3 Reasons I Travel in an RV

It’s important to note sometimes God has really pissed me off. When my daughter got cancer, I stopped trusting for a while; when Mom died, I doubted he had my best interests in mind. But when the oldest daughter suffered a stroke, I stopped talking to God for a while — except when I was praying for her recovery. Let’s just say, that event was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Yes sometimes, he really pisses me off because life has not always turned out the way I want, but I am just a human trying to control my environment in an uncontrollable world who understands and admits, if I have to, God is great. So, I will state the obvious. I believe in God. So, sue me. For me it’s not debatable, and I don’t have to prove his existence because it’s my fact.

Like I said, that is my fact, but anyone who accepts that must accept as truth that God gave humans hops; hops make beer; beer is good. Don’t jump to conclusions; I am not an alcoholic, and I do not overindulge. But when all else fails, a tall, cold beer in an iced glass, takes the edge of a bad day. I have discovered sitting outside under the stars with a beer pushes troubles away – for a while. Once I realized and accepted I cannot alter the course of events, I decided to find a way to survive them. A great discovery occurred when I sat in the hot sun talking with friends and drank a beer, the conversation lightened, and the laughter increased.

I don’t know which came first my discovery that beer is a refreshing source of comfort or the realization that people are stupid. My conclusion on people’s intelligence doesn’t stem from the fact that many don’t think like I do, or the observation they make poor decisions, or even the realization that most live in denial. I believe people are stupid because I live among them and all the above are true.

Think about it and examine the evidence.

• Humans created the charge card that causes them to live in perpetual debt in an attempt to buy happiness.
• People stop in the middle of beautiful moments, get distracted when in conversation and forget to look for oncoming traffic to take selfies.
• Someone suggested eating Tide Pods and teenagers created a challenge that requires them to film themselves devouring the colorful packets of poison.
• Most people are incapable of entering an elevator and pushing only one button.
• Grown adults will circle a parking lot in search of the closest spot to the front door and then pay a monthly fee to join a gym.

The comedian, Bill Engvall, became famous and made a fortune telling jokes about stupid people, all ending with the punchline, here’s your sign. If you have never had the opportunity to appreciate his humor this is a small taste.

"It’s like before my wife and I moved from Texas to California our house was full of boxes and there was a U-Haul truck in our driveway. My friend comes over and says, “Hey, You moving?” “Nope. We just pack our stuff up once or twice a week. Just to see how many boxes it takes. Here’s your sign.”

"A couple of months ago I went fishing with a buddy of mine, we pulled his boat into the dock, I lifted up this big ‘ol stringer of bass this idiot on the dock goes, “Hey, yall catch all them fish?” “Nope. Talked ’em into giving up. Here’s your sign.”

"Last time I was home, I was driving around I had a flat tire, I pulled my truck into one of these side-of-the-road gas stations, the attendant walks out, looks at my truck, looks at me, I swear to GOD he went, “Tire go flat?” I couldn’t resist. I said, “Nope. No, I was driving around and those other three just swelled right up on me. Here’s your sign.

"We were trying to sell our car about a year ago, a guy come over to the house, drove the car around for about 45 minutes. We get back to the house, he gets out of the car, reaches down and grabs the exhaust pipe, then goes, “Damn that's hot!” If he’d been wearing his sign, I could have stopped him." — Bill Engvall

There are times life simply stresses me out. When possible, those are the times I crawl in the RV and hit the road. Though running away wasn’t possible in the middle of times of trials, now that I am retired, travel provides an escape. After years of learning to navigate life the hard way, I’ve decided to live by this motto: God is great, beer is good, and people are stupid.

Now don’t think I am judging my fellow man because I lump myself in the people category. I have done some stupid things at times. But once I started living by this motto, life got easier because my expectations were lower. I figure there are still many years for me to walk on this earth and as long as there is a cold beer in the fridge when God decides to challenge my faith or people act like humans, stupid, everything will be fine.

And my comfort rests in the knowledge that the motorhome is sitting in the driveway with beer in the fridge waiting for me to climb aboard and drive off to a new environment with God as my compass.

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While he drives, I write. Exploring the world and the human spirit.

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Note: I will admit my life motto was stolen from Billy Currington’s song ‘People are Crazy’. I just changed the word crazy to stupid; it seems more appropriate.