As many of you know, Kandace is an avid reader. In fact, she just started her 40th book which is an average of about 1 book per week since we set sail on our journey in April. (We will be posting her book list once she reaches 50, so stay tuned for that.)
Me on the other hand, I’m not much of a reader. As a young student, reading always seemed like a chore to me, mostly because as a kid I’d rather be playing video games than reading hundreds of pages for homework. And as an adult, I’ve had those bouts where I end up saying the words on the page in my head, but my mind wanders somewhere else, so I end up having to read them over and over again to visualize the story that they were intended to tell, making reading a laborious process for me. So rather than reading, I end up spending my downtime taking pictures, creating a fun video for our social channels, and writing for our blog.
It wasn’t until recently that I discovered a few books that captured my attention in such a way that I was able to forget about the outside world for a while and escape to a different place, which I guess is the author’s intention ultimately.
Before we left on this life changing 8 plus-month journey, I had always thought in the back of my mind that our experience could be great material for a book. With that in mind, I started searching Amazon for RV travel adventure books to give me ideas on what kind of book I would write one day. This search eventually led me to:
“Confessions of a Middle-Aged Runaway – An RV Travel Adventure”.
I didn’t even need to read the description or the reviews before I hit the purchase button in the Amazon store. The title alone said it all. A story about someone around the same age as us running away from “normal” life and going on an RV adventure – this was a story I had to read about. Within the first few chapters, the events of Heidi’s story and ours were eerily similar. She was from Walnut Creek, sold her house and most of her belongings, quit her job, bought an RV, and decided to travel across the country for a year. Mind blown. At this point, I immediately put the book down and had to learn more about the author. I also thought perhaps she would be willing to give me some guidance on writing a book of my own. I went to Heidi’s website and noticed that she offers editing services too, so I said what the heck and sent her an email. I told her about our journey and how similar it is to hers and hoped that she would reply to my request asking about book writing advice.
I hit send on the email and picked her book back up to see how the rest of her journey unfolded. I read on and enjoyed the story so much I completed it in just a few days (a new record for me). I identified with many of the trials and tribulations that Heidi dealt with on her journey and could appreciated the courage it took to jump off the hamster wheel well before retirement age, downsize to a house on wheels and embark on a journey that would bring personal growth, an appreciation for living simply and discovering a deeper meaning to life that is built on a foundation of having meaningful experiences rather than having a cluttered life full of material things. Confessions of a Middle-Aged Runaway – An RV Travel Adventure is more than just a book about an RV adventure. It’s a page turner about courage, romance, friendship, perseverance, and personal growth that even a non-reader like me could get pulled into for a few hours of entertainment. Even if you are not a travel or camping enthusiast, I would recommend adding this book to your reading list as it’s a fantastic way to escape from life for a while and go on an RV adventure without having to leave the comfort of your couch. 🙂
As for my book, our journey is still writing itself and, in the meantime, I will continue writing in my daily journal and posting excerpts of our trip on this blog as a memoir for us and hopefully entertainment for you.
Heidi did end up writing back to me and was open to meeting with me to talk about writing (which I think is so fricking cool), so who knows maybe there is a book out there with a bunch of blank pages just waiting for our story – only time will tell……
-Justin
That’s awesome! I’m looking forward to the list from Kandace and how your journey unfolds into a book of your own.
Thank you so much for the kind review! I’m really looking forward to meeting both of you and talking travel adventures. Can’t wait for your book!
I think it would be wonderful if you wrote that book, Justin. You’re a great writer.
Everyone’s a reader – they just need to find the right book (former librarian here). We didn’t chuck it all in and take off in our trailer, but after the 10,000 mile loop we just finished, I think we could. We probably won’t, but we could. Happy travels.