Dawson Countdown

I had The Talk with management this week about next summer and thankfully we are exactly on the same page. It was understood from the get go that I would probably not be coming back to Dawson next year, but if I did I would have a job of some sort.

Not coming back to Dawson?

I have absolutely no reason to. I’ve explored the area around here extensively. What I have left to explore would be best done from the more central location of Whitehorse. I’d like to see more of Alaska, drive the Campbell Highway, and tour the Silver Trail, for starters! Much as I dislike Whitehorse, there is no room in this life for sentimental attachments to locations. And in cold hard numbers, not coming back to Dawson means $500 in gas money in my pocket, money that I could apply to taking Miranda with me on some trips next year.

So, I’m leaving Dawson in a week! I cannot believe I’m down to exactly seven days left. It’s boggling, but I’m not in race mode. I’d like to go back to the Drunken Goat if I can, and, of course, Gerties, but otherwise I don’t feel like I’ll be leaving anything undone. My focus is on getting Miranda travel ready.

I will always have a home in Dawson and it is a place I look forward to coming back to several years from now, perhaps with my nephews and niece in tow. I leave with doors wide open and bridges intact, with fond memories of sweet ice cream and panoramic views, and without being thoroughly fed up with the limitations of services at the end of the world. It’s a great way to go. 🙂

The big question now is how am I going to manage my mail from next month onwards. I have a few phone calls to make to Whitehorse and I may end up having my mail held for months in some sort of limbo. I really saw these past two summers that I don’t get much mail worth paying attention to, so that may end up being the cheapest and easiest solution.

Pecuniary Shyness, or This is Real Life!

Some RVers like to talk at great length about their finances, to the point of splashing out for all to see their balance sheets. I made a decision early on to gloss over this topic because I realised early on that full-time RVing is real life. Let me repeat that: full-time RVing is a lifestyle choice, not a perpetual vacation. Everyone’s reality and circumstances are different. I don’t see any value in going into any sort of detail about my financial portrait.

This issue has come up several times over the past few days. I’ve had someone comment that I ‘owed’ it to other RVers to explain how I get by day to day financially so that they could emulate me (!). Another person was appalled that I ‘steal’ from the thrift and free stores since I’m obviously well off, with a ‘nice motorhome and recent model car.’  Another doesn’t get the difference between being ‘tight’ (choosing not to do or buy certain things in order to do or buy other things) and being ‘broke’ (not being able to do or buy anything). If I lived a mainstream life, no one would expect me to pull out my balance sheet, they would understand how someone my age living in her own home and driving a recent model car might need to be frugal in other areas of her life, and they’d understand that not being able to do it ‘all’ is normal!

So far, the financials of my RVing life have been very cyclical. I have had periods with good cashflow and periods with bad cashflow. During the good periods I get caught up and during bad periods I try not to get behind. The goal is, of course, to balance out these periods and provide a steadier cashflow instead of one with gigantic negative and positive peaks. This summer was my first taste of this ideal cashflow vision and it has been lovely, but I am now heading back into squirrel mode, especially since I have a couple of big expenses coming up.

One thing to keep in mind is that I’m single with only cats as my dependents. That gives me a lot of freedom in how I choose to allocate my money. Once the bills are paid and I’ve put money away for retirement and emergencies, there is no one to care if I decide to buy a new toy and eat beans for a month. But if I were to put all of this on a balance sheet for the world to say, I’d have to erase a lot of comments from people with different priorities and values who think they have a right to tell me how I should be managing things. I might as well save them the trouble. 😀

Cat Food Heart Attack

I misjudged how much cat food I was going to need to finish off the season and found myself having to buy a bag here in Dawson. The best place to buy pet supplies is the Home Hardware, so that’s where I went. They carry the small bags of Whiskas, the food my cats eat.

Whiskas comes in three sizes. The small bag is normally about $7, the medium bag about $12, and the big bag about $20. I usually have several medium bags on hand, bought for $10 or less with coupons.

In Dawson, the small bag sells for $15!!! To my horror, I actually heard myself say out loud in front of staff “It’s no wonder I stock up in Whitehorse!”

This is obviously a necessary product; letting your cat starve is not an option! So, I have to wonder if that’s why the price is jacked up so high. I understand the logistics behind getting things here, but pricing up here really does not seem to have any rhyme or reason.

I have to say that much as I love Dawson the appalling grocery situation here is starting to wear on my nerves, especially after seeing how smaller towns in the Northwest Territories have proper grocery stores. I’m really looking forward to replenishing the larder in Whitehorse!

(I’m just grateful I won’t have to buy propane in Dawson this year.)

Detachment

I’m leaving Dawson in less than two weeks. I’ve had an okay summer this year, but I still love this town and am glad that I have had a chance to know it so well. That said, my feelings about my imminent departure are completely different from last year. In fact, this is the first time I’m going to leave a place without having my departure panic attack. I didn’t really get settled in this year and I’ve stopped thinking of this stop as a destination, as an event with a beginning and an end. It seems that sometime between leaving Campbell River and the last couple of weeks, my RVing life began to find a continuity of its own, with routines that carry over whether I’m stopped or traveling.

Financially, the summer was a blessing and going back to financial incertitude is going to be tough, but I actually managed to do a solid job of replenishing the coffers. I’ll do fine for myself well into the fall even if I don’t find a job in Osoyoos, although I have decided to look for something part-time. I have enough set aside to actually travel back south and I’m giving myself a full sixteen days to do so. My itinerary is a bit bold and I may chicken out about one section, but I look forward to an even longer period of boondocking while being able to work every night.

My fall plans are slowly coming together. I have decided to fly to Montreal at the beginning of November for a week to see my family, something that will be made possible since I’ll have a rig and cat sitter available to me. My sister had a baby on September 1st, my first niece, so it will be nice to see her and my two nephews. I’m pretty sure the youngest one doesn’t remember me!

Besides that, I have a writing project to complete and I also need to work on things related to that announcement I’m not yet ready to make. I’d also like to continue with the renovating and decorating, although I will have to be extremely frugal in all areas of my life so as to stretch my savings as far as possible. I’m committed to being in Osoyoos until December and have not made plans beyond that.

So, that’s the latest status update. Nothing too exciting, but things are going to pick up soon. 🙂