Remote Work Retirement

Part 2: Road Trip with Me

• Camille Attell

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Episode 87 is part 2 of my road trip to Lake Havasu, Arizona for The Escapers RV Bash.  
 

You're listening to the remote work retirement show. I'm your host, Camille Attell. And this is the only show that helps semi retirees figure out the remote work options.  I believe that remote work is the new retirement plan and that many retirees have both the ability and desire to work how they want so they can live how they want. Let's dig into today's episode.... 

Well, welcome back. I'm so excited that you chose to join me today for part 2 of my 2-part series all about my travels to Lake Havasu, Arizona for The Escapers RV Bash. Now in part 1, which is episode 86, I give you the first part of that. And I take the journey all the way up to Monday. And then I'm picking up where I left off on that last episode today. 

And the whole point of this 2-part series is just to have some fun. So, join me as I take you inside a fabulous grocery store (yes, grocery store), on a zombie crawl, and a bunch of other wonderful, and not so wonderful, times.

Follow along with my upcoming camper travels on Instagram @camille.attell


If you want to learn more about how to leverage your digital products or service visit:
www.camilleattell.com/remoteworkschool

You can also take her FREE training at:
www.camilleattell.com/remote-training

If you have suggestions for the show, you can contact Camille via Instagram: @camille.attell


 **DISCLAIMER: This podcast is not a substitute for professional consultation. For any retirement or income-related matters, it is best to work with a professional advisor.**
 
 Welcome to The Remote Work Retirement Show, the only show that is dedicated to remote work for semi-retirees, people leaving the workforce, and people working in retirement to help them have the peace of mind that they can live how they want without the fear of running out of money.

 Free Remote Work Training:
If you're looking for more information about remote

Yeti Stereo Microphone-17:

Episode 87 is part two of my road trip to lake Havasu, Arizona for the Escapers RV bash.

You're listening to the remote work retirement show. I'm your host, Camille Attell. And this is the only show that helps semi retirees figure out the remote work options. I believe the remote work is the new retirement plan and that many retirees have both the ability and desire to work, how they want so they can live how they want. Let's dig into today's episode....

Yeti Stereo Microphone-18:

