Full timing and friendship

When we first started full timing in June, I thought it was going to be difficult to meet new friends and keep them. After all, you travel around a lot and the places and people you meet are always changing. I thought we might be even a little lonely on the road. It's just going to be the two of us out in this big country of ours. Well, this week has taught us that that is not going to be true...we were very fortunate to meet a very special group of people, the people who have been vending at rallys (rallies?) for many years. These people at this particular rally have welcomed us into their circle of friendship with open arms, even though we were the only "newbies". We've heard their stories this week, when they first met each other at such and such a rally, with some friendships going back 30 years to when they first ran into each other. Sometimes these friends don't see each other for as long as five or six years, but when they reconnect, it's like they never were away....Over and over, we've heard how close people can be to each other as friends, yet travel and be far away. They have experienced illnesses, disasters, joys and all the things that life gives us and this wonderful "family" has stayed connected through thick and thin...These days, they stay in touch with all the wonderful tech tools we have available...

sunset Wed. night

They have offered advice to help me with my business this week, encouraged us to keep going and selling Tastefully Simple...most of the vendors stopped by at one time or another and sampled the food, complimented us on the product, sent other buyers our way, and just went out of their way to make us feel welcome. They've offered tax advice, business advice, and RVing advice. We've had a wonderful time this week at the Elkhart Campground in Elkhart, IN...We've laughed and laughed each day, and felt the warmness of the group...Because this has been such a positive experience, we're excited to be on the road, to know that we will see some of our new friends some day at another rally, and we've discovered that RVers are a very special group of people who love to laugh, have fun, and travel. They will help you in any way they can. We've met some of the people that own those big fancy half a million dollar rigs and they are down to earth people. RVers don't care what you did in your "former" life. It doesn't matter what kind of job you had. There's a commonality of a desire to travel, have fun, meet new people, and to be open to new adventures, friendships and experiences. We've traded RV horror stories, commiserated with each other on getting stuck in some place while we needed repairs, laughed about goofy, dumb things we've each done as we first started traveling, and had a great time trading stories. RVers love to share how to save money on the road, how to take care of your rig, and where are the best places to camp and organizations to join. We've learned a TON of things while we were here at our first rally.

Gail and Jeannie at the show

 I ended up doing all right as a first timer selling. I covered my booth expense and got rid of some excess inventory. These past three days of selling and talking to people have been a lot of fun!  Friday morning, the rally officially ends with donuts and coffee, and everybody heads out for their next destination. We'll be sad to leave our newly made friends, but we'll stay in touch! We'll definitely be back to the Gypsy Journal Eastern Rally next year, and we are really looking forward to experiencing more rallys in the future!