December 4, 2023 • 53 mins
Today we are digging into Lessons from buying an RV and driving off into the wild blue yonder with Jenell Jones. Jenell is the owner of Wandering Individuals Network RV Club and lives full time traveling in her RV. The beauty of Jenell’s journey is that she began this solo traveling journey alone but found her tribe then bought the club that would connect them. In this conversation she talks about how to create the shifts you want in your life and being comfortable with it on your own terms. So often we rely on the input of others and meeting the expectations that have guided our lives up to this point but what if there is more for you? Jenell encourages listeners to take the time to get quiet and hold a space for the idea of what might be without judgement. She also believes that part of that process is to quit talking to everyone else about it and figure out what that is for you. Of course, this can take some time but as we come face to face with our dreams and doubts, we can decide what to do about it. Reinvention can look so different from person to person and this is why learning to be still and listen to what it is we really want is so important. Join us to hear more about how Jenell’s journey came about, the steps that led her there and what she has learned along the way. Her lessons are great clues to help you on your journey of reinvention so grab a cuppa something wonderful and let’s chat. https://wanderingindividualsnetwork.com
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(00:02):
Hi, H'm gina for are Welcometo the Feminine Roadmap Podcast, a global
community of women in midlife. Wegather here weekly over a cup of something
wonderful for real talk, life changingstrategies and a big dose of sisterhood.
Now please sit back and enjoy.Hello, Feminine road Mempers, Welcome back
(00:28):
to Feminine Roadmap Podcast, the podcastthat helps you navigate the challenges and the
changes of midlife and empowers you tolive a more vibrant second half. If
you find us on YouTube today,please don't forget to ring that bells.
You don't miss any more of theseconversations. And if you're driving and listening
to the podcast platform, please takethe time to subscribe, rate, and
(00:50):
share this conversation so that we canmake sure to build our community stronger.
And I thank you so much forlistening. If you head on over to
Instagram, you can follow me thereas well. Today, friends, we're
going to be talking about a womanwhose life has been dramatically changed in midlife
and reinvention. It's an exciting story. She retired, bought an RV and
(01:12):
drove off into the wild blue yonder. My guest today is Janelle Jones,
she's the owner of the Wandering IndividualsNetwork RV Club. Janelle, thank you
so much for joining me today.Hi Gina, thank you for having me.
I'm excited to be on this podcast. I've listened to you and it's
such a thrill and honor to benow talking to you personally. That is
(01:34):
such a cool full circle thing,isn't it. Yes, it's very nice.
Yeah, I'm excited. Well,what people don't realize is that you're
living in your RV and you havethe ability to run from the heat.
So right now, I believe youare in Maine, which I would love
to be up there. What eightmiles you said from Vermont, but i'd
love Dadian border of the Canadian border, Yes, there it is. Yeah.
(01:57):
So I would like you to givea little bit of a snapshot of
how it is you came to thislife. What led you to this reinvention
from working, you know, yourtypical corporate job to living in an RV
and buying an RV club. Well, all right, so we'll start from
we'll do the quick version. Iwas raised in a cult, and in
(02:22):
a cult you tend to move arounda lot. I went to twelve schools
and twelve years. Fast forward,I got a good job in government,
stayed there twenty six years, butI had such a strong wonderlust in me
I still found it difficult to buyone house and stay in it. In
the last eleven years of my career, I was there twenty six years.
In the last eleven years I bought, renovated, and sold thirteen houses.
(02:46):
So as soon as I retired intwenty fifteen, I bought an RV.
Hit the road. Three years later, I sold everything I owned, bought
a big RV, and I havebeen living in it all my four years
now, and it has fulfilled melike nothing else ever has in my life.
(03:07):
Now, let's talk about we talkedabout ahead of time, this bucket
list thing that you had. Let'stalk a little bit about how you went
about living in an RV and howdid you just put your finger on the
map and move or did you havesome kind of intention about what you wanted
to experience when you started. WhenI first retired, I knew I did
(03:30):
not want to sit around in myhouse. I knew that I didn't like
doing it when I didn't, SoI knew that and I bought it what
I call my starter RV, andI called it starter because I erected it,
ran into a building, jack knifedid, had a blowout. I
mean, you name it. Idid it to that RV. But I
loved the life. I didn't haveno idea what I was doing, but
(03:51):
I loved the life. And Idid that for two or three years,
and I realized I had only beenat my house four months out of two
years, and so that's what Imade the decision to sell everything and just
go all in. I'm the typeof person I'm either in or out,
and so if I'm going to dothis RV, I'm going all in.
And that's basically what led me toit, and that wonderlust spirit that I
(04:15):
have those two things all in,all out on the wonderlust is really what
has made this work for me.Mm hm. So your reinvention sounds like
it had a lot to do withstraddling this line of a traditional life,
you know, the career of thehouse, whatever you were trying to find
(04:38):
that fulfillment to your wanderlust all ofthat time, is what it sounds like.
It's a good way to put it, Gina. I. You know
you're supposed to get a good job, that save some money nine to five
Monay through Friday, grocery shop Saturday, molon Sunday. You're supposed to do
that. But I was one ofthose people that always had that feeling of
(05:00):
more, there's more, there shouldbe more. What am I looking for?
What is it that I really wantmore of? Well? I tried
shopping, I tried buying houses,I tried going and traveling. I tried
men if, I tried all kindsof things, and they're just it just
I was always missing something. Therewas all I was always seeking what is
the more? And I can honestlytell you now, since this this shift
(05:21):
in my life, my thinking,this literal shift in my living arrangements,
I don't have that wonder, thatmore feeling anymore. I don't have that
Hmmm, that's some powerful that's apowerful experience I'm sure to settle in now.
I do wonder, though, isthere something to this season of your
(05:41):
life, being the age you are, having the life experience you have that
has helped you feel more confident ormore courageous in this decision? Yeah,
that's good. Do you know that'sa good That's a good question. Of
course, you know I'm older now, I'm smarter, allegedly, I don't
do stupid things that I did whenwhen I was younger anymore. You know,
some people would say selling everything youown, I don't even have storage.
(06:05):
I don't have a storage in it. Some people would say that I've
made another rash decision, ridiculous recisionmy family. You should have been on
the talks with my family. Butmaybe it is this season. But I
think it's a combination of my ageof the season and the fact that this
fits me so well. I justhave have been able to wiggle down and
(06:29):
through trial and error find what fitsme exactly. May not agree with it,
you may not understand it, butfor me, it is an incredible
lifestyle that I'm very comfortable in.Mm hmm. If somebody else was feeling
that kind of just it's not anuneasiness. It's more of like I just
(06:50):
can't feel settled. I don't feelsomething's lacking right. That's kind of what
I hear. That is so itg you know, matter of fact I
put together. You know, I'ma pros and con So I make lists.
Sometimes I follow the list, sometimesI don't. But I made this
like checklist, and I just seeAre you ready? Are you ready to
(07:13):
RV? Are you ready for thisbig change in life? And I realized
it wasn't just for rving, it'sit's was a checklist for are you ready
for the next big thing? Whicheverthat means to you, downsizing, buying
a bigger house, it's tiny,hat, whatever it means. As a
matter of fact, I have thatchecklist I can share with you and your
followers if you'd like it. Andit's just merely some thought provoking Like one
(07:36):
of them is, can you eatat a table by yourself in a restaurant?
You're like, well, yeah,or no, but that's a lot
deeper. Can you go into arestaurant by yourself, sit down in order
and have some wine or not orwhatever, and have some dinner and dessert
and enjoy Number one? Or youcan you enjoy your own company? Number
two? Are you confident enough togo in there and sit down without everyone's
(08:00):
looking at me? No, they'renot. But that takes a lot.
Just that right there, And there'sabout ten questions that are all like that
and will kind of help help youthink. Aren't you ready to go to
the next step to fulfill that itchor that that uneasy feeling that you described,
and I know the checklist helped me, so, like I said,
if you would like to offer itto your listeners, I'm glad to let
(08:22):
you have it for them. Absolutely, that would be fantastic. What are
some mindset shifts or ideas that youcould share with someone who is in that
place of dissatisfaction and knowing that there'ssomething else or something more, or they're
just feeling that pull to reinventing theirlife in some way. What input would
(08:45):
you share with them to help themmake that transition. I would tell them
to quit talking to everybody about it, because what she and she and him
and her, and your brother andyour uncle and your best friend, that's
through their eyes. Not that's wrong, but that's through their eyes. We're
talking about you and perhaps the lastthird or the second half, you know,
(09:07):
who knows how many years we havemaybe your last year, who knows
how many years we have left.I know I was living on the beach
at the time that I wanted todo this. I was running a condo
and I would get up every morningand I would walk on the beach like
everybody does, and I would think, what, what do you want to
do. This is you? Youknow, I was about to retire.
I'm like, what is it youreally want to do? And walking on
(09:30):
the beach with no radio, noone walking with me, I was able
to really dial down what is ityou've always wanted to do? What is
this uneasy feeling? You've had agreat career, You're okay, you're healthy,
you've got a nice boyfriend, yourkid's good. What is wrong?
You have everything? Can you seethe quotes? I have everything? What
is wrong? So my advice wouldbe number one, quit talking everybody.
(09:52):
Number two, if you're a listperson, make a list. What is
that you've always wanted to do?I've always wanted to be free? All
right? What does free mean toyou? Because free means swimming in Tahiti?
Or does it mean just free inyour house to walk around and not
have somebody that you have to makedinner for, you know, or the
kids have to be driven to school? And sometimes when we're thinking what is
(10:13):
it I want, we think sosmall. I want to not drive kids
to school every day. I wanta man who's not yelling at me.
Okay, that's great, Okay,you got that. Now, what you're
still going to have that pooling,that uneasy feeling. If you have it,
you're still that's not going to doit. It's you have to figure
out for you what is it foryou? And I swear it's the walking,
(10:35):
the being quiet. I notice behindyour head you have a saying that
says, be still and know thatI'm God. And so if they're not
believers, that's fine, I wouldstill tell them be still, be still,
and be quiet, and it willcome to you. You may not
like what it says. You maybe like, I'm not buying an RV
and driving off. I don't evenknow how to drive an RV. I'm
(10:56):
not that's not for me. Butif you be still and you listen to
what you want, it will cometo you. It will come to you.
Sometimes I feel like we know deepdown anyway. Would you agree with
that? Yep? Yep. WhenI was traveling in that first RV that
(11:18):
I bought, that I wrecked.I hit a building, I had hit
a low branch and it took everythingoff the top of the RV. I
mean I had holes this big,you know, thirteen by thirteen I had
two holes in the RV. Iat that point you would think, oh,
okay, this is not for you, girl, Get out. You
cannot drive this. And I've nevereven driven RV, so it's right.
(11:39):
But I knew deep down this isright. This is right for me.
