One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned over our years of perpetual travel is to trust. Trust that things will work out.
Even when you think you have a plan, look at it as setting intentions and be open to shifts.
The past month has been a reminder of that. Our ‘plans’ going forward have been shifted and changed multiple times. Each time feeling exactly right.
It’s a lesson in listening to our hearts and releasing expectations.
First, a quick video recap – if you prefer:
The Original Plan
Well, the original plan was to make haste and get ourselves up to the Chesapeake by start of peak hurricane season. That intention quickly got dashed in Ft. Pierce last spring with lingering boat projects cutting into our cruising time.
We ended up stressed out and exhausted, and shifted our intentions to slow down the pace and instead head inland in Florida.
In early September, with hurricane season ramping up – we had an unsettled feeling.
Ok, maybe even a mild panic attack. Most definitely flashbacks to Irma last year.
We only had our slip reserved in Jacksonville through mid-September and Hurricane Florence was looming off the coast. Peak of hurricane season was definitely here.
We had intentions of cruising the St. Johns River down to Sanford in the fall, and then finding a place to store the boat and move back to the RV for winter.
The marina we were at, Ortega Landing, is considered relatively safe as far as tropical storms and boats go. And they had availability for us to extend another month.
So we did and indulged in having a hot tub, access to ‘stuff’ and an abundant social life.
It felt good to not be out cruising and worrying about what do if a storm hit. We had plenty of options.
They also had one slip available for winter.
With the appeal of ending the search for winter storage, we put down a deposit.
If the tropical season settled down, we’d head out in mid-October for our St. Johns River cruise and return a month later to store.
We had a plan.
The Plan Starts to Shift
As time went on, Ortega Landing upped their prices starting in January for current slip holders and implemented a minimum charge for a slip.
For the size slip they had available (larger than we need) – our pricing had gone up about 25% from what we had anticipated.
We were still mostly ok with it (heck, it was still cheaper than we paid in Miami last year for storage!), and even commissioned new canvas work to be done with a local company while we were gone.
With weather looking clear, we left Ortega Landing on our amazing St. Johns River cruise (that adventure coming soon!). We had two glorious weeks anchored out along the way and a week long reservation waiting for us in downtown historic Sanford before we’d turn around to get back to Jacksonville.
We arrived in Sanford on Halloween Day, checked in and went off exploring.
We stopped by the local thrift store and picked up some costume items for going out that evening.
I said to Chris after an amazing lunch:
‘We’re going to regret only having a week here, aren’t we?’
We walked past countless quaint shops, restaurants, theaters and a bazillion breweries/bars.
Just a few minutes later an e-mail from Ortega Landing came in. The slip they had for our return now wouldn’t be available until January – due to a medical issue of the current holders.
Logic said we should be panicking – we put a deposit down on that slip. Shouldn’t it be our choice to give up our reservation to help the current folks out? Why do we have to scramble now to find winter dockage in prime season with just a couple weeks notice?
But something felt… like a sign from the universe.
As much as we tried, anger just wasn’t there.
We walked back into our current marina’s office and asked.. ‘you don’t happen to have availability this winter?’.
To our complete surprise, sure enough.. they did.
And bam, the universe delivered exactly the solution we were meant to have all along.
They converted our weekly stay into a month-to-month lease, and it was done. At about half the cost of Ortega Landing too. Score.
And Then it Shifts More – Releasing Expectations
At the time, we felt we had just been gifted 3 weeks to explore Sanford, get the boat ready for storage at a more leisurely pace and remotely organize logistics for getting the bus ready.
But as our first week went on – even that plan no longer felt right.
That familiar unsettled feeling was creeping in as the departure date neared and the to-do list grew.
There’s a lot that has to come together to leave the boat in the water for storage – lining up new boat-sitters, closing thru-hulls, stabilizing the fuel, getting rid of all food onboard and a thorough cleaning.
Plus there are boat projects to set in motion – securing new canvas work (the Jacksonville company wouldn’t work with us down here), major engine service and planning a solar installation for our return.
And then the multi-day drive from Florida to Texas in a fully stuffed MINI Cooper with a cat on our shoulder… with multiple stops at hotels along the way.
