RVing can work wonders.

[honda03842]

In case there are those who think they're too old to enjoy the RV lifestyle. Here's our story.

Ginny and I climbed Brimstone Head on Fogo Island in Newfoundland. When we got to the top, Ginny said to me you know before we started RVing I could not have made that climb. (Of course we'll never know if that's true but it is for Ginny.)

Both of us are in dramatically better health than when we started this now 14 year adventure and really an experiment in living.

As I have said before we both have lost a fair amount of weight. Our doctor jokes about RVs as a cure for what ails you.

What it tells us is that it's not too late to get better. Some, and may be a lot, of what's wrong is at least partially choices.

About a year ago, Ginny felt like she had a bad hip. We went to our doctor and he suggested she do a 30 second plank every day. He said if she did them her problem would be gone in a few weeks. True. We both now do planks to strengthen our cores. Sometimes it's little changes that can make a big difference.

Just hoping this causes some one to take the first step.

[Alf S.]

Hi: Honda03842... Canada and particularly Ontario has been at the fore front of "Preventative health measures". Our MP's and MPP's know it's cheaper to prevent ill health than cure it!!!
Congrats on the "Planking"...I'm just a little board myself, but RVing takes care of that too!!!
Alf S. North shore of Lake Erie

[TomK]

Hello Norm & Ginny.

Two things. First what is a plank? I imagine laying face down supported by your feet and upper body. Am I tracking here? So glad it's working for you. I'm probably not the only one that isn't sure.

Second, I'm new to the forum, but a long time lurker. I just wanted to take this opportunity to tell you how much I've enjoyed following all your travel adventures and the way you seem to find something positive about all the places you visit. I'm also a big fan of your common sense approach to mods, methods, etc., and admire the way you use your experience to hold your own in disagreements. I look forward to meeting you someday. My wife and I will be snow birding somewhere near St. Pete this coming winter. I see you won't be too far away. Until then, I'll be reading all your posts.

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack this thread. What's a plank?

Tom

[honda03842]

Tom, Thank you for the kind words. We'd be happy to meet you. We are not too far from St Pete. I'll send you a PM with our email and phone number.

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by TomK

What's a plank?

Tom

www.planking.me

[honda03842]

The following is a link to the Plank exercise.

Ginny does it once a day for 30 seconds, I do it for a minute, and now pushing for 1.5 minutes. You'll notice it suggests 3-5 reps. Our doctor said once a day would take care of the problem and it has.

10 Best Ab Exercises - the Plank

Basically its making a body bridge, on your forearms and toes with a little tightening up.

[honda03842]

Carol,

I expect that works as well, I'll have to try it.

Our Plank fits a Scamp floor.

[TomK]

I was familiar with the Plank you referenced Carol. I admit the phenomena escaped me when it went viral some time ago. Who knew of the health benefits?

Norm the Plank exercise is similar to the "rest" position in an Army push-up. Our arms had to be straight though. It is close to what I pictured. Reminds me to get back in shape. Thx for sharing.

Tom

[MarkyVasquez]

This looks like a great exercise for strengthening my back and abdominal muscles. I agree with the RV lifestyle improving your health. My wife and I bought our first RV last year and are healthier now. We used to travel and stay in hotels and eat fast food. Now we RV and hike twice a day and eat healthier. I've lost 35 pounds and feel very energetic now. I hope to retire in 4 years and follow Norms footsteps across the country. Did I mention his very large foot steps!
Thanks,
Marky


Sent from my iPad using Fiberglass RV

[Melanie B in NC]

Norm - I am totally impressed that you two could do it for 30 seconds (not to mention 1.5 minutes). After reading this and finding out what the plank exercise is, I tried it. Two years of retirement (no longer climbing stairs constantly, being on my feet most of the day, etc.) has resulted in now needing to do some remedial work. I was astounded how hard it is! 5-10 seconds is about all I can do now! It looks like it should be so easy - but the burning and shaking start ridiculously quickly. I am humiliated! So this thing is not going to defeat me! Did you start out being able to do 30 seconds at a time or did you have to work up to it? My DH and myself are not overweight, but apparently we could use some fitness work! How did you start?

[honda03842]

Melanie,

Ginny and I have the same doctor, a marvelous young man now in Havelock, NC. When we stopped there on our way south Ginny could barely walk. He moved her leg around to determine it wasn't her hip (our great fear). He than told her to do the plank for 30 seconds a day and she would be fine within 6 weeks. Ginny did and was cured.

He also told her that she would probably not be able to do 30 seconds right off but she stuck to it until she could and now does one virtually every day.

I was able to do a minute almost immediately. My approach is to do it until I get to the shake stage. In the early days I would do two a day, of shorter duration. It simply requires repetition, sticking to it. The nice part is that it doesn't take long and can be done anywhere.

You know we're retired and are on the road a lot. Like some of the younger people on the site we are not long range hikers but we do hike a lot, short hikes. When we stay put in Florida at the Escapees park we take advantage of the heated pool and walk the park a lot.

