The Weekend Behind

And the Months Ahead

Over the weekend, I've missed a few blog entries, as I've been out on what I'll call a micro-tour with the Tinderbox Circus Sideshow, and an internet connection is a rare treat. We spent two and a half days on the road in a borrowed SUV, sleeping on other peoples' couches, and by the time we got back yesterday afternoon, some things were definitely put into perspective.

I've never been incredible comfortable in cars. I get claustrophobic from sitting in the passenger seat for too long, I get carsick if I look anywhere but out the window, I get anxious and fidgety if I sit still for too long, so it seems like I would be pretty miserable in a rolling home. That thought crossed my mind as well, so yesterday, after landing back in Lexington, I visited a local RV dealership to poke around a couple examples of what I'll be living in soon.

The first thing I noticed was the comfort. The seats in a regular car (my mother's SUV that I've been driving is an EXCELLENT example of this) are not designed for long distance travel. They're shaped to support your back in a single position, meaning that there's only one position to sit that's comfortable. Meaning that for me, being a fidgety person, it doesn't take long before I'm incredibly uncomfortable. An RV seat, on the other hand, I had the most excellent pleasure of sitting in yesterday, and I can happily report that it is a game changer. The pilot seat is designed more like a living room chair. It's soft, and comfortable no matter how you wiggle and twist and contort in it, it's over-sized, but in a vehicle that large, it can afford to be.

Then there's the matter of claustrophobia, and the carsickness. This is a fight I've been fighting my whole life, trying not to lose my mind and my lunch on family road trips to southern Florida in my dad's old pickup truck. The trick when I was young, was to crawl through the rear window, into the bed of the truck (which was covered with a camper top), and lie down on the uncomfortable, fluted bed liner, and go to sleep. Later on, as I got too big to crawl through the window, the backseat would provide a suitable bed, and almost immediately upon resting my head, faced with the back of the seat, my carsickness would pass, and being able to spread even just a little farther than a seated position allows, my claustrophobia would ease. An RV, like the ones I've been looking for, has that issue solved in spades. A bed. An actual bed, with a soft mattress, pillows, sheets, and the whole nine yards, rests just a short walk from the driver's chair. And there's another above the pilot area, and another tucked into the couch. Plenty of places available for a road weary traveler to rest his/her head, and let the ailments of the road pass.

So yes, I've never been the most comfortable in a car, or a truck, or an SUV, while on the long road, but after being in an RV yesterday, feeling the space, examining the possibilities and the challenges ahead, I think I've found the best solution I could imagine.

-Z

P.S. There are 36 days left of the Indiegogo campaign, and I'd love to get a few more donations in this week. So far three of you have lovingly donated, and your donation rewards are already underway. Thank you.