How To Keep Your Sanity When You Breakdown!
“We are losing power,” my husband said after a non-chalant drive as we headed out of town. Slowly and carefully, the semi was slowing down to a crawl, barely enough power to get us on a safe off ramp from the hustling and bustling freeway we were exiting from. Pulling over to the side, he put the brakes on, shut the beast off and stepped outside.
Uh-oh
I think this is one of the hardest parts of fulltime rving: breaking down. It does happen, whether we like it or not, whether it was expected or not. Several thoughts run in my head when I realize we have broken down, such as:
Where are we going to get the money to fix the problem?
Are we able to move from one destination to another?
How are we going to live when our main RV hauler is broken down and we simply cannot go to a sticks and bricks, but still live in our RV as it is attached to the broken down vehicle?
How can I keep my sanity?
Keeping your sanity when something breaks on your RV setup can be a challenge, but also can be doable. Since it has happened to us and I will be honest with you, I did not keep my sanity, but my husband taught me how to do it. Here are some tips for when the inevitable will happen (and it will):
1. Your RV, the vehicle that pulls it, plus any “toad” shakes and shimmers down the road. Expect things in your setup to be affected.
2. When you do breakdown, do you have towing on your insurance policy? This is important! Check with your insurance agent and make sure you have it. Or if you prefer AAA or some other club, please get it. It saved us a lot of money and my sanity!
3. Think of the breakdown as something that needed to be fixed and kept you out of harm’s way. Hopefully when it happens you are in a safe place, off a main road, and nothing sketchy. We cannot predict when we will breakdown, and it will happen.
4. Someone mentioned to me to think of it as part of the adventure of fulltime RV living. When we broke down, I did not think of it as an adventure, but later, I sort of believed him and I will tell you why later.
5. Most importantly, it will cost you. The money for the tow bill, the mechanic and his labor service, the parts, and even your time. Your time is precious and I assume you had a place to go to instead of breaking down in a random town. You might be late to your next destination, but think of it this way: you will arrive safely in your fixed setup, and a story to tell.
A Kenworth pulling a Kenworth. Our tow truck driver getting ready to hook us up to his tow truck.
After we broke down and talked to a few mechanics, I did not realize we had towing on our insurance policy. It took an extra day to be towed. It was noisy and a little scary to sleep in our RV on the off ramp by a very busy freeway, but when I woke up, I found out there were 4 other truckers pulled on the off ramp, sleeping as we were. I was thankful I had a bed to rest in as we were weary from a terrible wind storm and warm temperatures.
An amazing sunset where we broke down
You want to know how it all got started? By a loose battery cable. A simple battery cable that was flopping around in the box of batteries we have (we have a semi so the batteries are separate from the engine). That loose battery cable talked to the fuel ignition solenoid and told it to shut off. So we had an electric and fuel problem.
One thing I am learning is not to rush through life, especially when things need to get fixed. I understand that RV fixing shops, mechanics are overwhelmed with fixing our setups as there are more than ever people enjoying the RV life. This is when patience can come in. Instead of dwelling on the broken item and wondering if the next reservations need to be cancelled or requested, make it an adventure.
Maybe there is a purpose for your breakdown: an adventure awaits you.
Our adventure was this: the land that we boondocked on for a few days while we waited for the big truck to be fixed had chickens and pigs. We got free eggs and never asked for them, they just offered it and boy, were they yummy! We were entertained by the neighbors as they roped their cows in the cool of the evenings. We were never charged for staying the 3 nights we did, they did not mind that we used our generator (it is a quiet one) as the temps were in the 90s and they let us have our privacy without bombarding us with questions or being nosy.
Even though breaking down was not something we planned for, it was a wakeup call that we had a serious problem, and it was better that it happened where it did, as we were not too far off from a large city for parts. We were safe and secure and had the time to stay at this place and I am thankful.
Another amazing sunset!