RVingAndMore.com

No matter how well you plan your trip, there is always a chance that something that will throw a wrench into the works and totally screw up your entire world eventually. Many people have a problem dealing with issues like a breakdown on the road, others take it in stride as part of the RV lifestyle.

It happened to me recently due to the current state of the economy, but fortunately we did have a plan in place just in the event that we had to get back to Ohio in a hurry.

One of my clients called and needed me to return to Ohio to take care of some problems within the advertising department of his company. Since we handle the Internet design and marketing for this company, I had no choice but to return as quickly as possible. This left me with a couple of options, load up the motorhome and start back to Ohio or fly back myself, leaving my wife in Texas and returning back to Texas when the job was finished.

My wife and I discussed our plans on how to handle this emergency that would suit both of us as she has fell in love with the Kerrville Texas area and has no desire to leave the area earlier than we had planned to. This left me to fly back to Ohio and then fly back to Texas when possible. I realize that people do this sort of thing all the time, but for our situation, this choice does come with some issues of it's own.

Our only means of transportation other than the motorhome is our Harley Davidson, which my wife can not operate alone. We have tried to teach her how and many women do ride motorcycles on their own, but she is not confident enough in her own abilities to ride one herself. So, we had to look at other means. This left renting a car so my wife would have transportation in Texas and would give her the means to drop me off at the airport and pick me up when I can return.

The other issue is to put it bluntly, I HATE TO FLY! One of the reasons we bought our motorhome is so we would never have to fly again. So much for that theory, but we also did not know that the bottom would fall out of the economy so quickly, so we have to do what we must to keep going.

We prepared for my departure by going through a checklist of things she would need to be able to do in my absence. Things that I normally take care of would now be her responsibility. We went through many different how to do this scenarios like putting up and taking down the main awning, dumping tanks, resets on power and the like. The main thing was how to get the rig out of the campground in case of an emergency.

The campground we are currently staying at does have a history of flooding, so knowing how to get the rig out of the area if needed was a necessity. We have several friends at this campground who said that they would be willing to help her in case this happened, but I would think these folks who have volunteered to help would be busy trying to get their own units out of harms way in case of an emergency.

We have stowed away all non-essential items and fastened down anything possible that she will not be using and should be able to be ready to move out within 20 minutes. I hope this scenario does not occur, but experience has shown me that it pays to be prepared.