Outside the Zone

 

My husband and I have a full spring and summer of traveling plans. We are anxiously awaiting April , when we will get back into our travel trailer back into nature. We are what many people call "Weekend Warriors" in the camping circles, traveling on the road, not full time, but several times a month. When we were researching and deciding whether we were going to get a trailer, we watched many YouTube videos to see what has changed since our pop up days of 15 years ago. We came across a younger couple who RV fulltime, the Hanks. They were fun, informative and their personalities reminded us of our children and our younger selves. Together, we began watching 3 - 4 years of their digital content several nights a week. Bruce was so smitten that he subscribed to their weekly newsletter. It was then that we discovered that they held rallies. What's a rally? I asked the same question. A Rally is an organized event where RVers come together, at a designated time and place, and share information, food and drinks, and enjoy the RVing lifestyle with like-minded people. Bruce's face lit up when he learned that the rally would be in Pigeon Forge Tennessee in June. Tennessee has been in discussion when we are planning out our trips, but has yet to make it to the number one spot. So here we are with tickets to our first "Hangin with the Hanks Rally".

We reviewed the itinerary and my introvert anxiety began to climb. Breakfasts, karaoke, pickle ball, dress up events, dinners, cocktail hour (ok that I can get behind). "What did I just sign up for?" my brain began to echo inside my head. The nice part is I can do as much and as little as I want and Bruce can do as much and as little as he wants. My grand hope is to be a fly on the wall and enjoy the festivities from a far, but time will tell. I am excited about it, but currently my excitement for the trip and anxiety of driving the trailer 8 hours away and being social are at an equal measure. It offers a little comfort that they have a very active Facebook page where people are sharing photo of themselves, their RVs and especially their fur babies. I joined the group and added some information and photos. Kenobi has received many accolades which warms my heart.