Well, welcome back. I'm so excited that you chose to join me today for part two. Of my two-part series all about my travels to lake Havasu, Arizona. For the Escapers RV bash now in part one, which is episode 86, I give you the first part of that. And I take the journey all the way up to Monday. And then I'm picking up where I left off on that last episode today. And the whole point of this two part series is just to have some fun. I wanted to get away from my very serious remote work talks and just do something fun and document my travels. Now, as I mentioned in the last episode, I was documenting a lot of my travels on Instagram stories. So if you tuned in, you got to see in real time what was happening at the bash, but don't worry if you missed it. What I'm going to do is start posting on stories. Again, some of the footage I didn't get to post. I don't like to post those in the regular feed on Instagram or Facebook, I should say because I dunno, it's a moment in time and it doesn't totally represent my daily life. So this is more behind the scenes. Which is a really good fit for Instagram stories. So I'll put the link in the show notes, but it's Camille dot. Uh, tell on Instagram and just look at your stories every day, starting the day of this podcast and you'll see some cool new footage. All right. So let's pick up where I left off. I. He was parked outside of a bushes. That is one of the main grocery stores in like have a SU and you know what? It's a really beautiful grocery store. After I finished recording the podcast from my van in the parking lot, by the way, my rented van. I went into Bosch has to get some food for the zombie lot to crawl. And I mentioned the zombie lock crawl in the last episode, but it hadn't happened yet. So I get to tell you all about that in a moment. But I went to the bosses and I got to tell you, I don't know if it's changed or if I don't remember it, but two years ago, I went into a Bosch areas and I just don't remember being that, um, Impressed, I guess, I don't know. Maybe I was out of it, but wow. I walked in there and the first thing I noticed was just how beautiful the produce section was. Uh, colorful, fresh, and just a massive selection. So shout out to bashes. I mean, they're not sponsoring this podcast or anything. I just really fell in love with that store. And the employees were just really delightful. And I don't know, maybe I was just tired, but. Sometimes something as simple as going into a grocery store where it looks nice and everyone's friendly. Uh, it's just, uh, a great experience. It's the simple things in life, right. Especially when you're living on the road. So that's what happened after I recorded the podcast last Monday. So again, if you missed episode 86, Go listen to it because I'm literally in the van. When I record the episode, which I think is so cool, because in real time you got to be with me on my road travels. So I picked up a few very strange items in the grocery store because on Monday night, Was this event, they called the LA crawl and here's, what's cool about the lot crawl they section the campground into, I think it was about five main sections. They had a family section for folks traveling with their kids. They had a what's called general section. And that's where people who were running generators. Or maybe had, um, different sized RVs. Uh that's where they parked. And then there was a solo section and those were folks who were traveling by themselves. I could have parked in the solo session because I ended up go going by myself or section, I should say. There's a solar section, which is where I was parked. And that's for people who are only using solar and do not intend to turn on their generator or reel, or maybe they don't even have a generator generator. I don't know. And then there was a party section. These are the people who really liked to party well into the night. I never park in that section because I like sleep. And, um, I just, I'm not that kind of person. I like daylight hours. Uh, I'm going to get to the whole nighttime. Experience here in just a minute. But let me back up and say, so I bought these really weird, um, olives, and then, you know, those candy coated peanuts that are red and kind of crunchy. I was going to stick those little peanuts in the olive. I know disgusting because I wanted to make little zombie eyeballs as, as a snack. Uh, just for fun, not because it was going to taste good. Uh, and the whole idea with this lock crawl is you, you move through each section of the campground to all those sections I just mentioned, and you can try the food that people put out. You could try the drinks. If people have drinks and you get assigned the food and drinks. And I guess in the last year or two people have been dressing up like zombies, I guess. I don't know. Uh, listen, I've missed out apparently by being off the road, you know, There's gotta be a theme for everything. So, um, but it was really fun. I got my little olives together, my peanuts and I had this really cool zombie outfit, which was simple, but very effective. And if you don't know me at all, I used to dismantle toys. And turn them into weird creations. So I took one of my baby doll heads and I fashioned it into a hat on, on my head. So I had this weird baby doll head on my head and its eyes opened and closed. So when I would see people I would nod and the little baby doll eyes went up and down, I thought it was the coolest, simple, most simple thing. And people loved it. So big hit with the costume, but not a big hit with my eyeballs because I never had a chance. To put them out. I realized that because I was in a van and the van was parked behind much bigger RVs. No one could even see me. So as I started assembling those little eyeball things, I realized, well, why am