I did know. Now did everyoneor else else around me think this is
right? No, especially when Icame back with a you know, wrecked
RV duct taped together in the pouringdown rain, you know, half on
the curve parked and half off.It was a hot mess, let me
tell you. And people are like, now, stop already, you're gonna
(12:03):
kill yourself. Stop. And Istill knew. So even though it didn't
look like the right choice. Wow, here I am, what four or
five six years later, and it'stotally the right choice. Then I settled
in in That's why I said,well, ago, don't listen to what
other people are telling you, becauseyou'll be like, you know, that's
right. Maybe I shouldn't buy athirty six foot RV and drive to Alaska
(12:26):
by myself. That's probably not youknow, I mean, all reason tells
you not to do that. Asa woman, drive an RV you don't
know how to drive, never drivenstarting in South Florida, going all the
way to Alaska, that is crazyon its surface. But I tell you
now, number one, it wasunbelievable. Nothing happened, I mean,
(12:48):
nothing bad happened. Nothing, Ididn't get hurt, no one else got
hurt. All kind of stuff happened. But did I do it? Did?
I have a wonderful experience. Andnow everybody's going, wow, Now,
man, I wish I could RV. Oh, wish I could do
that. Funny, You weren't thesame people. Weren't you the same people
that said I was crazy? Yes? Yes, I can't tell you how
(13:09):
many people. Well, my sister, for one, talk to me about
serial killers. I did not knowserial killers and RV's went together. But
she was just so afraid I wouldbe off somewhere and there'd be some serial
killer that would find me and seeme. I'm like, but sister,
that could happen anywhere. But shejust got keyed on that. And for
(13:31):
her, she does not understand thislifestyle. She does not get it.
She supports me and loves me.And now a few years later, people
see, Okay, it's working andthey're better, but I still get them.
I mean, gosh, I'll pullinto a gas station and people the
man will say, my god,they'll see you around the corner. They'd
be like, do you drive thatthing yourself? I'm like, I do,
(13:54):
Do you drive your truck yourself?Honey? What I can do as
a woman, Yeah, yeah,exactly. If the if the person seems
to be friendly and it's you know, we've got a good little conversation going,
I will tell them yes. WhenI when I ordered the r V,
I told them I wanted the nonpenis model that that would help me
(14:16):
drive it better. Sometimes they getin sometimes they're like, okay, well
you have a good day then.You know. I feel like when we
make these kinds of decisions, whenwe take a quote risk right, in
other words, it appears risky tosomeone, it does trigger them. It
(14:37):
does put them in an uncomfortable place. I think for several reasons. I
think people get uncomfortable because one,maybe they are genuinely afraid for you.
But wouldn't you agree that when wereflect that on someone else, that's an
opportunity for us to ask, whydoes this make me so uncomfortable? Isn't
that a good point? Gina?Well, I never thought of it that
(15:01):
way, but you know, kindof thinking back some of my older women
friends when I say older, Imean we were fifty five. Some of
them who are still sitting in theirhouse. The kids are gone, the
husband's gone, they're still sitting intheir house. And they are the first
one to be like, are youstill doing that or what? And I
(15:22):
know they love me and I lovethem, but I know that when I
talk about, yeah, I've beento spend two months in Canada, they're
like, oh, yeah, Iwent on a week's vacation to the Bahamas,
which is great, wonderful, butit does give some self reflection,
doesn't it. And you may notlike what you see in the mayor.
I get that. I think it'shave you ever heard the blue crab analogy
(15:45):
or the crab analogy you know where, yes, it crabbers people who catch
crab they put two crabs in abucket because as long as there's two crabs
in the bucket. For anybody whodoesn't know this, you can wikipedia this
crab theory. If there's two crabsin a bucket, if one tries to
escape the other one will pull themback down. Like they don't have to
(16:07):
cover their buckets because the crabs dothe job of keeping them in and not
criticizing our friends and family. Butas humans, we practice this crab theory
all the time because of comfort zone, because of fear, because of I
don't want to rock the boat.I don't want anybody to think I'm different.
(16:30):
I don't want you to be different, because when you're different than I
feel some sort of way. That'strue. And I'll be the first to
admit. I go in like mysister's house, it's so beautiful and big,
and I'm like, well, i'dlove that. I mean, I
still have that feeling too, andI'm I'm very happy for that. You
know, she has all that.I think to myself, I had that
(16:52):
too, and I don't. I'vehad that, and I don't want that
anymore. I don't ever want tobe that crab, the one trying to
get out or the one keeping theother one down. I don't want to
be that at all. But that'sa good analogy. I have heard that
before, and it's a good one. Well, you can see it in
subtle ways too, because people peopledon't always know their own hearts and their
(17:15):
own desires, and so I think, because what you've done is so dramatically
different of a reinvention story, Icould imagine all of the negative things you've
had to hear from the decision thatyou've made, and how happy you are
may also make it difficult for people. Have you come up against that.
(17:38):
I'm just in terms of I guesswhat I'm trying to do is bring to
the surface that when we deal withour own stuff, like you said,
pick it up, look at it, deal with it. You know,
we talked about this before we hitrecord. When we're working through stuff in
our lives and we're processing it,we're forgiving ourselves, we're forgiving others,
we're letting things go whatever it is, it creates a more expansive version of
(18:00):
ourselves. Usually it really does,Gina, it really does. Like you
said, you and I were sharingbefore we hit record, and I shared
with you that I did a yearof therapy, and then I did a
year of Bible based therapy, andmy I was a different person after those
two years. I was a completelydifferent I forgave I forgave my parents for
(18:22):
the cult upbringing. You know,they did what they knew, They did
the best they could type thing.So it was funny. I didn't think
I had changed, but I thought, but apparently I had because everyone around
me changed, But it wasn't itwas that I had changed. It was
a I was no longer what theywere used to, and not that it
caused feelings. But I don't havesome friends I used to have because after
(18:45):
those couple of years, that's actuallypart of the I guess results. We
could call them consequences. When wechange, we cause a ripple effect in
our relationships. So when we're reinventingours, there are people and I have
people in my life too, theyare totally content to your point two.
(19:06):
You know, I don't have grandchildren, so I don't have that decision to
make, like am I gonna stayhome and baby sit my grandchildren? Because
I don't have them, So mydecisions get to be different, right,
But I have friends that are justlike, they're good even if they don't
have grandchildren. They just they're thenormal rhythm of life that they've had.
(19:26):
They they're good writing that to theend of the line, which is totally
fine. But my personality doesn't worklike that. Like my daughter said yesterday,
all the things right, I'm alwayslooking for expansion and you know,
adventure and these types of things.And I think maybe as I'm trying to
(19:49):
land this plane as we understand ourselvesbetter. Like you said, you did
two years of therapy to deal withyour emotional garbage. That clarity that came
out of that and that understand ofwho you are and your relationship to other
people is a big piece of beingable to stand on your own two feet.
Wouldn't you agree? I would verymuch agree, Gina. And I
don't know if I would be ableto live this lifestyle in a peaceful,
(20:14):
comfortable, fabulous way if I hadn'thad that therapy, because I did have
a lot of garbage, if youwill, from being raised in a cult
and being mad that I was raisingin a cult and just just just mad
about it. I don't know anotherway to put it. And I hate
to admit that out loud, butI was just pissed because I was raised
like that and I didn't have anice, normal childhood that I see my
(20:36):
grandchildren having and you know, wonderfulexperiences with their dad instead of this weird
old cult leader thing going on.So I don't think I could have had
this life without going through all that, even the cult, even the cult,
I wouldn't be the same. Iwouldn't be who I am now without
that cult business in my life.Mmmm hmm. I think that's a good
(20:57):
point when we're reinventing ourselves. Ithink there is a it is a good
opportunity to self reflect the good andthe bad, because it's all brought us
to this point, has it?Not sure? How can you reinvent yourself
if you don't know who you are? If you deep down not the face
(21:17):
we have in public, but trulydeep down. That's way earlier when you
asked me, what advice would yougive to somebody who wants to who doesn't
know maybe what they're looking for,but they have that itch, that that
something more you have to know becauseif how are you going to change,
how are you going to make abig shift? You're just gonna shift the
same old person. And you knowyou're the same as the Bahamas, as
(21:37):
you are in your kitchen or livingroom. So if you really want to
go somewhere different Canada, then you'regonna have to change and learn who you
are to start to begin with.And I certainly have a long way to
go still, but I know I'vemade a lot of progress. M It's
interesting. Our life is experience.What I'm hearing you say through that little
(22:02):
bit that you shared, and Ilove what you said about how can you
reinvent yourself if you don't even knowwho you are? That's such a powerful
perspective. But it's like our mindsetshift, our ability to lift our eyes
and see who we are, whatwe want in the world where we're headed,
(22:26):
and have the courage to move towardthat. You know. Easy,
Yeah, and it's not going tobe easy between the naysayers. I have
a I always like to say dreamedoubt. Do we all have this dream?
Whatever your dream is. You havea dream, You're like, oh,
I can do this, I'm gonnado this. I love this,
(22:47):
and then immediately comes in doubt.I can't do that. I can't buy
a thirty six foot RV and driveto Alaska. And then at some point,
hopefully you get to the do Yes, I am, I'm gonna do
it. I'm just gonna keep going. But there's a lot that has to
have before that. There's a lotof steps, and you're gonna fall and
skin your knee and think I shouldn'tdo this. You're gonna hit on McDonald's
(23:07):
in a building, You're gonna wreckan RV. But maybe then you do
get to it after you dealt withI just wrecked the RV. This is
gonna cost twelve thousand, which itdid, and but yet you know what
here it is a few years laterrecovered learned from that. I know not
to swing tight around a McDonald's parkinglot and apart McDonald's park lot, so
(23:30):
whatever that means to your listeners,you know, not toe swing wide around
this one, the next one,next, the next building, next time.
I guess what I'm trying to say. Yeah, it's a great analogy,
though, maybe we just need toswing a little wider, because it's
that tightness, that fear, thatuh not knowing our brain wants to keep
(23:52):
us safe. So we actually havean internal uh, we have an internal
security system that's trying to keep ussafe. Which is half the battle,
too, right, isn't your ownthought life, your own belief system,
part of the struggle that you hadto work through? Gina one hundred percent.
The day I signed the papers forthis big RV on like a Thursday,
(24:17):
and I was to pick it upthe next Thursday. I that Thursday
night, I was so scared andso nervous and so afraid that I literally
walked up and down my living room, just pacing up and down, up
and down, up and down becauseI could not sit. I was so
I mean, I was like shaking. I was like and it was my
body trying to tell me, no, this is crazy, don't do this,
(24:38):
don't do this. I'd already beentraveling in RVs. I'd already you
know, like I said, wreckthem and done all kinds of things that
Okay, I'm just gonna be fine. I've been lost everything, so that
my body was telling me so stronglynot to do this, but I knew.
I didn't call anyone else and didn'tI didn't say, Hey, am
(24:59):
I big a mistake? Hey,look what I did. Think what I
did? Look what I did.I didn't do that because if I had
a through have as we've talked already, looking through their eyes, they would
have been like, yeah, you'recrazy, and my brain would have self
protected and my body would have protectedme, like, you know, if
I call this off, I don'thave to deal with this, you know,
if I don't sign the papers,I don't have to deal with this.
