In October 2001, immediately following the death of my Dad, I felt a compulsion to find something that seemed a bit lavish at the time. Let me explain.
We had been saving at a pretty good rate. It wasn’t millions but it was good for our level of income I thought. The motivation to put something away for a rainy day, and of course eventually retirement was picking up speed. I was getting closer to 50 than I was close to 40 and the idea of being ready in 25 years was driving us.
Then we found ourselves celebrating my Dad’s life who left us too soon just short of his 72nd birthday. It was a shock and a reminder that there is no guarantee for tomorrow.
I was asking this question: are we saving for a future we may not get to enjoy?
Ultimately no one knows, save the good Lord, but it was a sobering thought. So the next question, and you’ve likely thought of this too. What is the balance between saving for the future and enjoying the present? We have friends who seem to be saving for the future but not really enjoying the present.
Having enjoyed our little tent trailer, we decided to move up to a larger trailer and take some of the money we had used to squirrel away for retirement to enjoy the present.
That’s when we bought the Surveyor Hybrid travel trailer. I’ve never regretted that decision. Not for one minute. We’ve travelled extensively with it and loved our little home away from home. It’s now at an age where it needs replacing, so this will likely be the last summer with it.
However, having loved our little RV I always love walking through the RV shows and seeing what’s new, what’s outstanding and what’s not affordable!
Here’s a quick tour of my time last Saturday morning at the Toronto show!
Hybrid Thoughts 