Every Week Doesn’t Need to Be Scheduled

In a world that focuses on more, we opt to live differently and strive for less. Less stuff, less to do, less stress. I won’t lie, it’s challenging to go against the mainstream, to say no more than say yes, and to make a plan for doing little to nothing and stick with it. But it’s worth it.

As full-time travelers, we often find ourselves trying to cram in as much as we can when we are in an area, and to try and visit as many areas as we can. We found out early on that it burnt us out. We nearly quit RV life because of it. So every travel season, and every trip, we find ourselves evaluating our goals.

This year starts our fourth year of full-time travel and, while our original plans have gone completely sideways, we did set some goals we found to be helpful and worth fighting for, like shorter drive days, downtime in between drive days, and most importantly, scheduling time to do nothing.

This is our first year implementing a block of days at a location just to be there–no sightseeing locations or people to see. We look for a place that offers trails, waterways or lots of trees in the campground so we can be outside and unplug. We aim for a minimum of 2 nights so we have a full day to rest. If we have chores or maintenance that needs done, we tack on extra days for those, too, and make sure we have access to supply stores or can get packages mailed to us at the campground. I even use this time to complete writing the blog and prepping reels and videos to be scheduled for later dates.

In the two months we’ve been traveling this season, we’ve already done two stops like this and it has been exactly what we needed. Knowing we’ve got a planned time to tackle tasks means that when we are in places with things to see and people to visit, we can give those our focus. Waking up in the morning and deciding to get the paddle boards out, walks with the camera or collecting and painting rocks has been so rewarding. But so has getting a bunch of minor repairs or projects done.

Whether you travel or not, scheduling time for unscheduled time can be most helpful. And that is coming from someone who has always lived by a schedule and checklist!

Start by blocking one weekend a month–from Friday Afternoon to Monday Morning–as your “NO PLANS weekend”. Don’t make any commitments or plans–don’t even invite anyone over. Maybe you use it to relax, read, wander your home town. Maybe you use it to tackle all those little repairs or piles you’ve been ignoring. Maybe you spend it in pillow piles and blanket forts watching family movies together and eating take out. Whatever you do, don’t have a plan! If there are a lot of things that need done, have a running list, adding to it as you think of things, then refer to it at that time.

Are you up for the challenge?

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