I doing this? No, one's coming here. So not going to be the weird lady in the van, assembling weird, all of eyeballs, wearing a baby doll, head on my head. If no one's going to come over. So I scrapped that plan and then I just went back out and enjoyed my zombie lock crawl. And I have to say of all the events at these, these, this bash it's the Escapers bash. I love the lock crawl the best I think. And the reason why I love it so much is because you get to walk around. And not only meet new people or, or, you know, see, see new friends or old friends or whatever you want to call them. We're all friends and whether you've met them or not, we're still all friends together at this event. These are friends you haven't met yet. Right. So I always enjoy that process. And on top of that, there are what are called rig tours. This is when people will open up their RVs vans, whatever they're in buses. Strange other vehicles and you get to have a tour. Uh, and, oh my gosh. Some of the things that I saw were jaw dropping and I will post some of these tours in those stories. I did one of them last week, but I'll like I said, I have a whole bunch of footage that I'm going to start posting again. So don't miss out because I toured everything from massive. Fifth wheel motor homes to beautiful class, a motor homes to tiny vans to, um, even the cab of like a big Volvo diesel truck. Just cool stuff. So that's really my favorite night, but I have to say at the end of that night, which the end of that night, it was like 8:00 PM. I know I'm an, I'm an early to bed. Well, I'm not an early to bed person. I just don't like being out so much at night. So when I got there on Saturday night, I went out on Saturday night and then I went out on Sunday night. So by Monday night I was sort of done and I went back into my van and guess what I did on my tiny little phone with my very terrible internet. I watched the footage of the Iowa caucuses. Yes, friends. This is how I spent some of my time on the road, just watching politics in my cold little van. With a baby doll, head on my head. So it just, I just needed a break. Um, now the problem here is it was Monday night when I really started to feel the effects of the nighttime cold air, really seeping into my bones. And if you're listening and you're one of those folks who understands what I mean. I don't really need to say much more than that. Once the cold gets in your body and your bones and your core. Game over. Right. And unfortunately there just wasn't anywhere I could go to get warm. There was no bath I could draw. And boy, do I love a good bath. There was really nowhere warm because there weren't many places indoors to go at this event. And it wasn't like the event was cold. It was actually a fairly warm or a nice week, uh, in like Havasu weather-wise. It's just that my body is just kind of going through stuff and it's just harder for me to get back up to normal. And the van turned out to be, this is when I recognize the van was not ideal. This particular van. Um, this is, was a custom build van. I think there probably were gaps in the installation. If there was any installation. And the coal just really came in. So I was buried under blankets. With beanies on. I even had gloves on at one point watching my little phone and my Iowa caucus report. Um, And I just felt a little bit sad. I'm not going to lie. I mean, I was happy to be at the vet. I had tons of fun that day at the zombie lock crawl. I was still having a great time, but I just was, I noted it. I was like, Hmm. Kind of uncomfortable. So I made it through the night that night and I got up the next morning and it was real brisk. It was very chilly. And again, I had not, no real warmth. Um, but luckily it was nice and warm out and I was feeling pretty good. So I went down to what's called center camp and I got my nice hot coffee. They had some, they had coffee available and you could donate to care, which is a nonprofit that Escapers and escapees. Uh, supports. And this is for our veers who used to RV, but can no longer RV for a variety of reasons. And so, you know, every day I was donating to my coffee care. Uh, pot cut. Got my coffee. And it was really nice. I sat in the sun. And it was a lovely morning and I ran into some old friends that I chatted with. Met some new people. And so now that was Tuesday of the event and the event was supposed to go all the way through Sunday morning. Okay. So I'm now like, I don't know, three or four days in four days in officially at this point. So Tuesday day, I went back to Bosch. Because I just couldn't stay away from this place. And I did some business there. I did some cleaning of the RV and I, you know, got another thing. A water just did some, some little light maintenance there. And then I did a really cool thing and I, I had my coaching circle for remote work school, right from the van. I sat on the very uncomfortable van seat. This thing was just pure wood with like the finnest little. Cushion you could imagine. And for a solid two hours, because the sessions are going a little long lately, I was constantly shifting on that seat. Trying to sit on a pillow, trying to put my laptop on a pillow because there was no real good desk in this van, even though it was advertised as having, or yeah. Being able to work from the van because there was this desk thing, it was just very uncomfortable and not at all ergonomically. Correct. So I think I wrecked my back in that two hours just so uncomfortable, but it was a great session. People were really excited that I was coming to them straight from the van. I mean, there is just nothing more authentic. When you're talking about remote work than actually working from the van and showing up live to coach people from a van in a parking lot where there's really good