Credit where credit is due

Welcome to the TQN blog.

Larry here. Since I’m the writer in the family, you’ll soon find that most of the writing is mine. But let’s give credit for this endeavor where it is due. None of this is happening without my wonderful wife, Angie.

If you are going to produce a blog and tell the story of moving around the country in a big box on wheels, then there’s going to be a lot of preliminary work, followed by day to day work. And research, lots of research, on how to make it all happen.

Anyone who knows the Peirces would tell you that the organizer and task master in the family is Angie, and not yours truly.

Thanks to Angie, we made a transition from our 106-year-old, three-story house with way too much stuff left over, some of it still packed, from a couple of moves before, to traveling the country.

The transition began about eight years ago, although we didn’t realize it at the time. That was when Angie became a camper research junkie. Before we knew it, we had a camper parked in the back yard. After we made on bad purchase of a pop-up, we got a travel trailer that helped us enjoy the outdoors. It was barely big enough so we could take it on our annual “vacation,” the Bicycle Ride Across Nebraska.

But as my job situation became more tenuous, Angie delved into the dream of not just camping trips, but a life of travel. Where I had the tunnel vision of my ongoing job struggles, she saw the future. Slowly, it began to sink in that this might work. In February 2018, as the job vise tightened, we took a vacation with a purpose.

It was the 2018 RV Entrepreneur Summit, a gathering of about 400 people in Fredericksburg, Texas. Angie was excited and kept showing me examples of couples our age who were traveling and succeeding at it. I was just glad to get away from frigid Nebraska and the office and see a new part of the country. We found a Class C camper – one that you drive, not pull – to lease for a week from a couple who lived outside of Austin. The camper cost was likely less than we would have spent on lodging for a week.

The summit brought together dozens of people to talk about the business of making a living on the road, with all the associated subjects: taxes, family issues, business ideas, dealing with the unexpected. I still carried much skepticism, but the information and Angie’s confidence led to our decision. We were going to take the plunge.

Without Angie’s determination, we might still be in our too big old house filled with too much unnecessary stuff, and maybe with a camper parked in the back yard.

We have had twists and turns on our journey that will soon reach the two-year mark. We’ve had some setbacks and some serendipitous developments. But we’ve handled them largely because Angie is always looking ahead. While I have worked in some short-term jobs, Angie has used her technological talents to chart our course. On top of making our travels run smoothly, Angie also has continued in her roles as family gathering organizer, a daughter, sister, mother and wife. And grandmother too.

As we begin this new phase, telling our friends (some old and some new) about the journey, I wanted to begin by thanking my wife for all her hard work, great ideas and especially for not letting me become a complete bum during this time.

You are going to be reading this closing line for a while: We’re just getting started. (Thanks to Angie)

Until next time, if you have a chance to go somewhere new, go for it. Life is short.

Larry Peirce

TQN