And, awaiting us in Austin is a bus needing all new tires, some welding work and regular full engine service before we could even begin to imagine hitting the road to Arizona.
All still yet to be coordinated.
And then the drive from Texas to Arizona in the bus – with many of our favorite campgrounds along the way booked up or closed.
And a return sometime in February in the MINI (or perhaps a replacement vehicle?) after storing the bus for the summer on our new co-op lot in Benson, AZ.
Add on top of this, knowing this RVing season might be our one shot to get footage for our new commitment to The RVers TV Show with Zephyr in the background.
We don’t know if it was the crazy work week after the Verizon Prepaid Unlimited plan came out, or the impending logistics to still figure out – but one evening I blurted out to Chris:
I DON’T WANT TO RV THIS WINTER!!
There.. I said it.
What I had been afraid to say.
For fear of him resenting me.
For fear of letting you – our followers – down for not returning to RVing as promised this winter.
For fear of losing our RVing Credentials (who hands those out anyway?) when we have so much RVing stuff up – a TV Show?!! a book!! A summit! Xscapers Annual Bash!!
Returning to the bus was just feeling like all chaos… not fun.
And that’s not the point, or the emotions I want associated with our beloved Zephyr.
To my surprise, Chris was thinking the same thing (it’s sometimes scary how in sync we are), he just hadn’t reached his threshold yet.
We let the idea of not RVing this winter sit for a few days before making a rash change of plans.
It just started to feel right.
Not to mention we’re in in PRIME FLORIDA CRUISING season and we just really got into our cruising groove after an eventful start.
It seems almost stupid to leave the boat now.
When we made these RV plans, we were supposed to be where it actually gets cold and we’d need to winterize the boat.
Sometimes we get trapped by our own plans and definitions (“we boat in the summer, and RV in the winter”). And releasing them can be a huge relief.
The decision was made.
We are NOT returning to our RV-life this winter, at least not the way we thought.
So, What ARE the New Plans?
We’re now looking forward to spending the holiday season on Y-Not.
We’ve fallen head over heels in love with Sanford and our easy access to all she has to offer.
At present time, we’re planning to stay in Sanford through at least January.
After that, we’re exploring a couple different ideas.
Maybe continuing the Loop, or jumping over to the Bahamas before we leave the area? (Because at our slooper pace, it could be a decade before we’re back this way!)
Maybe we’ll store the boat this coming summer to escape the heat and hurricane season by enjoying some RVing in areas we’re lacking time in – like Colorado and Wyoming?
Who knows. That’s the joy of this lifestyle, we don’t have to know.
But, we do have some special RV-related commitments to attend to soon, so we had to figure out some alternatives.
Xscapers Annual Bash
Last summer, Xscapers asked us to present at the upcoming (and now sold out) Annual Bash in Lake Havasu, Arizona.
We generally turn down speaking engagements – we just loathe having events to travel around.
(Ya know, because we’re so good with this ‘plan’ thing.)
But as we were part of launching this amazing next generation of RVers community in 2015 that has grown and grown – with all our heart, we wanted to say yes.
So we semi-committed – but asked them not to announce it until we were past hurricane season.
This goal has been the primary driver of sticking to our RV plan this winter.
And we WILL be there, even with this shift.
How?
We just booked flights out to Las Vegas and rented an RV using the Outdoorsy.com platform.
It’s a peer-to-peer rental site (similar to AirBnB for staying in people’s homes), and we got to meet the founders at the RVE Summit earlier this year. One feature that stands out to us is they include full coverage insurance on the rental, making that part super easy (it was a bit of a pain with our Alaska rental via RVShare a few years back.)
We look forward to seeing how this rental goes.
(If you want to try a rental or list your own RV to earn some bucks off it, here’s our Outdoorsy referral link where you’ll save $50 off your first rental. Ad we’ll bank some credits… which we might appreciate soon!)
Filming for The RVers
Oh, and about The RVers Show we’re supposed to be filming for?
Just how are we going to film if we’re not going to be RVing as soon as we thought?
Well, turns out since our segments are about technology – we don’t have to use OUR RV as our background. We can use any RV as long as we can get a written property release to send to the production company.
