No Regrets Checklist

The photos in this post are a collection of some of our favorite campsites.  A picture may be worth a thousand words, but it definitely brings to mind some extraordinary memories, too.

I’ve been posting about our 2024 trip to Alaska for about nine months, ending with my previous “Alaska by the Numb3rs” post in mid-February.  (I could have had a baby by now; thank heaven I didn’t.)  It’s transition time for me, and I have to think about where to go from here.

Madison Campground - Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming (2007)

In the immediate future, I’ll be returning to our 2017 West Coast National Parks trip, and I'm excited about getting back to it because it was an amazing trip.  I was documenting that particular trip when the Alaska expedition came along, and I began blogging from the road for the first time.  Since one of the main reasons I started blogging was to document our travels, particularly our cross-country National Parks trips with our kids, I really, really do want to finish up that West Coast trip.  When you last read about the intrepid travelers (me, Alan and our 18 year old daughter), we had returned to the Oregon coast after a disappointing visit to Crater Lake National Park.  With four National Parks and more than 3,000 miles left to go on that journey, I have my documenting work cut out for me.

Watchman Campground - Zion National Park, Utah (2010)

Once I’ve put the West Coast National Parks trip to bed, though, I’ll have a big decision to make.  In addition to documenting our travels, two other reasons I got into blogging were to practice some creative writing and to connect with other like-minded people who enjoyed traveling and/or the RV lifestyle.  Since I started posting in 2017, I’ve had plenty of opportunities to do both, so I feel like I’ve accomplished what I wanted to when I set out along the blogging path.  So, what comes next?

Seven Points COE Campground - Hermitage, Tennessee (2019)

Alan and I have been together for more than four decades.  Travel and the outdoors have been important facets of our lives from the very beginning of our relationship.  On our first date, we went for a drive (gas was SO much cheaper back then!) and a hike.  These days we’re still road-tripping and closing in on 100,000 miles just between the two travel trailers we’ve owned – and we didn’t buy the first one until 2006.  For our purposes, a “Bucket List” has always been about travel destinations.  We started working our way through ours back when we were both employed full time and working around just two weeks of vacation each year.  Every year, we would carefully choose a vacation destination based on the priority of items on our bucket list, as well as the time and distance involved.  When Alan traveled to intriguing cities for IT meetings and conventions, we would tack on vacation days to take advantage of partially paid expenses.  As his vacation allowance increased, we would take extended trips with the kids during the time I was a stay at home mom.  Retirement opened up even more possibilities for us.  Now, we find ourselves in the very fortunate position of having checked off all of the high priority travel destinations on our bucket list.  With Alaska in our rear view mirror, we’re transitioning mainly to our “Return To” list, and fitting in places we’ve never visited along the way.  With our bucket list well under control, my thoughts have turned to a different kind of check list.

Crooked River State Park - St. Marys, Georgia (2019)

Back in 2021, I read an AARP article entitled, “60 Ways to Live Longer, Stronger and Better.”  (Link HERE for the complete article.)  While the author offered many excellent suggestions, there was one, in particular, that struck a chord with me and remained in the back of my mind: “Keep a ‘no regrets checklist.’ Write down a list of all the things you've had to put off over the years because of work or raising a family. Then make a timeline for how you'll revisit these goals. Regret is largely avoidable with a little reflection and mindful focus.”

Sunny Gulch Campground - Sawtooth Mountains, Stanley, Idaho (2021)

Well, I gotta say – there are a whole lot of things on my “No Regrets Checklist,” including organizing and scanning decades of photos (ours and those of our deceased family members), selling boxes of vintage items from the estates of my mom and two aunts, crafting some home decor projects and working with Alan to plan a front patio and re-do our back patio.  Then there’s the kitchen.  We built the house between 1980 and 1981, and the kitchen is still all original.  Picture dark pine cabinets and gold Formica countertops - I’m sure you get the picture.  It’s both completely functional and badly in need of a refresh.  When the kids were young, our family life was all about spending time with them - whether that was taking them to the playground, going boating, visiting our National Parks, accompanying Ryan on his Junior Firefighter calls or attending almost every single one of Kyra’s soccer, basketball, baseball and softball games.  Alan and I focused on family time – with no regrets! - but, now, the deferred maintenance is coming back to bite us.

Woodhead Park - Hells Canyon, Cambridge, Idaho (2021)

Then, of course, there’s more travel on the docket.  A return trip to the Oregon coast because we absolutely fell in love with it back in 2017.  An extended trip to Michigan because the one week we spent there about ten years ago didn’t even come close to doing the state justice.  Our upcoming Route 66 trip – from start to finish, but not with the travel trailer.  Nope.  It will be two ol’ geezers in a 2019 Camaro SS, cruisin’ across the country with the sunroof open, singing road trip and 60’s songs.  All those trips will take time to plan, if we want to do them up right – and, of course, we do.

Kinaskan Lake Provincial Park - Kitimat-Stikine, British Columbia (2024)

How does blogging fit in with all of this?  I don’t know yet – or even if it will at all.  I’m not sure I want to quit blogging – but I’m not sure I want to continue, either.  It’s a decision that doesn’t need to be made immediately, and I know it will take quite a bit of soul-searching.  All I can say is, “Stay tuned!”

Marathon Campground - Seward, Alaska (2024)

Meanwhile, it will soon be back to the West Coast National Parks trip of 2017 for me.  What comes next after that, I don’t know.  As I like to tell the kids, “Don’t worry.  Something will make itself apparent.”