One more Newfie story, they are forever walking. One cold, for us, and windy day we decided to hike to the top of Brimstone Head. On the way up we were passed by a young woman (in a red T-shirt no less) she said she tries to climb Brimstone Head every lunch. She is a local nurse and used to climb it most days before heading off to nursing school. The Newfoundlanders are walkers.

Do it for 6 weeks, by the middle of the time you'll be to 30 seconds and will feel the difference.

Wishing you well

[Melanie B in NC]

Norm and Ginny - you two are our role models (that really puts the pressure on you, right?). I finally got my DH to try the plank and he lasted 30 seconds, but was really quivering at the end - he was surprised how hard it is. Do you travel with a pet of any kind? We have a little dog who goes with us (too small for a kennel). This limits somewhat where we go and what we can do - at least the time spent doing it. He can be left in our Snoozy while we go off, but I don't like to leave him for hours at a time or get too far away (like miles and miles). Anyway, he likes to walk also, and I enjoy taking him on our walks (as long as we are not meeting many other dogs - he does not play well with others). We can take him on some trails, but not others. He is a joy for me even if he does complicate touring around. Do you travel all the time? Do you have a home base? In some ways, I would love to be free to just go all the time. In other ways, I am drawn to staying home with my garden and my little Charlie. DH seems pretty content to do either - he seems to think "if Mama is happy, he is happy."

[accrete]

yuppers on the RV lifestyle allowing a healthy lifestyle.

The plank is a great daily help.

Two things i take everywhere i am ...no equipment needed.

Qi Gong (anyone can do this, even 90+ year olds!). I have utilized the method as described in the book "The Way of Energy". Here is a free downloadable version of the book in pdf version. This is basically a stationary form of Tai Chi, and every Tai Chi master includes this in their lifestyle. Again, no impact, and really no movement. Crazy way to think of getting your body in shape, but WOWZER it works (have been involved with this since ~1998).

and i start each day with "The Five Tibetan Rites". Super easy way to wake up the body in 5 minutes or so.

Thom

[honda03842]

Originally Posted by Melanie B in NC

Norm and Ginny - you two are our role models (that really puts the pressure on you, right?). I finally got my DH to try the plank and he lasted 30 seconds, but was really quivering at the end - he was surprised how hard it is. Do you travel with a pet of any kind? We have a little dog who goes with us (too small for a kennel). This limits somewhat where we go and what we can do - at least the time spent doing it. He can be left in our Snoozy while we go off, but I don't like to leave him for hours at a time or get too far away (like miles and miles). Anyway, he likes to walk also, and I enjoy taking him on our walks (as long as we are not meeting many other dogs - he does not play well with others). We can take him on some trails, but not others. He is a joy for me even if he does complicate touring around. Do you travel all the time? Do you have a home base? In some ways, I would love to be free to just go all the time. In other ways, I am drawn to staying home with my garden and my little Charlie. DH seems pretty content to do either - he seems to think "if Mama is happy, he is happy."

Melanie... answers to your questions.

I've stated before, we have the no pet rule. "No pets, more petting". I hope that's not too crass and I do understand that a pet can be more than a pet. In a measure we feel our lifestyle would be unfair to a pet.

As to role model pressure, I feel little pressure in our new life, definitely as compared to our old. I feel so happy I almost don't know how to explain it. When away it's just us, my job is to 'date' Ginny and her's to date me. I'm not kidding when I say we almost have a high school relationship. I really am a kid, hence the love of the new, the love of exploration.

When we started our RVing my thought that it would be a change of life, an opportunity to chart a new path. We separated ourselves in a measure from our past. Our neighbor rents his house to vacationers. This weeks renter said to Ginny, did that used to be a flower bed? For a fact I was into flowers, we had two curvy 25 foot beds. When we got home from Newfoundland the beds were 25 feet of weeds and grass at least a foot high.

I spoke of our short hikes, usually 2-4 miles. Newfoundland for example has at least one formal trail in every town and usually more. Usually, particularly the time of the year we travel, there's few people on the trail, a dog would certainly enjoy our hikes. We're not vigorous hikers but we get there looking for the unusual along the way. (I'm always looking for different stones to add to my multicolored walk way of stones.)

As well we're geocachers and will every now and then go looking for a cache, a little like hide and seek. I still love flowers but they are no longer part of our life as growers. We have consciously moved onto a new phase of life. Life is short, doing different things is like having more lives.

I have nothing against short term camping but to develop the freedom we seem to have, one needs to get away, to separate from the old everyday, truly get away. The mistake of our life style has been not selling our house.

When our boys went to college we moved from the big house to our summer cottage at the beach in NH, a change of life in itself. Living in NH is really nice, no sales tax, no state income tax, the safest state in the nation. Since we've started RVing we're here for about 4-5 months a year usually summer into fall. There have been years when we've only been here 6 weeks. We should have sold it and may yet sell it. To be honest, I'm ready to go after a month or so, Ginny needs more relative time than me.