We’re hoping some RVing fans (perhaps you??) might be willing to have us over to film in front of your RV… or maybe we’ll continue to rent RVs when we want to get a little RVing break from boating.
Or perhaps we’ll replace the MINI with a small RV for use on the east coast while boating, attending events, filming and using as a more comfortable shuttle craft between boat and RV?
The production crew isn’t quite ready to hand us a shoot list anyway – so our winter RVing wasn’t really turning out to be ideal. We have time to figure it out.
This new plan gives us tons of flexility to shoot when we need to.
Going with the Flow
So.. there ya have it.
Our travel life in the months ahead is going to be somewhat boring from the outside.
With so much going on (were completely re-writing our MobileInternetInfo.com site, boat projects, the TV show) – it’s just the sanity we need right now to get it all done… and enjoy the holidays.
When life steers you in a different direction than you plotted.. going with the flow is usually a lot easier than fighting the current.*
*not recommended as literal advice on a boat in close quarters like a marina.
And that my friends has been the biggest life lesson I’ve learned over the last 12+ years of nomadic living.
When was the last time you let serendipity do the steering?
If you’re passing through central Florida this winter and want to meet up – give us a holler. We’d love to introduce you to Sanford.
In fact, we’re hosting our third meet-up this coming weekend since arriving.
This time, part of the RVillage End of Year Gathering Series. There will be cider, poke bowls, a holiday parade and German food.
It sure sounds like you were meant to be on the boat this winter. We like to plan our travel like that as well. We lived in Florida for many many years and I don’t believe we have been to Sanford yet. We are near Tampa and may just have to take a trip there this winter. Merry Christmas.
Been a crazy couple of weeks here in Wyoming, but I finally had the chance tonight to read the entire post. I’m not gonna lie.. when I first saw the title I was a bit bummed, but I knew there had to be good reasoning behind your decision. After reading this great, (as always), post all I can say is wow, don’t blame you there. Would have made the same decision.
In fact we are considering doing the grand loop someday also. So I continue to follow with great interest. We just have to finish all the remodeling on the sticks & bricks so we can get it sold and get on the road, or water. Spring is not far off. Enjoy the winter cruising season!
Totally get this. We are wintering in our bus in florida this year and that wasn’t the plan, but it all works out and I’m not complaining. Our bus was out of service for a couple months getting work done during one of my major national tours so we had to actually move my family of four out and into a 23 foot camper trailer for the fall season. Crazy but it worked. I say just go with the flow 🙂 hey, interview us for the tv show. We’ve been fulfilling for 9 years now and have two little girls and had two buses and own a 23 foot camper as our summer cottage lol 🙂 we don’t own a house and never have. -Scott and Heather
Glad you’ve found a winter place to re-coop too.
Our role with the TV series will be covering RV technology (cell boosters, solar, batteries, campground Wi-Fi, GPSs, TPMSs, etc) – we won’t be interviewing folks, except maybe the occasional manufacturer/designer.
Love this post – been trying to listen to serendipity myself lately! My family and our travel trailer Betty are moving to St. Augustine January 7, so you are more than welcome to borrow and shoot in front of her if you need 🙂
Fabulous, love your serendipity and your willingness to change plans and take things as they come. We have our own version going on. Drove all the way from Minnesota and currently camped near Lake Okeechobee for Dec, then Sebring for Jan. Currently have no plan for Feb or March but too early to go back to MN. thinking near Ocala, Since you are from Florida any suggestion on a nice place, not to expensive ($600-800 mo) Hiking trails (me) and a few sports bars (husband?) Fun to watch your journey and how its still evolving!
Oh gosh… we’ve not very often stayed places in Florida by RV for a month at a time. Cedar Key (2-3 hrs north of Tampa, not ‘the’ Keys) is a favorite however – Sunset Isle RV Park is our go-to. Other than that, we enjoy hopping around Florida’s state parks.
Hi Cherie, Chris & Kiki. Happy that you are staying on the boat through the Holidays. A great way to experience the Holidays. Will you decorate the boat with lights? Thanks for sharing your process and giving us all permission to go with the flow. I love your post.