And I didn't want to do that. I did not I did not
(25:22):
want that to happen. So thatgoes back to the point I made earlier
about quit talking to everybody about whatyou should do. You know what you
should do, and I knew thiswas right for me. I was just
going into that self protection mode thatyou had Ben shipped. Mm hmm,
Well, fear is an indicator.What is the fear there for and what
is it telling you? Yes,my fear just using keep using this as
(25:45):
example. My fear was leaving myhouse. I'd already sold it. My
fear was all my stuff. Myfear was driving off of the wild Blue
under That sounds great on paper,but literally, when you're sitting in the
driver's say, it's like, nowwhat literally you take a ride or left
on you're on the highway? Whichexit are you going north or south?
(26:06):
I mean, so it sounds goodin the movies, but when it actually
comes down to it, that's awhole another set of fear right there.
So let's talk about your your bucketlist. I know you're on bucket list
number three, but so how didthe bucket list come into your reinvention and
your new adventure. Okay, weall have that bucket list, all right,
and you know you've had it.I want to see the Grand Canyon.
(26:27):
I want to travel to Paris.I you know, want to be
a size too. All right,Paris and Grand Canyon I've done. We're
still on size too. That's nothappening. And I've given that bucket list
up. But I have done thebuy bucket list, my first one,
and it was the usual. I'mgoing to Grand Canyon. I want to
see Yellowstone. I want to hike. I want to do an amazing hike.
(26:51):
I want to ride a bike tenmiles. You know, I had
all this and live in this RBlife. I knocked that first bucket list
off in a year, and Iwas like, wow, I've had this
bucket list twenty years and I knockedit out in a year. So I
started on a little bit, alittle bit harder, a little bit stronger
of bucket list things like I wantedto hike the Wave. The wave is
in Utah. It's a lottery system. Two hundred thousand times a year someone
(27:18):
tries it. Doesn't mean it's tenthousand people, but two hundred thousand entries
are made for this lottery system.And I want it. I got it.
Actually that's not true. Our friendgot it that travels with me,
and he invited five others of usto go with him. So I didn't
win the lottery, but I meanI actually won the lottery. But so
I started doing stuff like that onmy bucket list. Alaska was on my
(27:41):
bucket list. I did that.And it's funny earlier you mentioned when I
first got my very first RV.I opened the map and I was like,
well, where is the wild blueunder And I literally put my finger.
I shut my eyes like this andput my finger down and it landed
on Maine. And so my veryfirst trip was to bar Harbor, Maine
(28:03):
from South Florida because I've ever beento bar Harbor, Maine, and I
heard it's like fancy and nice,and it was. So I went to
bar Harbor, Maine. I youknow, I've taken a trip up to
the New England States and it isjust lovely up there. It's very lovely.
And the weather I don't even wantto tell y'all that are baking today.
I think it's sixty seven today,lovely and has been. It's very
(28:26):
nice. I turned the air conditioneron two days and I've been here since
early June. Okay, so truestory. We are recording this five months
before it airs, because you're atraveler and we wanted to get you when
you had good WiFi. So forthose of you listening to the actual podcasts,
(28:48):
this is August first, or noJuly thirty first, August first,
July thirty first, July thirty first. So I'm in southern California with humidity
and midnight es a high, andshe's in Maine in sixty seven degrees.
So that's why she's bringing it upbecause it's Joe I, and yes,
I like to brag about it.People like it or they don't like it
(29:11):
when they hear the weather that I'min. So as soon as it starts
getting warm here or getting cold here, I'm going to head south. I
chase the nice weather. That's lovely. What have you learned about yourself,
Janelle through this journey? Well,I have learned patience, and that's on
(29:32):
my checklist as well. Do youhave patience? I have zero patience.
To be on time is to belate. If you get to a meeting
with me five minutes already, I'mlike, where have you been? Where
have you been? And to beon time? Oh my god, I've
just blow my mind for just tobe on time. So I'm very impatient.
And this has taught me patience.It has taught me to be adaptable.
(29:56):
I'm a very black and white personand no more. It has taught
me to be adaptable because just becausethe GPS, when you're driving an RV
and the GPS says you'll be intwo hours, you add an hour for
an RV because you can't go asfast as everyone else. You try to
get gas at the first gas stationand it's too little, so you go
to the second gas station. It'stoo little, you go to the third
(30:18):
gas station. So you must beadaptable. It has taught me to be
adaptable. It has taught me patientsbecause nothing happens fast and RV nothing at
all. It's like having a toddler. Nothing happens fast. It's the same
same thing. And the patience wasa big deal for me because I was
(30:38):
terrible with patients. So I'd saymy adaptable flexibility. Uh, you know,
I want to go to a certainspot. I want to go to
a campground and Yellowstone and they're fullfor six months, so do I just
you know, don't go to Yeollstone. No, I find somewhere else to
go, I become flexible problem solver. I've always been a good problem solver,
(31:00):
but this just it keeps me sharpas I get older, It keeps
me sharp with that being a problemsolver, because problems come up, they
and they tend to come up justlike that. Just right now, you
have a blowout of an RV.So you have a blow on an RV.
Number one, you're blocking traffic,you can't move, A regular tow
truck can't come get you. Soyou've got to be flexible and ready to
(31:25):
make big decisions on the fly thatsometimes you know or safety is involved.
So I think to think it's mademe a better person really too in this
lifestyle. Have you met anybody elsealong your journey that made a similar decision
to you? Because at some pointyou decided to buy an RV club,
(31:45):
So let's talk about that's next stepin your reinvention. Yes. So when
I decided in nineteen twenty nineteen,I'm going to go full time, bought
the RV, bought it in fullworth in Lily, Texas, and took
a left and started heading west.I had seen an RV club online that
(32:07):
was for solo RV years. Youknow, don't have a mate traveling with
them for whatever reason. So Ithought, well, I don't know where
else to go, literally, soI thought I'd go join them. They
were in southern California, and Iwalked up and they were having like a
little meeting, a little gathering,and there was about thirty of them sitting
there. And that day I realizedtwo things. Number One, I had
(32:30):
found my tribe. I found mypeople. Number Two, I'm not crazy
for doing this. They had thiswhole subculture of we think you're crazy for
staying in a house and not gettingout and seeing the country. How can
you look at the same four wallsand the same driveway, in the same
backyard your whole life? So thatday was monumental, and I couldnot under
(32:51):
understate that it was monumental for mein this life. I'd found my people.
Did you find other women like yourselfthat had done the whole quote normal
life and then just decided to buyan RV? Is that something you've come
across with other people almost exclusively?Yes, the club is let's start big
(33:14):
picture. RV News Industry is anonline magazine about RV stuff. They did
a big study in twenty twenty onpeople who identify as full time RVs,
or about a million of them thatare like me that travel full time.
Not people sitting in a campground thatlived there all year. This is people
like me that travel all time.And in this twenty twenty study they did,
they found out that forty six percentof our veers are eighteen to thirty
(33:39):
five years old. I was shockedat that, and fifty four percent or
over fifty five, and that ofthose two together, fifty nine percent or
females. So it's a more femaledominated subculture than men. And you would
(34:00):
think it'd be men, but it'smostly female. And the club I own
is about like that. We havea head not fifty nine, but a
hair more fifty three percent more femalesthan males. And these women, for
the most part, we have somemilitary people, certainly some military women retired
(34:21):
military, but for the most part, yes, they were in the traditional
lifestyle and realized they just didn't wantthat. They didn't want that anymore.
They weren't going to grow old likethat anymore. What have you learned from
these people? Now? One,I learned how to have a comfortable life
in my RV. I mean Ilearned what the heck I'm doing here.
(34:43):
I learned how to conserve water.You know, you don't just in an
RV you have a tank of water. Okay, unless you're hooked up to
a campground. But you have atank of water and it's not unending like
it is at a house. Ilearned that. I learned how to drive
the RV, learn how to backit up. I can parallel park this
thirty six foot RV. I justI learned to thrive in this RV instead
(35:08):
of get by so that okay,yeah, it's great seeing the King Grand
Canyon every day, but at night, you still got to come home to
your house. And this is myhouse. It's a tiny house, but
if this is my house, theyhave taught me to thrive, to enjoy
this some little tips and tricks andwhatever I need to make this more of
(35:29):
a home and not just this RVthat I have that I'm traveling around them.
Were there any like words of wisdomthey gave you about life? What
kind of conversations around that have youbenefited benefited from with this group of people,
I gravitate towards women that are aboutten years older than me. I
(35:51):
think it's the mom complex thing.I don't know, and I have a
couple of them that I just lovethat are in this group. And the
first one that I ever really gotclose to in this group, she was
about eighty, She was a lotover me, but she said, to
embrace this lifestyle. She goes,don't just be in it, you must
embrace it because it's hard. It'ssome days or famous, and some days
(36:13):
it is horrible and you're gonna quit, You're gonna give somebody the keys,
and I want to walk off,and the anxiety and the dread and the
scared. But she's like, ifyou embrace it, like if you're at
your house, like right now,do you and I see your lovely house
behind you, you're at your backdrop. You don't just get to give the
keys to somebody and leave because you'veembraced it. You have a mortgage.
You have to stay there. Andthat was so strong, and I didn't
(36:37):
realize what she meant until later onwhen it got kind of hard or you
know, like I had the blowoutor wrecked or something, and then I
realized, I know what she's talkingabout. Embrace this and let it,
let it become who you are,not just something you're doing. This is
who I am now. I work, I travel full time in an argument
(37:00):
and live it. I feel likethat's such a good piece of advice as
we transition in the seasons of ourlife, because in midlife, so many
people are feeling that pull, right, there's a pull on them. Yes,
don't know what it is, right, they don't know what it is.
And I heard this the other dayand I wish it was my writing,
(37:21):
but it's not. And it wasif you ever had a gut feeling
you weren't meant that, you weremeant for something more, but you weren't
really sure what the next best stepsare to achieve it, to identify what
is your more? And that's whyI kind of allude to it to front,
what is your more? Is it? Stuff? Is it closed?
That was mine for a long time. Then it became houses, and then
(37:42):
I went through a man phase whereI was like, well, maybe it's
the man. Maybe you know whatthe problem here is is he's not a
good man. That's what's wrong withme is he's not a good man.
So you know how that works out. But so it took me a long
time to discover what is my more? And it was not closed, and
it was not man or another house. It was not I have an interesting
(38:04):
little side story I want to sharewith you about my clothes for when I
went, we got to arguing,but I decided I was going to do
this full time. I sold myhouse just like that, no big deal,
no no, just nothing. Soldall my furniture. So the last
like two weeks, I got downto a mattress on the floor and a
launchair that my mom gave me.So that was basically it. And I
was doing paper dishes and eating outevery day, getting takeout and eating out
(38:28):
every day. All I had leftwere my clothes and shoes. Over the
years, I collected some beautiful clothesand evening wear and a couple of hats.
I had a fascinator I never wore, but for some reason I had
to have a fascinator. It waspink and beautiful. And I had these
beautiful high hill shoes and some ofthem I'd paid a few hundred dollars.
