I need to be doing more with my life but I just can't seem to get around to doing just that. I love photography but I rarely take photos. I love to travel but I rarely go anywhere. I love to write but can't seem to push a noun and a verb together when I have the time. The solution seems to be grab the camera, go somewhere and write some kind of photo/travel journal or book but it's more difficult than you might imagine, at least it is for me.
Perhaps I'm depressed. My most favorite place in the world (within a reasonable distance mind you) is the North Carolina Outer Banks, in particular the unincorporated town of Rodanthe. Rodanthe, and the Outer Banks in a larger sense, is the location where I've taken what I believe to be my best photographs. The photo I've linked above is one I took last year in the town of Rodanthe, for the record. Trouble is Rodanthe is becoming the vacation spot for my ex-wife and her new boyfriend and this area of the Outer Banks is small, far too tiny to not expect chance encounters to occur. It's not that I don't think we can happily all co-exist i town, that's not what I'm implying at all but I do think having me so close would cause some discomfort for them and I'm all about living and let live.
So what to do? I think it's time for me to find a new place to hang out on the weekends. The NC Outer Banks is four hours (plus another 30 minutes most trips) to the East. If I take out a map and draw a four hour driving circle over Durham, NC I bet I could locate a few interesting places to visit and photograph. The only question is what to drive. Sure, my Chevrolet Valdez will get me there, no question about that but hotels each and every weekend are going to get expensive. One possible solution is to purchase another RV for travel. Being single, and likely to remain so for the foreseeable future and perhaps forever, I don't require a large RV and deals on fully converted RV vans can be found if you're willing to look hard enough.
I've found two vans with potential, one here in the greater Raleigh area and another down in Florida. I'm leaning towards the Florida van but, quite frankly, I'm worried about the mold that could have potentially accumulated in a RV van that lives outside in the Orlando, FL area. This is a real concern and potentially costly to fix if the elements have managed to get a foothold inside. But that's neither her nor there as it's a bridge I must cross later.
I'll keep everyone posted.