Happy Holidays.
Yes, we are enjoying getting Y-Not decorated for the holidays.
Glad you have decided to be on the boat in the winter-a nice time to be on a boat in FL, instead. And much nicer to go north in the RV in the summer!!! Thanks for the heads up on the new data plan changes. I so hope that the other 2 big companies will follow suit!
So happy for you guys! Love following your travels. I am an RV’er and worked 25 years in the Merchant Marine. Been all over the world. I’ve had great adventures-as you are. Glad you future prospects are coming to fruition as well. Best wishes in all of your endeavors-especially in getting a younger group of RV folks together. Bravo!!
Welcome to the neighborhood. Glad you enjoyed coming up the St. Johns River so much. I have been watching your vids since you got the boat. I admit to cringing a few times when you first started!
I have been running up and down the St. Johns since I was a kid and the river has chanced very little in the past fifty years or so. Thank goodness. Try and get up the Wekiva River in your dinghy if you can. Live aboard the MT 36 Bold Eagle in the next marina upriver and really got a kick out of seeing your boat in town.
Hope you have a great time here and am looking forward to your report on the trip up river.
Best wishes,
Steve Soyars
I’m so looking forward to diving into our river cruise footage.. hopefully I’ll find the time soon. Thanks for the welcome to town – we are so loving it.
As the saying goes, plans written in the sand, change with the tide! How do you like Monroe Harbor Marina? We have a 49ft motor yacht and were considering docking it in Sanford instead of Daytona (moving it from the west coast of Fla) as it’s just 30 minutes from home and freshwater to boot. Looking forward to hearing about your St. Johns trip and maybe picking up a few tips in the process. Really enjoy your blog and videos. And btw, we also have a motorhome available for a cameo!!
Monroe Harbour’s location to town is fabulous, and a great community here. However, the spiders, midges and birds are a constant challenge in keeping your boat clean.
Love the serendipity! I really enjoyed reading this post, and seeing how you have modified your plans, and how the “universe” (or whatever you wish to call it?) pushed you in the right direction. 😉 Looking forward to more exploits!
Hi guys! Love your change in plans. We are at the LeLynn RV Resort in Polk City, so not too far from Sanford. Here until the end of February. Parked facing SW with Lil’ Lake Agnes as our front yard. Welcome to film here if you want. Whether or not, hope we get to cross paths. Can’t make the RVillage Gathering on Saturday Dec 8, but intend to go to the one on Wednesday Dec 5 in Kissimmee.
Thanks guys! I noticed on RVillage that you’re RSVPd for Saturday… did your plans change? If so, looking forward to seeing you!
I’m so glad you had the courage to just say what you were thinking! How many times have I ended up doing something that I wasn’t enthusiastic about, only to find later that my spouse wasn’t fired up about it either but thought I was! To be honest, I miss the RVing blogs, but I do like to keep up with what is going on with ya’ll. Flexibility is one of the greatest joys of the lifestyle. Now you can settle down and enjoy the holiday season in a new way, without SO MUCH (notice I didn’t say “no”) commitments.
Thanks Mary Ann. Even though we live in small spaces with our loved ones, sometimes we have to remember to say what’s on our mind. Chris and I have found ourselves doing an activity because we thought it was important to the other (but it really wasn’t) as well.
I grew up across Lake Monroe in the small town of Enterprise, we would shop in Sanford when went grocery shopping. As a young teenager I had a once in a lifetime opportunity to cruise the St. John on a tugboat from Enterprise to Jacksonville. Back in the day Florida Power Corp. (Now Duke Energy) had a power generating plant that used bulk oil to power the boilers to generate electric power.
Needless to say, current “historic downtown Sanford” was where we shopped.
Enjoy your site, met y’all at Sertoma Youth Ranch a few years ago at the TCT winter rally.
How cool that you used to come to the “big” city to shop. Not much for groceries right here in walking distance anymore.
Serendipity can be such a wonderful thing if you don’t fight it. I’m super happy you guys have found a more peaceful “plan” for the winter. Still hope to meet you someday at your new home base in Arizona (I live in Yuma). Safe travels!
