My New Blog...Find It Here!

Hello to my five or six steady readers! I was talking on the phone last night with a friend who knows a LOT about marketing, and she suggested that I start a new blog about my RV adventures, rather than tell the unfolding story here in the blog I started about my artwork.

So here goes. My new blog is called "The eBay/RV Life," and you can find it at http://ebayrv.blogspot.com/

I'll probably keep this current blog going, too, to address art. I'm so excited about how much art I'll see and the artists I'll meet once I hit the road!

I hope you'll follow both blogs, and thanks for reading what I have to say.

Sue Soaring Sun, the soon to be intrepid eBay seller!

YouTube to the Rescue!

Until today, my main use for YouTube was just entertainment...you know, watching fun stuff like Lady Gaga covers sung by a choreographed men's chorus, for example.

But somehow today I ran across a treasure trove of YouTube films on how to do all the stuff I don't know how to do with my RV! How to empty the graywater (dish water, sink and shower water, etc.) and blackwater (the toilet), how to maintain a generator, how to drive safely, etc. It's all there! I never had any idea that there were such educational things on YouTube.

Now when I want to start learning something, I'm not going to just use a search engine. I'll flesh out my search by seeing whether anyone has put a primer type film on YouTube. This is a great way to learn, especially for someone like me who is a visual learner. I have such a hard time reading dense texts about technical stuff, but show me what to do and I've got it!

Here's an entertaining film made by a young man who's very expressive about blackwater:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPTFzyaItoc&feature=related

Fitting the Pieces Into the Puzzle

Wow, I sure have to learn before I become a full-time RVer. I'm grateful I have time to figure stuff out before it's absolutely necessary.

Here are some of the things I'm learning about these days:

...Where to camp for free or at very reasonable prices...campground host jobs, government land, stores that allow you to camp in their parking lots overnight, stealth camping, etc.

...How to handle ordinary business from the road, such as banking, mail, phone, Internet access, etc.

...How to have electricity in my RV when I don't have access to fancy-schmantzy hookups...solar panels, batteries, generators, etc.

...What choices there are for RV bike racks and whether I can put a motor on my current bike or whether I want to buy something else

...How to run the various stuff inside the RV, such as the heat and stove (both on propane) and other appliances (electric...but which source of electricity do I use and when and how?)

I feel like I do when I'm starting a jigsaw puzzle. I try to look for the outside or frame pieces because then I can get an idea of how big the puzzle is and how it's organized, making it easier to eventually fit the inner pieces into place. But, right now, there are so many pieces and it's pretty confusing!

I've decided that my first motorhome field trip is going to be to Camping World in Junction City, a few miles from Eugene. They have lots of stuff that I need, and it's okay to camp in their parking lot overnight! So I'll plan on spending a night or two there, gearing up and trying out my new gear.

P.S. My attempts to avoid multitasking over the past few days have been really helpful in delineating what the questions and answers are in designing my new life as a gallivanting full-time RVer. I recommend doing things one at a time.

Monotasking

I'm usually the kind of person who is juggling two or three balls in the air at once. Cooking while listing auctions on eBay, watching TV while doing artwork, etc.

I've begun to realize, however, that to get ready to become a full-time RVer, sometimes I'm going to need to slow down and just do just one thing at a time. Otherwise I will get overwhelmed by the decisions that need to be made and the number of tasks that need to be accomplished!

What made me realize this today was noticing the photos of family and friends that are sitting on my dresser. That reminded me that I have two largish boxes of photos that I brought with me when I moved here to Eugene, and I haven't done anything with them except continue to store them. That's fine in a small rental house, but it won't work when I'm living in my motorhome. So, one of many decisions that I need to make is what to do with my pics...digitize, scrapbook, or what?

Normally I am somewhat freaked out by the prospect of yet another time-consuming task, such as dealing with these photos. But, when I don't multitask and I just concentrate on what I'm doing, thinking and feeling in this moment, it's all okay. Then I remember that the decision to become a nomad is a conscious one--it's following my heart and my dreams. So everything that needs to be done in order for me to hit the road is good.

In truth, I've always wanted to be the kind of person who lives such a simple life that she'd have time to take lots of photos and make nice scrapbooks. That's the kind of person I want to be when I'm traveling...enjoying and savoring the journey. Dealing with the photos effectively and creatively will be one more step toward becoming the person I really want to be. So will all the other tasks that I encounter and face as I work towards becoming a vagabond.

So today I am practicing monotasking. I did a bunch of clean-up work on my computer and in my kitchen this morning. This afternoon I'm going to make stuff disappear from my home office. Maybe later this afternoon, I'll indulge in a little multitasking while "Oprah" is on, dinner is cooking, and some of my friends are available to play a game online...but until then I'm doing things one task at a time.