(38:50):
I had a four hundred dollars pairof Gucci shoes. I mean, I
really had some nice things my purses, you know. Over the years,
I'd made a little money and reallybought some things. I could not get
to those clothes. I could notdo it. I don't know what it
was. I sat on the floorand I like rifled through my glittery.
You know, some of the eveningclothes I had were glittery, and you
(39:12):
know, made me remember invitations anda party I went to. And I
looked at my red high heel shoesand the gold pair I had, and
a pair I bought in Las Vegasthat had feathers on them. It just
you know, and I was like, what is this? And I had
my mom come over to help me. You know, my mom had seven
kids, and you know, whenyou have seven kids and no money,
(39:32):
you live very tiny and efficiently.And she was like kind of shocked at
all of the clothes. She's like, why do you need all this?
What are you going to do withevening wear? Because by then I'm like,
all right, I'll just take everythingwith me and see what I need.
Okay. So once my mom andI talked, and it kind of
helped me realize I was holding ontothese clothes because they reminded me of my
(39:53):
working life. They reminded me whenyou wear four inch high heels, you're
able to look somebody in the eyeinstead of looking up at them. And
I was in a male dominated fieldand I didn't want to be always looking
up at them. So four inchyels helps you look someone in the eye.
A red power suit gives you thatyou know, I'm in the room
(40:14):
and I'm powerful, and here wego. And I also, I think
was running or disguising, if youwill, the fact that I was this
poor kid raised in a cult,lived in a trailer with six other kids
half the time, you know,a trailer, and wearing those clothes.
I didn't have to be that kidanymore. And it got me to a
(40:36):
point of, well, you knowwhat. After talking to my mom that
day and really being steel, beingquiet, I realized, I don't I
don't need all this anymore. I'mokay. I am that poor kid from
a trailer and a cult. Thatis who I am, and I'm okay,
and I'm enough in T shirts,shorts and flip flops and funny enough.
Four years later, I have notneeded a power suit a red high
(41:00):
once, although a sparkly dress wouldbe fun to wear driving around in an
RV. Okay, why not,right, I do have a disco ball.
That's the closest I got, butit was just that close. Thing
was a real revelation for me,and that's when I finally embraced it,
finally went all in, I'm doingthis best, the lash little shred of
(41:21):
me. That's it. I probablyhave five pair of shorts now, maybe
six or seven dresses. Hmm.I think what I hear from what you're
sharing is, you know, wehave definitions of ourselves, and we have
profound memories and we attach them tothings, but those things are not the
(41:42):
memories, right, I mean,they can spark the memory, but we
carry in ourselves the things that we'veexperienced, both good and bad. You
know, we have those things withinus. And there's freedom that I hear
in your story and being able torelease this stuff actual stuff. That's a
(42:05):
good way to put it. Yeah, there was a release that I hadn't
thought of it that way before,but yeah, there definitely was a freedom.
It's wonderful to have, you know, thirty suits on a hundred pair
of shoes. But remember I movedevery year the last eleven years of my
retirement. Yeah, how hard itis to move a hundred pair of shoes
every single time? And all thoseclothes and they're wrinkled, and wrap those
(42:30):
glittery sparkly dresses and tissue paper andmove. So it was such a burden.
And you don't where heels twelve hoursa day, four inch heels that
hurts, That hurts your feet.It was very much of a release to
get rid of all that stuff.And when I honestly tell you, outside
of those red high heels and thatfascinator, I don't remember any of those
clothes anymore. I don't remember theones that I had loved so much and
(42:52):
couldn't bart with, I don't evenremember them. I wouldn't know them if
you laid them in front of me. It's like a permission you had to
give yourself. It's what it soundslike. That's right, That's exactly what
it is. I had to Thatwas the last little permission to give myself
to go into this new life,to turn literally turn that page. And
(43:15):
you can't take much with you onthis next journey, on this next page.
And isn't that true in life?Though, anytime you're gonna make a
big shift, you can't take alot of stuff with you. In my
case, it was actual material stuff, but to change your mindset you can't
take a lot of stuff with youmentally. It may not be junking and
closing your next step mm hmm,because what works in one season of our
(43:43):
life does not always serve the nextseason of our lives. Yes, yes,
but man, did you go?Do you go struggling and dragging?
Sometime I told someone else I hadone high heeled foot in my old life
and one sample foot in my newlife, and one was going to have
to jump on the other side.And I'm so glad it was. I
(44:07):
took that high heel off metaphorically,and what with the sandals, I'm so
glad. So if you had togive three kind of key either mindset tips,
takeaways, learning points, what wouldthose three things be? As far
as going to the next big stagein your life? I would say quit
(44:28):
talking everybody. I would say,be steel, whether that's you understand that
Bible verse or not. Be steeland think hard about what is it that
you want, not what's expected,not not what you should not I'm way
too old to buy RV and driveacross the country. I'm fifty five years
(44:49):
old. So get out of whatis expected, what you think is expected
of you? What's that all sayingif you knew how much really people,
how much people really think about you, you'd be surprised because they really don't
think about you, you know.So if you will let go of that
one thing to start with that,let go of what you're supposed to do,
it will free your mind up.Well, I have a mortgage.
(45:12):
You know, I've only got fouryears left on this mortgage. You know
I can't leave this. Well,again, you're doing what is expected of
you. Is that what you wantto do? Do you want to do
that? So that would be mythree takeaways. Be still, quit talking
to people, and let go ofwhat's supposed to be happening to you.
And I think that you will findit's open and you're not going to do
(45:35):
this in one day. This maytake you a year, It may take
you one day. But if youwill be open and let it all come
into you, let it start receivingthe craziness or the crazy ideas. You're
going to go live in Paris fora year, why not? Why not
go live in Paris for a year. I considered that before the RV.
Why not go do that? There'snothing stopping you, nothing stopping you.
(45:55):
Well, I don't have any money. They have jobs in Paris, just
like they have jobs here. Mmhmm. You know. So let go
of what is supposed to be happeningin your life and you will be open.
Something will come to you. Ipromise you. Who knows, I
may see you on the road ina thirty six foot RV. That's such
a good point, Janelle, thatin order for the new to come,
(46:17):
there's a releasing that needs to happen, and even an openness too, Like
we're not going to see a solutionif we're closed to the opportunities and the
and the things that come our way. Right, you can't see it.
No, you're in. You're full. You're full up to here. You're
full, and so there's no placefor a new something to come in.
(46:39):
If you're a mind automatically goes no, you can't go live in Paris.
You can't have an RV. There'sno room for that. You have to
open some and get rid of someof the other junk for the new to
come in. It sounds easy,doesn't it. It's very profound though,
because it it's like it's a bitof a hoarder mentality, right, there's
(47:00):
you can have it all, meaningyou can have this experience, you can
do that thing, or that youcan have it all. I won't have
to let anything go to add toIt's like we're almost forwarding these emotional experiences
or we're affording the things that wethink are going to make us feel happy,
content fulfilled, and they may haveright at some point, that may
(47:21):
have been the fulfillment. It doesn'tmake it wrong. It makes it seasonal.
And I think that's an important thingfor us to remember that life is
in seasons and it's okay to turnthe page to your point and that's yeah,
that's it correct. Aren't we allhoarders in our own mind? Oh
yeah? Really of our junk,our past and that time my husband said
(47:44):
this to me in nineteen ninety two, and I'll never forget that. I
mean, that's hoarding. That isa hoarding, an ugly thing in your
mind, just to hold on toit for what. So if you hold
on to that thing your husband andyour mom said to you from when you
were seven, that there's no roomif that's there right here, if that
if a fist is if a fistOkay, I'm getting lost here, cut
(48:06):
this out, all right. It'slike that idea with the cookie jar.
Right when they when someone reaches inand grabs the cookies, they can't get
their fist out. They have tolet go of the cookies to release.
There you go, ye know,yeah, there you go. So Janelle,
how can people find you? What'syour website for your RV club?
(48:29):
Oh it is WINS RV club dotcom. Wins is w I n S
r V club dot com. Iwant to I have that checklist if they'd
like to see it of my tenquestions that helped me, may help them
or not. And you know whatI'd like to do to Gina, if
your listeners, ifandam do have anr V out there, I want to
(48:50):
offer them a free stop on me. We have nine trips that are going
on right now or coming up,and once they go on that website they
can look at see it those tripsand if they'd like to stop in for
a week breed on me. I'dlike to talk to them about that.
And would they just contact you atthe website huh yes, that my emails
all over the place on the websiteand just let me know and I'll give
(49:14):
them a chance to come and seeour club and meet some of our members
and just have like a little youknow, I don't think I have an
RV, but I can tell themall the particulars of the details. But
thank you little week on me.I love that. That's fantastic. Well,
Janelle, I want to thank youso much for reaching out to me,
finding me, listening, and sharingyour story with me. It's been
(49:35):
such an enriching experience. I've reallyenjoyed our times together before today, and
I'm really inspired. I'm really inspiredby the life that you live and the
courage that you have. And Iknow it probably doesn't feel like that to
you, but I know that someonelistening is going to hear this and it's
going to stir something in them.And I'm thankful to have you come and
(49:55):
be the spoon in someone's cup oftea, right it around and getting them
to think differently. And that's sofantastic. So thank you so much.
Yes, thank you, Gina.I listened to your podcast, like I
said, and after I'd listened threeor four times, I was like,
I wish I could be on thisbecause I want to tell women about what
I've done too. So I appreciateyou, Gina, and I appreciate your
(50:16):
podcast and what you're doing for allof us out there, especially women.
Yes, thank you so much.So today, friends, I've been talking
with Janelle Jones, and if youare interested in learning more about her,
that question sheet finding out about thatgift she wants to give you. If
you have an RV, go ahead. And if you're on YouTube, just
(50:37):
look down below and everything will bethere for you. If you're on a
podcast platform, just head on overto www. Dot Feminine roadmap dot com
Forward Slash episode three four eight andthe links will be there. Friends,
This is a great experience for allof us to consider. Right we're considering
(50:59):
the experience of what if. Whatif I did the thing that's in my
heart to do? What if Idid that thing I've always thought about.
What if I even just did ita little bit? What if I didn't
go all in? What if Iyou know, all of these positive what
ifs, experiencing a little bit ofcuriosity. Our lives are so big and
(51:21):
there's so many things we can do. We tell ourselves we can't, but
is that true? That is thequestion I want to pose for you today.
If you think I want to dothis, and the first thing you
tell yourself is no, what isit true? Is it one hundred percent
to Is it so true that itcould never happen? Open up the possibilities
(51:42):
in your mind to the things youwant to experience, my friends, because
what if? What if it couldhappen? Maybe to Janelle's point, you
do the part time thing for awhile and you get a feel for it,
whatever it is. Add a pieceof this dream into your life and
allow it to take some route andsee where it takes you. You just
never know. This season of lifein midlife has so many things happening,
(52:05):
so many decisions. We're such diversepeople at this point in our lives.