We’ll get out there.. and a meetup will finally happen!
Hi we were about 20 minutes west of Sanford near Sorrento. If you need an RV in the background for your filming you’re welcome to come over and shoot at our 5 acres with our RV in the background. We have been following you for couple years now and really have learned an awful lot from your website and thank you for all you do. We have become Boondocker welcome host and I enjoyed meeting all the people that stop by and also being a guest as we traveled across the US and Canada this summer. You can check us out at the pinecone ranch in Eustis Boondocker’s welcome. Hoping to make it to one of your meet ups in Sanford.
Thanks so much.. we’ll keep this in mind should we need to shoot anything before we depart Sanford.
As we are boaters , not rvers , we are glad to hear your change of plans . What the heck , Y knot ?
Keep the videos rolling and have a Merry Christmas .
Oh gosh, so many videos to catch up on. Another reason for staying put.. more time to produce.
Hi. It was about a yr ago that I started reading your blog having been introduced to it by a relative who is an Xcaper. I’ve full timed 18 yrs.
I was intrigued about your conversion to water based recreational travel and started thinking about doing the Great Loop. Fast forward a yr. I have a 47’ aft cabin under contract to close just before Christmas. My Naples waterfront condo with slip is up for sale. I’m sitting in my rv near Stuart waiting for the boat closing and showing my pristine 30’ B+ to prospective buyers.
Just imagine what all would have happened if you had answered my inquiries（╹◡╹）
How amazing that you were inspired to get a boat.. thanks for sharing.
I’m not sure I’m following your last comment however about us not answering your inquiries? I checked our e-mail and blog comments, and didn’t see anything. Did we miss something?
We can’t wait till you arrive on the Chesapeake Bay!! We boat on the upper bay and love it! Hope to be able to meet up!
We look forward to getting up there… whenever that happens to happen.
We’re so happy that you’ve found your new groove for this season, Cherie & Chris! And thanks for sharing the details of the evolution of your plans. It must just be human nature to “put the blinders on” and forge ahead, full steam. And it can take serious effort to put on the brakes and ask the important question: “Why are we doing this?!?!” LOL! Can’t think of a specific example to share here… but we are WITH you. Been there, done that! And we SO appreciate that feeling of relief when you (finally) figure out that “Plan A” isn’t always the right one… and you can take a deep breath, and move on to “Plan B” (or “C” or “D” or… ). Enjoy the season of boating, the holidays, and each other! And we look forward to catching up with you around the campfire somewhere down the road!
The biggest downside of this change in plans is not rendezvousing with you guys this month. But I know our paths will cross soon, somehow. Love and miss you both!
Ditto. You two take care and we’ll connect at the first opportunity.
Flowing with the current is often much more exciting and rewarding than trying to rigidly steer or paddle.
I love your lifestyle and more than that, your attitudes. It all sounds wonderful!!!!
Have a gracious holiday season.
Awww, thank you. Have a wonderful season too.
How amazing. We traveled full time for 5 years and, after first year, moved in this same direction. So great you guys are finding some balance in this cycle! And love the inspiration of your post. We are posting from Maui at moment. Keep up just being you! Love it.
It’s all about balance! Grok Maui!
Hey Cherie and Chris! We will be in the Punta Gorda/Port Charlotte Florida area March 1-April 1 and we’d be happy to have you film with our brandy new 2019 Jayco Whitehawk as your back drop!!!! We are booked at Oak Haven on the Peace River.
Enjoy your winter cruising!
Denise and Pete Lacharite
dmlacharite@gmail.com
Thanks so much for the offer guys.. appreciate it! Don’t anticipate we’ll be back that far south, but we never know.
I had the feeling, not the details, when serendipity and sanity calls, go with it, your guts and heart will know! Enjoy your new for the moment plans! I’m sure you will keep us posted!
Thanks guys.. and so right. Your guts and heart always know.. you just have to learn to listen to them and hear the message.
Remember, all plans are written in Silly Puddy. They can and will be pulled, twisted and rearranged, sometimes without your input and other times with your full approval. Why would you not want to enjoy your boat?
Silly puddy, sand, jello.. all great metaphors!