Being Together 24/7, A question for Full Timers

As we consider leaving our working careers and being together 24/7, it seems there might be issues.

We have been married for 42 years and so it seems we will be fine, but what are your strategies.

Do you play games, read, have a schedule, plan something like museums, what?

Dave and Leslie, tell us about your experience...

Hi Mike, Lori and all -

We'll answer you from our site here at Plymouth Park, a lovely Corps of Engineers CG on the WA side of the Columbia (thank you, Vivian & Joe Wiest!).

We do all those things mentioned, mostly together. I especially like discovering new & wonderful restaurants for a cook's day off! We walk beaches, go to dances, watch DVD's on the laptop, explore museums & historic sites, often unexpected ones we just 'discover' as we read our map. For instance, tomorrow we will visit the Whitman Mission National Historic Site (former Indian school) which we would never have known about except for a note on the map. When we're in camp, we read, or I read/work crosswords & D computes, we walk the dog (together or not) or just sit outside enjoying the 'yard of the day' ... for the past few days, we had fun watching river traffic passing thru the lock at John Day Dam, along with a GAZILLION freight trains traveling both directions on both banks of the river ... Christmas loot from China is arriving ... how many more shopping days left? Also lots of truck-traffic, but interestingly enough, no air traffic - in 5 days we saw one antique aircraft cruising along the river route. But, I digress -

We usually don't follow a strict schedule ... had too much of than when we were working! The beauty of this lifestyle is ... you call the shots. Mostly it is just an expansion of your 'bricks 'n mortar' activities. And the most wonderful thing to share is conversation, whether about the day's happenings, current news, old times or future possibilites. There is always something to picque your interest just around the corner or the calendar (festivals, plays, lectures, parades - who knows?). Dave want to add his favorite: doing nothing, and resting afterwards!

Well, this is a wordy & wandering answer, but hope some will find it helpful. We say GO FOR IT! Hugs, L 'n D

Thank You so much for your response. I really appreciate it. It sound great.

Lori and I love to play games - card games, board games, dominoes, etc.

Anyone have any games that work well for two.

You just sparked a memory for me!
My Uncle Al and Aunt Dorothy used to play a "marathon" game of YAHTZEE in the afternoons, after lunch. If you look at a pre-printed Yahtzee score card, it has 6 columns for 6 separate games. They changed their "rules" to play the entire sheet as one game! This strategy facilitated higher scores than playing each column separately, because it ended up with fewer "scratches". They said that doing the math to keep score kept their minds sharp.

Cribbage.....be careful, it's addicting!!!

Sequence is a fun game

True. We like the Sequence game.

I just learned SPEED and we have been playing that. A real eye-hand coordination card game. After three games it gets old quick.

Also, Double Solitary which I like more.

I need to learn Cribbage.

We use to play Crazy Eights.

A Scrabble game in progress:

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Lee's answer to a Scrabble defeat:

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We too have a scrabble game in the trailer. We don't allow it to be brought into the house. That way my family equate a good scrabble game with a pleasant trip and relaxation. It usually only gets brought out when it rains and we often ask other campers to join in. We have made some good wonderful friends this way.

Lost Cities is a very good two-person card game, with lots of replay value. It's my favorite game when you're just trying to kill half an hour or so.

This is a big attraction for me to take a long trip. When we are home, Robert and I live such different lives from each other, and at the end of the day, we never seem to get caught up. Traveling is a time for us to become reacquainted with each other and to actually share our time and our thoughts.

My parents, on the other hand, were married for 58 years at the time of my Mother's death. They were happiest when they were separated. They went to the same church in separate cars; but they did not believe in divorce. They discovered late in life that they didn't share much, they were just alone together.

My wife and I live and worked together for about 10 years. A two car family with one car that sat for months without running.
What worked for us was always keeping track of the bigger picture. Remembering that your partner is your best friend and that friendship is worth more than anything else.

When some little irretation would crop up, I'd stop and think before I said or did anything. The question always is "Is this worth the risk of messing up the friendship?" Well I think you know the answer, it never is.
If your partner goes off, be supportive rather than combative. Difuse the situation by being helpful and understanding. Maybe there's something you can do or change to prevent whatever caused it, there usually is.

Most of all treat your partner as though they were your very best friend in a the whole world, because that's what your partner is.

wow Bryon, you are so right on. If only we all had partners that thought like that. Life would be so nice if we all could keep those thoughts in mind daily and work on making them work for us. Hopefully you and your wife share many more years together. WOW, you are lucky to have each other.

Remeber a smile breds a smile, a harsh word breds harsh words. It can start with one and soon it will spread to the partner. Habits can change for the better. The enjoyment of life is so much better without the harsh words.

We just celebrated, or rather forgot to celebrate, our 26th anniversary. Every year has gotten better. Our only regret is that we didn't find each other sooner.

We agree. We say that quite often.

We full-timed for just under three years but within the first month we met a couple that had been on the road steadily for thirteen years. They gave us wonderful advice - you had better be 'best friends' and if not, learn to be quickly or you won't make it. Luckily we were already friends and the longer we travelled, the better we got along. That's not to say we didn't have 'disagreements' - there were many of those! One thing that we did consciously decide to do was to each have at least one activity that we did apart at least once per week. We found that afterwards we had all sorts of new ideas, thoughts and plans to compare notes on. Full-timing is a great experience - we met wonderful folks and saw amazing sites. If you're thinking about it - go for it! Jim and Pat

We have worked and traveled together 24/7 for the last 16 years. And like everyone said, life has its ups and downs but knowing that your partner is your best friend is the key. Even though we may be doing different tasks while together it is nice to know that if something exciting comes up its just a call and he comes running to share. When we got together years ago, it was with the understanding that we were going to be together all the time while each doing our own interests. I treasure our closeness as friends and lovers. To share the beauty of our country with your best friend means you have memories to share for a life time. And even the blown out tires, the noisey neighbors are more managable when you have someone there to share with.

Yes, card games, movies, special meals, quiet meals by a fire, rainy evening all bring you even closer to your best friend. Go for it our suggestion too.

If that don't belong in a song lyric, it should. ... so sad.

Mike,

My husband and I really enjoy the following game. 3/13. Here we call it progression.

http://www.pagat.com/rummy/3-13.html

One round takes almost an hour. With two people you can get by with one deck of cards. With three people you need two decks. We often have an hour to kill before bedtime and on a rainy night this is fun.

When we do the Grand Marais MN gathering in June, 2008 I think we will have card games at night for those interested as we will have an activity building available.

We also really enjoy Blitz (31) but that is more fun with three or more.

YES, We too really like 3-13, great game. I don’t think I have heard of Blitz (31). Does it go by any other names?

Maybe you know it as Scat? 31/ Blitz. I sure had trouble finding the rules online for what we call Progression, must be the only people around calling 3/13 that.

http://www.pagat.com/draw/scat.html

Nancy