Why not open up your mind alittle bit. Let Janelle's teaspoons stir your
tea enough to open up your worldto some things that you've been dreaming of
but been afraid to turn and face. And then let us know what are
you finding that you really want todo and what are your experiences? We'd
(52:25):
love to hear it. So thankyou so much, friends for allowing us
to spend some time together today andto talk about potential midlife reinventions, what
it could look like, what itcould be. Thank you Janelle for sharing
that with us, and I hopefriends, that this has inspired you to
consider your own reinvention. Thank youfor listening with us today. I look
(52:45):
forward to sharing more inspirational people,strategies, and information with you in the
weeks to come. Take care ofmy friends. Bye bye,
Hi, H'm gina for are Welcometo the Feminine Roadmap Podcast, a global
community of women in midlife. Wegather here weekly over a cup of something
wonderful for real talk, life changingstrategies and a big dose of sisterhood.
Now please sit back and enjoy.Hello, Feminine road Mempers, Welcome back
(00:28):
to Feminine Roadmap Podcast, the podcastthat helps you navigate the challenges and the
changes of midlife and empowers you tolive a more vibrant second half. If
you find us on YouTube today,please don't forget to ring that bells.
You don't miss any more of theseconversations. And if you're driving and listening
to the podcast platform, please takethe time to subscribe, rate, and
(00:50):
share this conversation so that we canmake sure to build our community stronger.
And I thank you so much forlistening. If you head on over to
Instagram, you can follow me thereas well. Today, friends, we're
going to be talking about a womanwhose life has been dramatically changed in midlife
and reinvention. It's an exciting story. She retired, bought an RV and
(01:12):
drove off into the wild blue yonder. My guest today is Janelle Jones,
she's the owner of the Wandering IndividualsNetwork RV Club. Janelle, thank you
so much for joining me today.Hi Gina, thank you for having me.
I'm excited to be on this podcast. I've listened to you and it's
such a thrill and honor to benow talking to you personally. That is
(01:34):
such a cool full circle thing,isn't it. Yes, it's very nice.
Yeah, I'm excited. Well,what people don't realize is that you're
living in your RV and you havethe ability to run from the heat.
So right now, I believe youare in Maine, which I would love
to be up there. What eightmiles you said from Vermont, but i'd
love Dadian border of the Canadian border, Yes, there it is. Yeah.
(01:57):
So I would like you to givea little bit of a snapshot of
how it is you came to thislife. What led you to this reinvention
from working, you know, yourtypical corporate job to living in an RV
and buying an RV club. Well, all right, so we'll start from
we'll do the quick version. Iwas raised in a cult, and in
(02:22):
a cult you tend to move arounda lot. I went to twelve schools
and twelve years. Fast forward,I got a good job in government,
stayed there twenty six years, butI had such a strong wonderlust in me
I still found it difficult to buyone house and stay in it. In
the last eleven years of my career, I was there twenty six years.
In the last eleven years I bought, renovated, and sold thirteen houses.
(02:46):
So as soon as I retired intwenty fifteen, I bought an RV.
Hit the road. Three years later, I sold everything I owned, bought
a big RV, and I havebeen living in it all my four years
now, and it has fulfilled melike nothing else ever has in my life.
(03:07):
Now, let's talk about we talkedabout ahead of time, this bucket
list thing that you had. Let'stalk a little bit about how you went
about living in an RV and howdid you just put your finger on the
map and move or did you havesome kind of intention about what you wanted
to experience when you started. WhenI first retired, I knew I did
(03:30):
not want to sit around in myhouse. I knew that I didn't like
doing it when I didn't, SoI knew that and I bought it what
I call my starter RV, andI called it starter because I erected it,
ran into a building, jack knifedid, had a blowout. I
mean, you name it. Idid it to that RV. But I
loved the life. I didn't haveno idea what I was doing, but
(03:51):
I loved the life. And Idid that for two or three years,
and I realized I had only beenat my house four months out of two
years, and so that's what Imade the decision to sell everything and just
go all in. I'm the typeof person I'm either in or out,
and so if I'm going to dothis RV, I'm going all in.
And that's basically what led me toit, and that wonderlust spirit that I
(04:15):
have those two things all in,all out on the wonderlust is really what
has made this work for me.Mm hm. So your reinvention sounds like
it had a lot to do withstraddling this line of a traditional life,
you know, the career of thehouse, whatever you were trying to find
(04:38):
that fulfillment to your wanderlust all ofthat time, is what it sounds like.
It's a good way to put it, Gina. I. You know
you're supposed to get a good job, that save some money nine to five
Monay through Friday, grocery shop Saturday, molon Sunday. You're supposed to do
that. But I was one ofthose people that always had that feeling of
(05:00):
more, there's more, there shouldbe more. What am I looking for?
What is it that I really wantmore of? Well? I tried
shopping, I tried buying houses,I tried going and traveling. I tried
men if, I tried all kindsof things, and they're just it just
I was always missing something. Therewas all I was always seeking what is
the more? And I can honestlytell you now, since this this shift
(05:21):
in my life, my thinking,this literal shift in my living arrangements,
I don't have that wonder, thatmore feeling anymore. I don't have that
Hmmm, that's some powerful that's apowerful experience I'm sure to settle in now.
I do wonder, though, isthere something to this season of your
(05:41):
life, being the age you are, having the life experience you have that
has helped you feel more confident ormore courageous in this decision? Yeah,
that's good. Do you know that'sa good That's a good question. Of
course, you know I'm older now, I'm smarter, allegedly, I don't
do stupid things that I did whenwhen I was younger anymore. You know,
some people would say selling everything youown, I don't even have storage.
(06:05):
I don't have a storage in it. Some people would say that I've
made another rash decision, ridiculous recisionmy family. You should have been on
the talks with my family. Butmaybe it is this season. But I
think it's a combination of my ageof the season and the fact that this
fits me so well. I justhave have been able to wiggle down and
(06:29):
through trial and error find what fitsme exactly. May not agree with it,
you may not understand it, butfor me, it is an incredible
lifestyle that I'm very comfortable in.Mm hmm. If somebody else was feeling
that kind of just it's not anuneasiness. It's more of like I just
(06:50):
can't feel settled. I don't feelsomething's lacking right. That's kind of what
I hear. That is so itg you know, matter of fact I
put together. You know, I'ma pros and con So I make lists.
Sometimes I follow the list, sometimesI don't. But I made this
like checklist, and I just seeAre you ready? Are you ready to
(07:13):
RV? Are you ready for thisbig change in life? And I realized
it wasn't just for rving, it'sit's was a checklist for are you ready
for the next big thing? Whicheverthat means to you, downsizing, buying
a bigger house, it's tiny,hat, whatever it means. As a
matter of fact, I have thatchecklist I can share with you and your
followers if you'd like it. Andit's just merely some thought provoking Like one
(07:36):
of them is, can you eatat a table by yourself in a restaurant?
You're like, well, yeah,or no, but that's a lot
deeper. Can you go into arestaurant by yourself, sit down in order
and have some wine or not orwhatever, and have some dinner and dessert
and enjoy Number one? Or youcan you enjoy your own company? Number
two? Are you confident enough togo in there and sit down without everyone's
(08:00):
looking at me? No, they'renot. But that takes a lot.
Just that right there, And there'sabout ten questions that are all like that
and will kind of help help youthink. Aren't you ready to go to
the next step to fulfill that itchor that that uneasy feeling that you described,
and I know the checklist helped me, so, like I said,
if you would like to offer itto your listeners, I'm glad to let
(08:22):
you have it for them. Absolutely, that would be fantastic. What are
some mindset shifts or ideas that youcould share with someone who is in that
place of dissatisfaction and knowing that there'ssomething else or something more, or they're
just feeling that pull to reinventing theirlife in some way. What input would
(08:45):
you share with them to help themmake that transition. I would tell them
to quit talking to everybody about it, because what she and she and him
and her, and your brother andyour uncle and your best friend, that's
through their eyes. Not that's wrong, but that's through their eyes. We're
talking about you and perhaps the lastthird or the second half, you know,
(09:07):
who knows how many years we havemaybe your last year, who knows
how many years we have left.I know I was living on the beach
at the time that I wanted todo this. I was running a condo
and I would get up every morningand I would walk on the beach like
everybody does, and I would think, what, what do you want to
do. This is you? Youknow, I was about to retire.
I'm like, what is it youreally want to do? And walking on
(09:30):
the beach with no radio, noone walking with me, I was able
to really dial down what is ityou've always wanted to do? What is
this uneasy feeling? You've had agreat career, You're okay, you're healthy,
you've got a nice boyfriend, yourkid's good. What is wrong?
You have everything? Can you seethe quotes? I have everything? What
is wrong? So my advice wouldbe number one, quit talking everybody.
(09:52):
Number two, if you're a listperson, make a list. What is
that you've always wanted to do?I've always wanted to be free? All
right? What does free mean toyou? Because free means swimming in Tahiti?
Or does it mean just free inyour house to walk around and not
have somebody that you have to makedinner for, you know, or the
kids have to be driven to school? And sometimes when we're thinking what is
(10:13):
it I want, we think sosmall. I want to not drive kids
to school every day. I wanta man who's not yelling at me.
Okay, that's great, Okay,you got that. Now, what you're
still going to have that pooling,that uneasy feeling. If you have it,
you're still that's not going to doit. It's you have to figure
out for you what is it foryou? And I swear it's the walking,
(10:35):
the being quiet. I notice behindyour head you have a saying that
says, be still and know thatI'm God. And so if they're not
believers, that's fine, I wouldstill tell them be still, be still,
and be quiet, and it willcome to you. You may not
like what it says. You maybe like, I'm not buying an RV
and driving off. I don't evenknow how to drive an RV. I'm
(10:56):
not that's not for me. Butif you be still and you listen to
what you want, it will cometo you. It will come to you.
Sometimes I feel like we know deepdown anyway. Would you agree with
that? Yep? Yep. WhenI was traveling in that first RV that
(11:18):
I bought, that I wrecked.I hit a building, I had hit
a low branch and it took everythingoff the top of the RV. I
mean I had holes this big,you know, thirteen by thirteen I had
two holes in the RV. Iat that point you would think, oh,
okay, this is not for you, girl, Get out. You
cannot drive this. And I've nevereven driven RV, so it's right.
(11:39):
But I knew deep down this isright. This is right for me.
I did know. Now did everyoneor else else around me think this is
right? No, especially when Icame back with a you know, wrecked
RV duct taped together in the pouringdown rain, you know, half on
the curve parked and half off.It was a hot mess, let me
tell you. And people are like, now, stop already, you're gonna
(12:03):
kill yourself. Stop. And Istill knew. So even though it didn't
look like the right choice. Wow, here I am, what four or
five six years later, and it'stotally the right choice. Then I settled
in in That's why I said,well, ago, don't listen to what
other people are telling you, becauseyou'll be like, you know, that's
right. Maybe I shouldn't buy athirty six foot RV and drive to Alaska
(12:26):
by myself. That's probably not youknow, I mean, all reason tells
you not to do that. Asa woman, drive an RV you don't
know how to drive, never drivenstarting in South Florida, going all the
way to Alaska, that is crazyon its surface. But I tell you
now, number one, it wasunbelievable. Nothing happened, I mean,
(12:48):
nothing bad happened. Nothing, Ididn't get hurt, no one else got
hurt. All kind of stuff happened. But did I do it? Did?