internet. So that was really exciting. And we had such great discussions in that coaching circle, if you're listening and someone who was at that coaching circle, then, you know, I mean, we talked about business, we talked about memberships, how to, how to form a membership and, uh, generate income from a membership. We talked about. Uh, how to turn yourself into a coach or a consultant. We talked about resumes and LinkedIn, cause we that's pretty standard, but this time I feel like we tackled some new, maybe a bit more advanced subjects than we have in the past. So I just had a blast during that coaching circle, even though it was really uncomfortable physically. I just really enjoyed the conversations. So after that, I drove back to the campground. And I have to say one of the benefits of being in a van is just how easy and convenient it is to get around. I mean, I didn't really even have to pack anything up to go from the campground to the bushes. I mean, I, it just so easy. And the van drives easy and I feel really comfortable in it. And the systems in this particular van were so easy. There was just nothing really tricky. Oh, I guess I should mention that it was about this time that I learned that the inverter in the van wasn't really working well. This was also what was causing the problem with the heat, because I did have a tiny little heater. But the inverter, which channels the electricity. Uh, into the, um, In to the van so I can run some electric. It just, wasn't keeping that heat on. And I might've mentioned this in part one, but I think it was by this day where I realized this was a real problem. So I reached out to the owner of the van to communicate it. And of course the owner of the van was like, well, it worked last week as though this was my fault. And I'm like, well, it worked last week. Doesn't solve my problem now. And so, you know, we did some troubleshooting and ultimately what ended up happening the next day is that someone, well, actually it was that night. Come to think of it. I'll get to the story in a minute. There's the short part of the story is I did get a little heater that worked, but let me, let me build up to that. Okay. So I did the coaching circle. I did my things at bashes. I went back to the campground and I was feeling really good. Sometimes when I do the coaching circles, I come out of those sessions a little bit on a high. Um, I think this is, this is a lesson learned. Not just for me, but for you listening. When you do something. And you walk away from that task or that whatever that maybe it's an event or a task or a hobby or whatever, when you walk away feeling better than when you started it, you know, that that's the right thing you should be doing. So don't neglect that feeling. And you know what I'm talking about when you get energized, when you do something. I mean, there are some things that just drain my energy and I just don't want to do them. And I have two coaching circles. I love them. I just. Appreciate that people allow me to be a part of their journey. And I feel honored that I get to just have even the tiniest. You know, part of what they get to go on and do and be successful with. So, um, I was, I was working on a high, I mean, not like a natural high. And I just felt really good. And so I think Tuesday was probably the best day I had there because I felt energized. The sun was shining. I was warm. Um, it was a great day. And then that led me into the afternoon. And in the afternoon they had what's called the margarita throw down. Which is a fun event, but not my favorite, because as you would expect, there are like 80 different margaritas to try. And so tiny little tasters though. These are a little like less than a shot of margarita. And the whole point is people will bring their Margarita's and they, they have them in different categories. And you vote on them and it's just a really fun time and everyone gets so excited. At the same time. There was a fundraiser for care and there were all these donations and it was a silent auction really. And so one thing that I did is I actually donated. A membership to remote work school. And I entered that as a way to raise money for care. And so what I found myself doing was not drinking margarita. And instead sitting at that silent auction and just talking to people about remote work school and what their remote work goals were. And it was really interesting because it was, it was in real time that I was able to validate certain beliefs that I have about my ideal customer. For example, I believe that a lot of folks who say they are retired, Aren't really retired. And what I mean by that is maybe they say they're retired, but they secretly kind of want to work again. Or they say they're retired, but they have to work again. And they know they're going to have to go back to the workforce. Or they're retired, but they're really bored and they want to do something. So I, people would come up to me and I'd say, Hey, you want to hear about remote work school? And they'd say, no, I'm retired. And I would say something like, well, yeah, but like, aren't you kind of a little bored. Which is super bold. And sometimes people would just look at me and they'd say, yeah, yeah, kinda. Or, or they'd say, no, I'm retired. Thanks. And I'd say, but I bet you really kind of want to come out of retirement so you can make more income. Right. And then they say, well, you know, I don't know. Yeah. Actually, I'm kind of looking for something on the side. So I got to validate the indeed folks that are at that phase of life. They're not. Retired retired right now. There are other folks I serve for sure. There are people who are looking to transition to something new. I met another guy who actually bid on remote work school. I'm super excited to have him. I'm