Time and distance has always dictated how far we could travel. Mostly, the "time" factor, as we both had to return to work.
Some time before Covid hit, my wife switched and became a home office. She did not have to go into the office any more. About the same time, my company started letting us work from home 2 or 3 days a week.
So, we scheduled many, many extended week-ends at State Park throughout Indiana, as the longest drive to reach any one of them would be 3 or 4 hours at the most. So, we started just running the gauntlet in Indiana, enabling us to work from the camper on a Thursday and Friday, or a Monday or Tuesday. This worked well for quite a long time.
Then Covid hit and we both were told not to come back to the building. Well, our travels extended then. As long as we had phone service we could connect via our phone's hot spots. Thus, enter "Visible" which was the answer to our biggest need .... reliable internet that could travel with us.
Those changes enabled us to travel farther, stay longer, and we found ourselves running a circuit between 3 or 4 different campgrounds, for almost 2 years.
Then I retired, she's still working from home. Except now, we run the gauntlet between Indiana, Louisiana, and North Carolina. Actually, I'm doing camp hosting in North Carolina and Louisiana. Except the Louisiana "gig" is not a traditional "camp host". The position is on a Historic Site plantation and I'm working as tour guide for the Plantation House and help give demonstrations on 1820's blacksmithing, in exchange for a full hook-up campsite (this site has no campground). It's a marvelous and very rewarding experience.
So, this year, we are in Louisiana for the month of Jan, Feb, and Mar. (which is now past). Back home again (Indiana) for April (which is now almost over). Back to Louisiana for May and June. Then over to North Carolina as a camp host (traditional host position), for July and August. Then back to Indiana in September. Then back to Louisiana for Oct, Nov, and December.
Well, it continues a bit. Jan and Feb (2025) we will be back in Indiana (burr.... dang coldest months of the year) ... and return to Louisiana for Mar, April, and May 2025.
If all goes well, we may stay longer in Louisiana. I won't know about returning to North Carolina for another gig as camp host until August this year (for 2025 July and August.)
So, basically, we are jumping between the 3 locations and absolutely love it! But the reason why we return, we absolutely love both of these locations and we absolutely love the state park we're at, and we absolutely love the people who work there. The plantation is interesting, because it's history. I've learned so much about Louisiana History in the early 1800's, and the Civil War (1860's), working on the plantation is working "Living History!" It's exciting, its rewarding, and non-stop learning. It's keeping my body agile, my mind working sharp, and giving me the social contact I need, and then the alone time and solitude of camping .... especially at the Plantation when the place is closed up at 5:00 pm and we are the only people on the property and the "ghosts" come out at night! The park manager lives on the property too.
That's why we return and want to return again and again. But, we also have a need to return home every few months also, for lots of reasons.
OK, I've rambled enough.