I have a wonderful experience. Andnow everybody's going, wow, Now,
man, I wish I could RV. Oh, wish I could do
that. Funny, You weren't thesame people. Weren't you the same people
that said I was crazy? Yes? Yes, I can't tell you how
(13:09):
many people. Well, my sister, for one, talk to me about
serial killers. I did not knowserial killers and RV's went together. But
she was just so afraid I wouldbe off somewhere and there'd be some serial
killer that would find me and seeme. I'm like, but sister,
that could happen anywhere. But shejust got keyed on that. And for
(13:31):
her, she does not understand thislifestyle. She does not get it.
She supports me and loves me.And now a few years later, people
see, Okay, it's working andthey're better, but I still get them.
I mean, gosh, I'll pullinto a gas station and people the
man will say, my god,they'll see you around the corner. They'd
be like, do you drive thatthing yourself? I'm like, I do,
(13:54):
Do you drive your truck yourself?Honey? What I can do as
a woman, Yeah, yeah,exactly. If the if the person seems
to be friendly and it's you know, we've got a good little conversation going,
I will tell them yes. WhenI when I ordered the r V,
I told them I wanted the nonpenis model that that would help me
(14:16):
drive it better. Sometimes they getin sometimes they're like, okay, well
you have a good day then.You know. I feel like when we
make these kinds of decisions, whenwe take a quote risk right, in
other words, it appears risky tosomeone, it does trigger them. It
(14:37):
does put them in an uncomfortable place. I think for several reasons. I
think people get uncomfortable because one,maybe they are genuinely afraid for you.
But wouldn't you agree that when wereflect that on someone else, that's an
opportunity for us to ask, whydoes this make me so uncomfortable? Isn't
that a good point? Gina?Well, I never thought of it that
(15:01):
way, but you know, kindof thinking back some of my older women
friends when I say older, Imean we were fifty five. Some of
them who are still sitting in theirhouse. The kids are gone, the
husband's gone, they're still sitting intheir house. And they are the first
one to be like, are youstill doing that or what? And I
(15:22):
know they love me and I lovethem, but I know that when I
talk about, yeah, I've beento spend two months in Canada, they're
like, oh, yeah, Iwent on a week's vacation to the Bahamas,
which is great, wonderful, butit does give some self reflection,
doesn't it. And you may notlike what you see in the mayor.
I get that. I think it'shave you ever heard the blue crab analogy
(15:45):
or the crab analogy you know where, yes, it crabbers people who catch
crab they put two crabs in abucket because as long as there's two crabs
in the bucket. For anybody whodoesn't know this, you can wikipedia this
crab theory. If there's two crabsin a bucket, if one tries to
escape the other one will pull themback down. Like they don't have to
(16:07):
cover their buckets because the crabs dothe job of keeping them in and not
criticizing our friends and family. Butas humans, we practice this crab theory
all the time because of comfort zone, because of fear, because of I
don't want to rock the boat.I don't want anybody to think I'm different.
(16:30):
I don't want you to be different, because when you're different than I
feel some sort of way. That'strue. And I'll be the first to
admit. I go in like mysister's house, it's so beautiful and big,
and I'm like, well, i'dlove that. I mean, I
still have that feeling too, andI'm I'm very happy for that. You
know, she has all that.I think to myself, I had that
(16:52):
too, and I don't. I'vehad that, and I don't want that
anymore. I don't ever want tobe that crab, the one trying to
get out or the one keeping theother one down. I don't want to
be that at all. But that'sa good analogy. I have heard that
before, and it's a good one. Well, you can see it in
subtle ways too, because people peopledon't always know their own hearts and their
(17:15):
own desires, and so I think, because what you've done is so dramatically
different of a reinvention story, Icould imagine all of the negative things you've
had to hear from the decision thatyou've made, and how happy you are
may also make it difficult for people. Have you come up against that.
(17:38):
I'm just in terms of I guesswhat I'm trying to do is bring to
the surface that when we deal withour own stuff, like you said,
pick it up, look at it, deal with it. You know,
we talked about this before we hitrecord. When we're working through stuff in
our lives and we're processing it,we're forgiving ourselves, we're forgiving others,
we're letting things go whatever it is, it creates a more expansive version of
(18:00):
ourselves. Usually it really does,Gina, it really does. Like you
said, you and I were sharingbefore we hit record, and I shared
with you that I did a yearof therapy, and then I did a
year of Bible based therapy, andmy I was a different person after those
two years. I was a completelydifferent I forgave I forgave my parents for
(18:22):
the cult upbringing. You know,they did what they knew, They did
the best they could type thing.So it was funny. I didn't think
I had changed, but I thought, but apparently I had because everyone around
me changed, But it wasn't itwas that I had changed. It was
a I was no longer what theywere used to, and not that it
caused feelings. But I don't havesome friends I used to have because after
(18:45):
those couple of years, that's actuallypart of the I guess results. We
could call them consequences. When wechange, we cause a ripple effect in
our relationships. So when we're reinventingours, there are people and I have
people in my life too, theyare totally content to your point two.
(19:06):
You know, I don't have grandchildren, so I don't have that decision to
make, like am I gonna stayhome and baby sit my grandchildren? Because
I don't have them, So mydecisions get to be different, right,
But I have friends that are justlike, they're good even if they don't
have grandchildren. They just they're thenormal rhythm of life that they've had.
(19:26):
They they're good writing that to theend of the line, which is totally
fine. But my personality doesn't worklike that. Like my daughter said yesterday,
all the things right, I'm alwayslooking for expansion and you know,
adventure and these types of things.And I think maybe as I'm trying to
(19:49):
land this plane as we understand ourselvesbetter. Like you said, you did
two years of therapy to deal withyour emotional garbage. That clarity that came
out of that and that understand ofwho you are and your relationship to other
people is a big piece of beingable to stand on your own two feet.
Wouldn't you agree? I would verymuch agree, Gina. And I
don't know if I would be ableto live this lifestyle in a peaceful,
(20:14):
comfortable, fabulous way if I hadn'thad that therapy, because I did have
a lot of garbage, if youwill, from being raised in a cult
and being mad that I was raisingin a cult and just just just mad
about it. I don't know anotherway to put it. And I hate
to admit that out loud, butI was just pissed because I was raised
like that and I didn't have anice, normal childhood that I see my
(20:36):
grandchildren having and you know, wonderfulexperiences with their dad instead of this weird
old cult leader thing going on.So I don't think I could have had
this life without going through all that, even the cult, even the cult,
I wouldn't be the same. Iwouldn't be who I am now without
that cult business in my life.Mmmm hmm. I think that's a good
(20:57):
point when we're reinventing ourselves. Ithink there is a it is a good
opportunity to self reflect the good andthe bad, because it's all brought us
to this point, has it?Not sure? How can you reinvent yourself
if you don't know who you are? If you deep down not the face
(21:17):
we have in public, but trulydeep down. That's way earlier when you
asked me, what advice would yougive to somebody who wants to who doesn't
know maybe what they're looking for,but they have that itch, that that
something more you have to know becauseif how are you going to change,
how are you going to make abig shift? You're just gonna shift the
same old person. And you knowyou're the same as the Bahamas, as
(21:37):
you are in your kitchen or livingroom. So if you really want to
go somewhere different Canada, then you'regonna have to change and learn who you
are to start to begin with.And I certainly have a long way to
go still, but I know I'vemade a lot of progress. M It's
interesting. Our life is experience.What I'm hearing you say through that little
(22:02):
bit that you shared, and Ilove what you said about how can you
reinvent yourself if you don't even knowwho you are? That's such a powerful
perspective. But it's like our mindsetshift, our ability to lift our eyes
and see who we are, whatwe want in the world where we're headed,
(22:26):
and have the courage to move towardthat. You know. Easy,
Yeah, and it's not going tobe easy between the naysayers. I have
a I always like to say dreamedoubt. Do we all have this dream?
Whatever your dream is. You havea dream, You're like, oh,
I can do this, I'm gonnado this. I love this,
(22:47):
and then immediately comes in doubt.I can't do that. I can't buy
a thirty six foot RV and driveto Alaska. And then at some point,
hopefully you get to the do Yes, I am, I'm gonna do
it. I'm just gonna keep going. But there's a lot that has to
have before that. There's a lotof steps, and you're gonna fall and
skin your knee and think I shouldn'tdo this. You're gonna hit on McDonald's
(23:07):
in a building, You're gonna wreckan RV. But maybe then you do
get to it after you dealt withI just wrecked the RV. This is
gonna cost twelve thousand, which itdid, and but yet you know what
here it is a few years laterrecovered learned from that. I know not
to swing tight around a McDonald's parkinglot and apart McDonald's park lot, so
(23:30):
whatever that means to your listeners,you know, not toe swing wide around
this one, the next one,next, the next building, next time.
I guess what I'm trying to say. Yeah, it's a great analogy,
though, maybe we just need toswing a little wider, because it's
that tightness, that fear, thatuh not knowing our brain wants to keep
(23:52):
us safe. So we actually havean internal uh, we have an internal
security system that's trying to keep ussafe. Which is half the battle,
too, right, isn't your ownthought life, your own belief system,
part of the struggle that you hadto work through? Gina one hundred percent.
The day I signed the papers forthis big RV on like a Thursday,
(24:17):
and I was to pick it upthe next Thursday. I that Thursday
night, I was so scared andso nervous and so afraid that I literally
walked up and down my living room, just pacing up and down, up
and down, up and down becauseI could not sit. I was so
I mean, I was like shaking. I was like and it was my
body trying to tell me, no, this is crazy, don't do this,
(24:38):
don't do this. I'd already beentraveling in RVs. I'd already you
know, like I said, wreckthem and done all kinds of things that
Okay, I'm just gonna be fine. I've been lost everything, so that
my body was telling me so stronglynot to do this, but I knew.
I didn't call anyone else and didn'tI didn't say, Hey, am
(24:59):
I big a mistake? Hey,look what I did. Think what I
did? Look what I did.I didn't do that because if I had
a through have as we've talked already, looking through their eyes, they would
have been like, yeah, you'recrazy, and my brain would have self
protected and my body would have protectedme, like, you know, if
I call this off, I don'thave to deal with this, you know,
if I don't sign the papers,I don't have to deal with this.
And I didn't want to do that. I did not I did not
(25:22):
want that to happen. So thatgoes back to the point I made earlier
about quit talking to everybody about whatyou should do. You know what you
should do, and I knew thiswas right for me. I was just
going into that self protection mode thatyou had Ben shipped. Mm hmm,
Well, fear is an indicator.What is the fear there for and what
is it telling you? Yes,my fear just using keep using this as
(25:45):
example. My fear was leaving myhouse. I'd already sold it. My
fear was all my stuff. Myfear was driving off of the wild Blue
under That sounds great on paper,but literally, when you're sitting in the
driver's say, it's like, nowwhat literally you take a ride or left
on you're on the highway? Whichexit are you going north or south?
