"I hate asking for help"

On June 17th, when I set out on my journey to give up my apartment and find a camper of some sort to travel the US in, I had visions of me doing it all on my own.

➡️Find a camper. ➡️ Renovate it. ➡️ Figure out how to actually work all of the systems in the camper. ➡️ Figure out what to do with all of my furniture. ➡️ Learn how to camp and hike safely. ➡️ Clean out my apartment. And so much more!

Because, quite honestly, I’m ridiculously stubborn and independent, and I figured that if I was going to take this new lifestyle on, then it was no one’s “problem” but my own.

And just as quickly as I made my decision to do it alone, I realized that that was impossible...and pretty stupid!

I am surrounded by people who love and support me...and have a lot more knowledge about this stuff than I do (which is basically zero!).

✅ So, I reached out to Steve and asked if he would go with me to look at the campers that I thought might work - luckily we found Bessie on our first outing!

✅ I asked for help with finding a place to park Bessie so that I could renovate her (originally I had planned to just park her at a self-storage unit. I’m so glad that I didn’t!!) and my friends Kris and John volunteered their driveway. Where, not only did I have a safe place to park her, but I had their camper knowledge, and John’s brute strength to help me remove the carpet, and they were so willing to help me with anything I needed. They went above and beyond in 1,000 different ways! They were with me on mine & Bessie’s first outing, to show me how to not only hook everything up & make sure it all worked, but to help me unhook everything at the end of our stay.

✅ It worked out perfectly that my son and his girlfriend were moving about a month before I was set to move into Bessie, so they were able to give most of my furniture a good home, and I didn’t have to worry about what to do with it. And a month of sitting on the living room floor on a pillow, or beach chair, really wasn’t that bad. :-)

✅ My friend’s Stuart and Mary Lou found out that I needed help removing my bed from my apartment, and immediately said they’d be over to help.

✅ My oldest son gave me the tips & tricks for staying safe while hiking which will serve me well as I visit as many National Parks as I possibly can.

✅ And so many of my friends & family have encouraged and supported me (even if a few of them think I’m crazy!)...

And that means the world to me. 🙏

As much as I think of myself as strong, independent and some would say incredibly stubborn, it’s nice to know that I am not on this journey alone - and all I have to do is ask!

But, I think that every single person that I asked for help will also tell you that one of the first things that I said to them was…

“I hate asking for help!” 😳

If you also hate asking for help - please know that there are people in your life that want to help you, that have knowledge that you don’t, and that life is so much easier when you don’t have to do it all alone.

It may not be easy to ask for help...but do it anyway. 😊

Much love to everyone reading this...especially those of you who have gone above and beyond to support me on this wild and crazy ride called life.

💖 Karen