A Community All It's Own

Three of the worst things that can happen in this fulltiming lifestyle happened over our winter.  Not to us but to people we know and like.

A hail storm and a totaled motorhome.

A flood and extensive damage.

A fire and a death.

I have sympathy and empathy for each of the victims of these capricious acts of nature.  I wish I could do more than offer that little bit.  One I have helped monetarily, one is too far away to help and one the only offer I can extend IS my sympathy.

One of them I have never met in person, one I have only met once and the other was a neighbor for a short time.

Such is the lifestyle we lead.  Fulltimers are a special neighborhood all it's own and encompasses the world.  You make friends you have only met once but keep in touch through your travels.  You make friends with other bloggers and keep in touch through each other's adventures and some come into and out of your life for a short time but make a big impact.

Just like in a static neighborhood there are a myriad of different personalities, ages, types of homes, income levels, political and religious affiliations. They just don't all seem as important as the experience of the travels and meeting new people.  All of them are a special breed.  Each with their own lives and each connected to you by the lifestyle we all lead.  You exchange phone numbers, email addresses and blog URL's and somewhere down the road you meet again, catch up and both hit the road once more.  I think we all connect on a much different level than any physical neighbors we all once had.

We keep in touch with our friends from our sticks and bricks life.  We miss them, we love them and see them whenever we're home.  We KNOW where to find them.  And we NEED that re-connection, but the new friends we meet on the road share the reasons, the understanding, the troubles and all the things that come with this life we have chosen.  They KNOW what the attraction to this lifestyle is and what it entails, whereas some of the ones we hold dear back home still want to know why.

And that's OK.  They know we're doing what we've dreamed about and even without understanding they're happy for us.