We average 7.5 months a year on the road. Every other year we make a loop of the USA/Canada. The other years we usually stay in FL. We reserve the spring for Newfoundland or Alaska or some place we can't go in the winter.

Our home base is in Hampton Beach. When home we do get visitors, not to mention that 2 of Ginny's sisters live within walking distance plus a slew of nieces and nephews in the area, most moved here after we did. We used to be active in the area when we first moved here however our road travels has caused us to lose touch with many of our old friends. On the other hand we have made many new friends over a wider area, through out the USA and Canada.

Ginny does understand me. I need stimulation, stimulation of the new, of the unknown. Her return is my happiness and the information I share with her. She learns from the adventure. We seriously seek to grow as we travel, but not at a forced pace. We just collected the 8 books we bought on our Newfie trip, no tough reads but all stimulating. We each read them and now have a common base of Newfoundland stories and lore, material for chit chat.

We're having a surprise party for a relative next month. Ginny's looking for pictures for the party. She just said, "Boy we've lost a lot of weight". We have. RVing's been both physically and mentally good for us.

Always happy to share. Ginny always tells me that our life is not for everybody or maybe anybody but it's what we happily do. Simply a very happy road life is possible.

Life is a choice. You are as free as you chose.

[honda03842]

Thom,

Thanks for the extended exercise routine. Good information.

[Timber Wolf]

Yeah well, it could be RVing, planking, hiking, etc., but I have another theory. I think sleeping in an “egg” has restorative and recuperative effects like some people attribute to pyramids.

[honda03842]

Tim,

We sleep well in our Scamp. I think there are a number of parts to sleeping well...the exercise of the lifestyle, the tendency to eat less and better, and the pressure-less days.

I think there's something special about the whole adventure of being on the road that is curative and can lead to a better life.

[Melanie B in NC]

I seem to have a different perspective - maybe based on our inexperience in the RV area. To me what you refer to as "pressure-less days" is the exact opposite. Of course, there is not the former pressure of working a regular job for 40 years. But so far I find the camping business rather stressful in itself - pulling the Snoozy (although that fear is pretty much gone - it just trundles along behind us), choosing a campground (there are so many scary reviews out there), along with the pressure "to have fun" by finding stuff to do and places to see. It is much more peaceful to be at home with my familiar surroundings, gardens, etc. This RV business is mostly because my husband wants to do it and it is helping him transition from a high powered executive job to retirement. I guess I was the one who asked "what do you do" all that time on the road. Coming out of the working world, I seem to need a schedule to follow, tasks to complete, and checklists to manage. Even 3 years of retirement has not changed that. I know there are lots of museums, beautiful mountains, festivals, local interest sites, etc. But being on a perpetual vacation is a big challenge - I find myself trying to find chores to do in and around the camper, tending to the dog, etc. and not interacting with the other campers around me - my inclination is not to bother people. I guess I will have to work on all this - at least being retired means I have plenty of time to do nothing (at least nothing "important".

[honda03842]

Very interesting post Melanie. Transitions are never easy. As well it's nice that you're supporting your husband's transition. This is similar to our case. Ginny would have never considered RVing. I recognized that time was running out and needed change. Ginny supported the change.

We have grown into RVing and developed a life around it, not dramatically different from when we first got married, building a new life together, away from the safe familiar surroundings of our families.

I know Ginny initially found all the new people a little difficult. She quickly realized that she was just as new to them and became outgoing in her approach, smiling and saying hi to everyone.

As to campgrounds we have now stayed at thousands of them and even the worst of them have not provided anything to fear. In 13 years we have not had a single problem. Of course there are campgrounds we've driven into and left.

Ginny and I both recognize that this life style is not for everyone, particularly for those of us where RVing is a late life change. Many RVers are lifers, camping or RVing all their lives, us like you were new to it. It has taken us awhile to develop a life in a trailer.

Personally we have found trailer life to be educational, teaching us in some measure what's important and what we really need to be happy.

The whole RV lifestyle reminds me of summers as a child, a time of doing whatever, whenever, a life of exploration, a life of independence.

Obviously this is not for everyone, or even for most, but I can insure you that it can be fun. I often refer to our travels as being like dating, in part looking for and creating fun times.

Melanie, thank you for your candor. I like reading your thoughts.

[Timber Wolf]

Change IS stressfull. And traveling is too. I like to have a plan, but leave plenty of time in the schedule for unforseen events. I am just starting out on the RV lifestyle as an adult (my folks had pickup campers and motorhomes) and am keeping to State Parks right now. I keep the driving to no more than 3 1/2 to 4 hours a day and stay at least two nights at each stop to make setting up worthwhile. Give it some time, and keep a good book (or several) to pass the time. I can read on the road as easily as at home.