(26:06):
I mean, so it sounds goodin the movies, but when it actually
comes down to it, that's awhole another set of fear right there.
So let's talk about your your bucketlist. I know you're on bucket list
number three, but so how didthe bucket list come into your reinvention and
your new adventure. Okay, weall have that bucket list, all right,
and you know you've had it.I want to see the Grand Canyon.
(26:27):
I want to travel to Paris.I you know, want to be
a size too. All right,Paris and Grand Canyon I've done. We're
still on size too. That's nothappening. And I've given that bucket list
up. But I have done thebuy bucket list, my first one,
and it was the usual. I'mgoing to Grand Canyon. I want to
see Yellowstone. I want to hike. I want to do an amazing hike.
(26:51):
I want to ride a bike tenmiles. You know, I had
all this and live in this RBlife. I knocked that first bucket list
off in a year, and Iwas like, wow, I've had this
bucket list twenty years and I knockedit out in a year. So I
started on a little bit, alittle bit harder, a little bit stronger
of bucket list things like I wantedto hike the Wave. The wave is
in Utah. It's a lottery system. Two hundred thousand times a year someone
(27:18):
tries it. Doesn't mean it's tenthousand people, but two hundred thousand entries
are made for this lottery system.And I want it. I got it.
Actually that's not true. Our friendgot it that travels with me,
and he invited five others of usto go with him. So I didn't
win the lottery, but I meanI actually won the lottery. But so
I started doing stuff like that onmy bucket list. Alaska was on my
(27:41):
bucket list. I did that.And it's funny earlier you mentioned when I
first got my very first RV.I opened the map and I was like,
well, where is the wild blueunder And I literally put my finger.
I shut my eyes like this andput my finger down and it landed
on Maine. And so my veryfirst trip was to bar Harbor, Maine
(28:03):
from South Florida because I've ever beento bar Harbor, Maine, and I
heard it's like fancy and nice,and it was. So I went to
bar Harbor, Maine. I youknow, I've taken a trip up to
the New England States and it isjust lovely up there. It's very lovely.
And the weather I don't even wantto tell y'all that are baking today.
I think it's sixty seven today,lovely and has been. It's very
(28:26):
nice. I turned the air conditioneron two days and I've been here since
early June. Okay, so truestory. We are recording this five months
before it airs, because you're atraveler and we wanted to get you when
you had good WiFi. So forthose of you listening to the actual podcasts,
(28:48):
this is August first, or noJuly thirty first, August first,
July thirty first, July thirty first. So I'm in southern California with humidity
and midnight es a high, andshe's in Maine in sixty seven degrees.
So that's why she's bringing it upbecause it's Joe I, and yes,
I like to brag about it.People like it or they don't like it
(29:11):
when they hear the weather that I'min. So as soon as it starts
getting warm here or getting cold here, I'm going to head south. I
chase the nice weather. That's lovely. What have you learned about yourself,
Janelle through this journey? Well,I have learned patience, and that's on
(29:32):
my checklist as well. Do youhave patience? I have zero patience.
To be on time is to belate. If you get to a meeting
with me five minutes already, I'mlike, where have you been? Where
have you been? And to beon time? Oh my god, I've
just blow my mind for just tobe on time. So I'm very impatient.
And this has taught me patience.It has taught me to be adaptable.
(29:56):
I'm a very black and white personand no more. It has taught
me to be adaptable because just becausethe GPS, when you're driving an RV
and the GPS says you'll be intwo hours, you add an hour for
an RV because you can't go asfast as everyone else. You try to
get gas at the first gas stationand it's too little, so you go
to the second gas station. It'stoo little, you go to the third
(30:18):
gas station. So you must beadaptable. It has taught me to be
adaptable. It has taught me patientsbecause nothing happens fast and RV nothing at
all. It's like having a toddler. Nothing happens fast. It's the same
same thing. And the patience wasa big deal for me because I was
(30:38):
terrible with patients. So I'd saymy adaptable flexibility. Uh, you know,
I want to go to a certainspot. I want to go to
a campground and Yellowstone and they're fullfor six months, so do I just
you know, don't go to Yeollstone. No, I find somewhere else to
go, I become flexible problem solver. I've always been a good problem solver,
(31:00):
but this just it keeps me sharpas I get older, It keeps
me sharp with that being a problemsolver, because problems come up, they
and they tend to come up justlike that. Just right now, you
have a blowout of an RV.So you have a blow on an RV.
Number one, you're blocking traffic,you can't move, A regular tow
truck can't come get you. Soyou've got to be flexible and ready to
(31:25):
make big decisions on the fly thatsometimes you know or safety is involved.
So I think to think it's mademe a better person really too in this
lifestyle. Have you met anybody elsealong your journey that made a similar decision
to you? Because at some pointyou decided to buy an RV club,
(31:45):
So let's talk about that's next stepin your reinvention. Yes. So when
I decided in nineteen twenty nineteen,I'm going to go full time, bought
the RV, bought it in fullworth in Lily, Texas, and took
a left and started heading west.I had seen an RV club online that
(32:07):
was for solo RV years. Youknow, don't have a mate traveling with
them for whatever reason. So Ithought, well, I don't know where
else to go, literally, soI thought I'd go join them. They
were in southern California, and Iwalked up and they were having like a
little meeting, a little gathering,and there was about thirty of them sitting
there. And that day I realizedtwo things. Number One, I had
(32:30):
found my tribe. I found mypeople. Number Two, I'm not crazy
for doing this. They had thiswhole subculture of we think you're crazy for
staying in a house and not gettingout and seeing the country. How can
you look at the same four wallsand the same driveway, in the same
backyard your whole life? So thatday was monumental, and I couldnot under
(32:51):
understate that it was monumental for mein this life. I'd found my people.
Did you find other women like yourselfthat had done the whole quote normal
life and then just decided to buyan RV? Is that something you've come
across with other people almost exclusively?Yes, the club is let's start big
(33:14):
picture. RV News Industry is anonline magazine about RV stuff. They did
a big study in twenty twenty onpeople who identify as full time RVs,
or about a million of them thatare like me that travel full time.
Not people sitting in a campground thatlived there all year. This is people
like me that travel all time.And in this twenty twenty study they did,
they found out that forty six percentof our veers are eighteen to thirty
(33:39):
five years old. I was shockedat that, and fifty four percent or
over fifty five, and that ofthose two together, fifty nine percent or
females. So it's a more femaledominated subculture than men. And you would
(34:00):
think it'd be men, but it'smostly female. And the club I own
is about like that. We havea head not fifty nine, but a
hair more fifty three percent more femalesthan males. And these women, for
the most part, we have somemilitary people, certainly some military women retired
(34:21):
military, but for the most part, yes, they were in the traditional
lifestyle and realized they just didn't wantthat. They didn't want that anymore.
They weren't going to grow old likethat anymore. What have you learned from
these people? Now? One,I learned how to have a comfortable life
in my RV. I mean Ilearned what the heck I'm doing here.
(34:43):
I learned how to conserve water.You know, you don't just in an
RV you have a tank of water. Okay, unless you're hooked up to
a campground. But you have atank of water and it's not unending like
it is at a house. Ilearned that. I learned how to drive
the RV, learn how to backit up. I can parallel park this
thirty six foot RV. I justI learned to thrive in this RV instead
(35:08):
of get by so that okay,yeah, it's great seeing the King Grand
Canyon every day, but at night, you still got to come home to
your house. And this is myhouse. It's a tiny house, but
if this is my house, theyhave taught me to thrive, to enjoy
this some little tips and tricks andwhatever I need to make this more of
(35:29):
a home and not just this RVthat I have that I'm traveling around them.
Were there any like words of wisdomthey gave you about life? What
kind of conversations around that have youbenefited benefited from with this group of people,
I gravitate towards women that are aboutten years older than me. I
(35:51):
think it's the mom complex thing.I don't know, and I have a
couple of them that I just lovethat are in this group. And the
first one that I ever really gotclose to in this group, she was
about eighty, She was a lotover me, but she said, to
embrace this lifestyle. She goes,don't just be in it, you must
embrace it because it's hard. It'ssome days or famous, and some days
(36:13):
it is horrible and you're gonna quit, You're gonna give somebody the keys,
and I want to walk off,and the anxiety and the dread and the
scared. But she's like, ifyou embrace it, like if you're at
your house, like right now,do you and I see your lovely house
behind you, you're at your backdrop. You don't just get to give the
keys to somebody and leave because you'veembraced it. You have a mortgage.
You have to stay there. Andthat was so strong, and I didn't
(36:37):
realize what she meant until later onwhen it got kind of hard or you
know, like I had the blowoutor wrecked or something, and then I
realized, I know what she's talkingabout. Embrace this and let it,
let it become who you are,not just something you're doing. This is
who I am now. I work, I travel full time in an argument
(37:00):
and live it. I feel likethat's such a good piece of advice as
we transition in the seasons of ourlife, because in midlife, so many
people are feeling that pull, right, there's a pull on them. Yes,
don't know what it is, right, they don't know what it is.
And I heard this the other dayand I wish it was my writing,
(37:21):
but it's not. And it wasif you ever had a gut feeling
you weren't meant that, you weremeant for something more, but you weren't
really sure what the next best stepsare to achieve it, to identify what
is your more? And that's whyI kind of allude to it to front,
what is your more? Is it? Stuff? Is it closed?
That was mine for a long time. Then it became houses, and then
(37:42):
I went through a man phase whereI was like, well, maybe it's
the man. Maybe you know whatthe problem here is is he's not a
good man. That's what's wrong withme is he's not a good man.
So you know how that works out. But so it took me a long
time to discover what is my more? And it was not closed, and
it was not man or another house. It was not I have an interesting
(38:04):
little side story I want to sharewith you about my clothes for when I
went, we got to arguing,but I decided I was going to do
this full time. I sold myhouse just like that, no big deal,
no no, just nothing. Soldall my furniture. So the last
like two weeks, I got downto a mattress on the floor and a
launchair that my mom gave me.So that was basically it. And I
was doing paper dishes and eating outevery day, getting takeout and eating out
(38:28):
every day. All I had leftwere my clothes and shoes. Over the
years, I collected some beautiful clothesand evening wear and a couple of hats.
I had a fascinator I never wore, but for some reason I had
to have a fascinator. It waspink and beautiful. And I had these
beautiful high hill shoes and some ofthem I'd paid a few hundred dollars.
(38:50):
I had a four hundred dollars pairof Gucci shoes. I mean, I
really had some nice things my purses, you know. Over the years,
I'd made a little money and reallybought some things. I could not get
to those clothes. I could notdo it. I don't know what it
was. I sat on the floorand I like rifled through my glittery.
You know, some of the eveningclothes I had were glittery, and you
(39:12):
know, made me remember invitations anda party I went to. And I
looked at my red high heel shoesand the gold pair I had, and
a pair I bought in Las Vegasthat had feathers on them. It just
you know, and I was like, what is this? And I had
my mom come over to help me. You know, my mom had seven
kids, and you know, whenyou have seven kids and no money,
(39:32):
you live very tiny and efficiently.And she was like kind of shocked at
all of the clothes. She's like, why do you need all this?