not going to say his name because I don't have his, um, Authorization to do so. Uh, we'll call him bill. Um, but bill works with his hands, uh, and he's worked with his hands, his whole life fixing things. And so he. Doesn't know how he could work remotely. Except that bill had an idea for an app. He said, I have this idea for an app, but someone's already done it. So I don't think I should do it. And if you've listened to this show before, you know, I'm like, oh my gosh, well, if someone's already done it, that just means there's a market for it. So you should build your version of it or build a better version of it or build a different version of it. Oh. And charge what you want to write. So I can't wait to work with bill because I just love working with people like, like that, who feel like there are no avenues for them. And ultimately we find avenues for them. So that was Tuesday night. So margarita throw down and the donation I only had, I think I only tried eight of the, up to probably 80 margarita is, oh my gosh, they were so good. And I really wanted to keep drinking them, but I just. I can't do it. I mean, my body again was already just cold and uncomfortable. And the last thing I needed to do is throw a bunch of alcohol in it right at night. If you have trouble sleeping when you drink alcohol, you know what I mean? Uh, or if you don't drink alcohol at all, you know what I mean? Okay. So Tuesday night was a blast. Um, and then I did try to stay out late that night. I stayed out until gosh, 1130 and I felt real proud of myself. And I was able to do that because I went to what's called the chill space. The chill space is so cool. They, they, they set up these shipping containers. With tarps and they, they made it like a shelter. And they had cool stuff on the walls. They had hot coffee and cocoa and tea. They had rugs and beanbags and chairs and people would just go in there and hang out and talk. And it was just such a. Uh, cool vibe in there. And I went into the chill space. A number of times it was only open at night. And then there was a giant bonfire. And so it was just a really, really lovely evening. Now I also knew I had to present the next day on Wednesday on how to use artificial intelligence to start an online course and coaching business. So I really wanted to go to bed and I wanted to get a good night's sleep. Of course, you know that whenever you want to go to bed and get a good night's sleep because you have something important the next day. That's that never happens because I ended up not falling asleep until 2:00 AM. And of course I slept terrible as I suspected. And the next day I felt absolutely horrible. So by Wednesday. The cold was just living in my body. Um, I did get a hot shower though. I think I had a hot shower on Tuesday where I did not get a hot shower the day before I managed to find the one shower with hot water and who it felt good. Uh, so I did get at least my hot shower, but by Wednesday morning still, I was cold. I hadn't slept, I was uncomfortable and I had to present. And not only that I hadn't finished my presentation. So I immediately found the warmest spot I could find, which was inside one of the buildings that was on the site. And luckily that was pretty warm. I sat on a pretty uncomfortable folding chair and I finished my AI presentation in two hours. There's nothing like working on a deadline. But, you know what? I really loved that presentation. Sometimes when you have a deadline, you do your best work. And I am one of those people. Cause I only had a little bit of time to get it done. Now, what I did is I pulled together snippets of content from other presentations I had done. And I, I put a custom spin on it for the Escapers. And then I delivered that presentation around, I think it was two o'clock in the afternoon, but I was really fighting with myself. By that point. I had terrible brain fog. Um, I was stumbling over my words. Now, people who don't know me would probably not notice because you know, I'm been doing this a long time, so I have really good muscle memory when it comes to presenting. Live like that stuff doesn't bother me. I know for some people it's terrifying for me. I'm very comfortable with it. I've done it. Thousands of times. Um, but I knew in my own head, it just wasn't my best work and it couldn't get my words out and I couldn't, couldn't get my thoughts as crisp as I want to do. I just wasn't on my game. And it was frustrating me because there was just so much more I wanted to do with the presentation. But enough people came up to me after and said they really enjoyed it. They learned a ton of new stuff. It gave them loads of great ideas. They wanted to come talk to me. So like I said, I don't think most people noticed, but you know, when, when you've got your best work in you and you can't deliver it, how, how frustrating it is. And by the end of that day, I was just really depleted. I was like, I just, I don't know if I can do another night now. I think I skipped over the part where I, I did find a guy named Tyler. Who's an Escaper and I've known him for about, gosh, I guess almost four or five years. Hadn't seen him in that long. He happened to have a portable heater called a my buddy. This thing is amazing. It's a propane heater. He lent it to me on Tuesday night. And I made that van feel like a hot sauna. I mean, it was probably 90 in there and I didn't care cause it just felt so good. So it was weird that I didn't sleep that great because I was finally toasty. I mean, I didn't run it overnight, but still, so, so at least by Wednesday night I had that my buddy to look forward to. So the rest of Wednesday, we also have, what's called a Mac and cheese. Uh, I don't know, Mac and cheese. Not throw down competition, I guess you could say. And again much like