay have happened had the block been an intertwined community of support and sharing?
Can we decrease violence and depression by learning how to reconnect with our fellow human beings?
Can we improve the lives of all around us by sharing in the tools and goods we have instead of constantly buying new or relying on our own, with everyone owning the same damn thing 50 times over?
Does EVERYONE on one block really need a lawnmower and a drill, or could we have community libraries that support This?
In a home, we are protected by our comfort zone and creature comforts and we become creatures of protection and defense and the ive-got-mine, get-off-my-lawn mentality.
In full time RV life, everyone is on their own in terms of survival, personal responsibility, etc – yet we come together to share because we understand that this survival thing is easier (and more enjoyable) with more minds and hands on each task. So people that you might no4mally write off in “real” life become best friends and great neighbors, even if that connection becomes purely digital for times in between.
That’s it for now as I don’t have organized thoughts on how to end this or what to take from it, other than we’re all human and I think our modern society could really benefit from closer connections and more purposeful communities.
As I write, my neighbors are helping a couple install their new hitch gear.
What do you think?