What are you going to do withevening wear? Because by then I'm like,
all right, I'll just take everythingwith me and see what I need.
Okay. So once my mom andI talked, and it kind of
helped me realize I was holding ontothese clothes because they reminded me of my
(39:53):
working life. They reminded me whenyou wear four inch high heels, you're
able to look somebody in the eyeinstead of looking up at them. And
I was in a male dominated fieldand I didn't want to be always looking
up at them. So four inchyels helps you look someone in the eye.
A red power suit gives you thatyou know, I'm in the room
(40:14):
and I'm powerful, and here wego. And I also, I think
was running or disguising, if youwill, the fact that I was this
poor kid raised in a cult,lived in a trailer with six other kids
half the time, you know,a trailer, and wearing those clothes.
I didn't have to be that kidanymore. And it got me to a
(40:36):
point of, well, you knowwhat. After talking to my mom that
day and really being steel, beingquiet, I realized, I don't I
don't need all this anymore. I'mokay. I am that poor kid from
a trailer and a cult. Thatis who I am, and I'm okay,
and I'm enough in T shirts,shorts and flip flops and funny enough.
Four years later, I have notneeded a power suit a red high
(41:00):
once, although a sparkly dress wouldbe fun to wear driving around in an
RV. Okay, why not,right, I do have a disco ball.
That's the closest I got, butit was just that close. Thing
was a real revelation for me,and that's when I finally embraced it,
finally went all in, I'm doingthis best, the lash little shred of
(41:21):
me. That's it. I probablyhave five pair of shorts now, maybe
six or seven dresses. Hmm.I think what I hear from what you're
sharing is, you know, wehave definitions of ourselves, and we have
profound memories and we attach them tothings, but those things are not the
(41:42):
memories, right, I mean,they can spark the memory, but we
carry in ourselves the things that we'veexperienced, both good and bad. You
know, we have those things withinus. And there's freedom that I hear
in your story and being able torelease this stuff actual stuff. That's a
(42:05):
good way to put it. Yeah, there was a release that I hadn't
thought of it that way before,but yeah, there definitely was a freedom.
It's wonderful to have, you know, thirty suits on a hundred pair
of shoes. But remember I movedevery year the last eleven years of my
retirement. Yeah, how hard itis to move a hundred pair of shoes
every single time? And all thoseclothes and they're wrinkled, and wrap those
(42:30):
glittery sparkly dresses and tissue paper andmove. So it was such a burden.
And you don't where heels twelve hoursa day, four inch heels that
hurts, That hurts your feet.It was very much of a release to
get rid of all that stuff.And when I honestly tell you, outside
of those red high heels and thatfascinator, I don't remember any of those
clothes anymore. I don't remember theones that I had loved so much and
(42:52):
couldn't bart with, I don't evenremember them. I wouldn't know them if
you laid them in front of me. It's like a permission you had to
give yourself. It's what it soundslike. That's right, That's exactly what
it is. I had to Thatwas the last little permission to give myself
to go into this new life,to turn literally turn that page. And
(43:15):
you can't take much with you onthis next journey, on this next page.
And isn't that true in life?Though, anytime you're gonna make a
big shift, you can't take alot of stuff with you. In my
case, it was actual material stuff, but to change your mindset you can't
take a lot of stuff with youmentally. It may not be junking and
closing your next step mm hmm,because what works in one season of our
(43:43):
life does not always serve the nextseason of our lives. Yes, yes,
but man, did you go?Do you go struggling and dragging?
Sometime I told someone else I hadone high heeled foot in my old life
and one sample foot in my newlife, and one was going to have
to jump on the other side.And I'm so glad it was. I
(44:07):
took that high heel off metaphorically,and what with the sandals, I'm so
glad. So if you had togive three kind of key either mindset tips,
takeaways, learning points, what wouldthose three things be? As far
as going to the next big stagein your life? I would say quit
(44:28):
talking everybody. I would say,be steel, whether that's you understand that
Bible verse or not. Be steeland think hard about what is it that
you want, not what's expected,not not what you should not I'm way
too old to buy RV and driveacross the country. I'm fifty five years
(44:49):
old. So get out of whatis expected, what you think is expected
of you? What's that all sayingif you knew how much really people,
how much people really think about you, you'd be surprised because they really don't
think about you, you know.So if you will let go of that
one thing to start with that,let go of what you're supposed to do,
it will free your mind up.Well, I have a mortgage.
(45:12):
You know, I've only got fouryears left on this mortgage. You know
I can't leave this. Well,again, you're doing what is expected of
you. Is that what you wantto do? Do you want to do
that? So that would be mythree takeaways. Be still, quit talking
to people, and let go ofwhat's supposed to be happening to you.
And I think that you will findit's open and you're not going to do
(45:35):
this in one day. This maytake you a year, It may take
you one day. But if youwill be open and let it all come
into you, let it start receivingthe craziness or the crazy ideas. You're
going to go live in Paris fora year, why not? Why not
go live in Paris for a year. I considered that before the RV.
Why not go do that? There'snothing stopping you, nothing stopping you.
(45:55):
Well, I don't have any money. They have jobs in Paris, just
like they have jobs here. Mmhmm. You know. So let go
of what is supposed to be happeningin your life and you will be open.
Something will come to you. Ipromise you. Who knows, I
may see you on the road ina thirty six foot RV. That's such
a good point, Janelle, thatin order for the new to come,
(46:17):
there's a releasing that needs to happen, and even an openness too, Like
we're not going to see a solutionif we're closed to the opportunities and the
and the things that come our way. Right, you can't see it.
No, you're in. You're full. You're full up to here. You're
full, and so there's no placefor a new something to come in.
(46:39):
If you're a mind automatically goes no, you can't go live in Paris.
You can't have an RV. There'sno room for that. You have to
open some and get rid of someof the other junk for the new to
come in. It sounds easy,doesn't it. It's very profound though,
because it it's like it's a bitof a hoarder mentality, right, there's
(47:00):
you can have it all, meaningyou can have this experience, you can
do that thing, or that youcan have it all. I won't have
to let anything go to add toIt's like we're almost forwarding these emotional experiences
or we're affording the things that wethink are going to make us feel happy,
content fulfilled, and they may haveright at some point, that may
(47:21):
have been the fulfillment. It doesn'tmake it wrong. It makes it seasonal.
And I think that's an important thingfor us to remember that life is
in seasons and it's okay to turnthe page to your point and that's yeah,
that's it correct. Aren't we allhoarders in our own mind? Oh
yeah? Really of our junk,our past and that time my husband said
(47:44):
this to me in nineteen ninety two, and I'll never forget that. I
mean, that's hoarding. That isa hoarding, an ugly thing in your
mind, just to hold on toit for what. So if you hold
on to that thing your husband andyour mom said to you from when you
were seven, that there's no roomif that's there right here, if that
if a fist is if a fistOkay, I'm getting lost here, cut
(48:06):
this out, all right. It'slike that idea with the cookie jar.
Right when they when someone reaches inand grabs the cookies, they can't get
their fist out. They have tolet go of the cookies to release.
There you go, ye know,yeah, there you go. So Janelle,
how can people find you? What'syour website for your RV club?
(48:29):
Oh it is WINS RV club dotcom. Wins is w I n S
r V club dot com. Iwant to I have that checklist if they'd
like to see it of my tenquestions that helped me, may help them
or not. And you know whatI'd like to do to Gina, if
your listeners, ifandam do have anr V out there, I want to
(48:50):
offer them a free stop on me. We have nine trips that are going
on right now or coming up,and once they go on that website they
can look at see it those tripsand if they'd like to stop in for
a week breed on me. I'dlike to talk to them about that.
And would they just contact you atthe website huh yes, that my emails
all over the place on the websiteand just let me know and I'll give
(49:14):
them a chance to come and seeour club and meet some of our members
and just have like a little youknow, I don't think I have an
RV, but I can tell themall the particulars of the details. But
thank you little week on me.I love that. That's fantastic. Well,
Janelle, I want to thank youso much for reaching out to me,
finding me, listening, and sharingyour story with me. It's been
(49:35):
such an enriching experience. I've reallyenjoyed our times together before today, and
I'm really inspired. I'm really inspiredby the life that you live and the
courage that you have. And Iknow it probably doesn't feel like that to
you, but I know that someonelistening is going to hear this and it's
going to stir something in them.And I'm thankful to have you come and
(49:55):
be the spoon in someone's cup oftea, right it around and getting them
to think differently. And that's sofantastic. So thank you so much.
Yes, thank you, Gina.I listened to your podcast, like I
said, and after I'd listened threeor four times, I was like,
I wish I could be on thisbecause I want to tell women about what
I've done too. So I appreciateyou, Gina, and I appreciate your
(50:16):
podcast and what you're doing for allof us out there, especially women.
Yes, thank you so much.So today, friends, I've been talking
with Janelle Jones, and if youare interested in learning more about her,
that question sheet finding out about thatgift she wants to give you. If
you have an RV, go ahead. And if you're on YouTube, just
(50:37):
look down below and everything will bethere for you. If you're on a
podcast platform, just head on overto www. Dot Feminine roadmap dot com
Forward Slash episode three four eight andthe links will be there. Friends,
This is a great experience for allof us to consider. Right we're considering
(50:59):
the experience of what if. Whatif I did the thing that's in my
heart to do? What if Idid that thing I've always thought about.
What if I even just did ita little bit? What if I didn't
go all in? What if Iyou know, all of these positive what
ifs, experiencing a little bit ofcuriosity. Our lives are so big and
(51:21):
there's so many things we can do. We tell ourselves we can't, but
is that true? That is thequestion I want to pose for you today.
If you think I want to dothis, and the first thing you
tell yourself is no, what isit true? Is it one hundred percent
to Is it so true that itcould never happen? Open up the possibilities
(51:42):
in your mind to the things youwant to experience, my friends, because
what if? What if it couldhappen? Maybe to Janelle's point, you
do the part time thing for awhile and you get a feel for it,
whatever it is. Add a pieceof this dream into your life and
allow it to take some route andsee where it takes you. You just
never know. This season of lifein midlife has so many things happening,
(52:05):
so many decisions. We're such diversepeople at this point in our lives.
Why not open up your mind alittle bit. Let Janelle's teaspoons stir your
tea enough to open up your worldto some things that you've been dreaming of
but been afraid to turn and face. And then let us know what are
you finding that you really want todo and what are your experiences? We'd
(52:25):
love to hear it. So thankyou so much, friends for allowing us
to spend some time together today andto talk about potential midlife reinventions, what
it could look like, what itcould be. Thank you Janelle for sharing
that with us, and I hopefriends, that this has inspired you to
consider your own reinvention. Thank youfor listening with us today. I look
(52:45):
forward to sharing more inspirational people,strategies, and information with you in the
weeks to come. Take care ofmy friends. Bye bye,
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