the margarita thing throw down, uh, people make all of their Mac and cheeses. Well, goodness gracious. There were like 70 something of these Mac and cheese and, you know, you can't just eat one. I ate way more Mac and cheese than I had margaritas and every kind of Mac and cheese vegan. And. And, uh, gluten-free and mixed with hot dogs and with rice noodles or with a cream of mushroom soup in it, I mean, you name it. People had a Cheetos on top. I don't even know what I tried. You know, some of it was really good and some of it was absolutely disgusting. Um, so I had a lot of Mac and cheese, and then that night there was a, um, an entertainer who was on a unicycle and did juggling and backflips and all kinds of weird stuff. And then later that night was a hypnotist, a hypnotherapist actually. And wow. That was something, I mean, I don't know. I want to say people were hypnotized, but when you ask them, they like to tell you that they, that they really weren't. But the hypnotist got about 12 people to do all the same things at all the same time you would think. That one person would be obnoxious and not go along with it. So I don't know. I don't know, it was really cool. I'll put some pictures up on Instagram, so you can see that too. It was pretty, it was pretty amazing, really amazing stuff. And there was so much more that happened that I just can't even remember at this point, because there comes a point during the bash when it's just like a blur where you're like, I don't know what day it is anymore. I don't know what event I'm going to. I don't know how many entertainment things I've seen or music I've heard or campfires I've sat at. Which is the beauty of the event because you lose time, right. You just lose track of time and you get very present. And you really get to just sink in, but here is my biggest lesson learned and something I will never do again. I don't think I'm ever going to work again from a bash. And I've worked at every single Escapers event I've ever gone to. I've never taken a vacation. And I think what that does is it. Unfortunately, it keeps me. Too attached to time, you know, I got to do this thing and 11 and I got to go do that thing at noon. I've got to present here and did it. And it takes me away from just, just enjoying the event because I'm always worried about being somewhere or doing something right. Or serving people. And so I just don't think I want to do it anymore. And that might even include not presenting at a bash, which I love. And I've done it. Since 2017. But, you know, where do you draw the line? Sometimes you got to say no. Right. And just live in the moment. And that is what I will do going forward. If I ever go to that, uh, that specific event again, because it's so fun. I didn't get to play any pickleball. I didn't do any yoga. I never went to one breath work session and I love doing breath work. So I regret that. I regret that. And I also regret, um, That I didn't spend more time with people. Because what happened is come Thursday morning. I had to go. And I knew it was coming. I felt it on Wednesday. My body was telling me time's up. Right? So Thursday morning I woke up and I was just coming on glued. My body was just not happy. The best way I can describe it is if you've ever driven a stick shift. You remember when you, or maybe you drive one. Now you remember when you would move the stick from one gear to the other and it would get stuck in a gear and make that like a sound. That's how my body felt for like a solid three days. Like I was stuck in a gear and I couldn't shift up or down. And it was just frustrating me so much that by Thursday morning, I thought this is the day I've got to go. Because I felt good enough to drive the van home, which is a whole thing. And I knew I would just couldn't take another night. I just couldn't do another cold, dark kind of wet feeling night. Um, so that's the other lesson learned I will need to be better prepared next time. Certainly I won't be in a rental van. Hopefully. That likely had some installation problems. Cause I never felt that bad. And I, in my own class, a motor home. Um, You know, it's cold or whatever, but I've never felt quite like that. So I won't do that again. And I, it's just, it's a bummer that I had to leave early, but it's not the only reason there were things at home. And in my personal life that were also calling me home. And it was just time to go home. And sometimes you just got to listen to what the signs are telling you. So I missed out on some other really cool things at the bash. And now that I'm seeing everyone's pictures coming out, I'm like, oh, I can't believe I missed that and that and that, but here's the, but you know what, there will be another one and there will be many more events. And the bash is just one of many, many events and convergences that the Escapers has and the escapees has. And the one thing that's really cool is I got. Uh, reinvigorated to do these things. And so I'll be doing more of, of these events this year. And when I do them, I'll do more road trip, podcast episodes if you enjoyed it. So thank you so much for listening. I hope you enjoyed this. If you're someone who wants to get out on the road and work from the road or retire on the road to. Wink wink. Uh, then you can do it, you know, I'll leave a little a segment at the end here where you can hear more about joining my free remote work training and, or remote work school so I can help you. All right. See you next time.

If you're looking to get back into the workforce, change jobs, work remotely, or learn artificial intelligence, check out my free remote work training so you can get ahead of the trends and stay ahead of the pack. Click the link in the show notes, or go to www.camilahealth.com and press the free training button.