“I feel there are two people inside me – me and my intuition. If I go against her, she’ll screw me every time, and if I follow her, we get along quite nicely.” – Kim Bassinger
When a beautiful landscape is also a safe place for Maggie and me to park Gypsy Lee, life couldn't be better. The Idaho state park campground above was lighted, patroled nightly and located by a scenic lake. -- Photo by Pat Bean
Travels With Maggie
When you’re an old broad who lives in an RV and often doesn’t know where she’s going to spend the night, safety is an issue. There are just too many sunrises and sunsets I still want to see.
I thought about this seven years ago when I sold my Utah home, and disposed of almost all my possessions and became a nomad.
My rules for staying safe on the road began with driving only during daylight hours and making sure I had a safe berth for the night. I quickly realized most inexpensive Forest Service campgrounds, where I thought I would be staying, didn’t quite fit that bill. They were a little bit too lonely and isolated for my comfort.
Written by Rana DiOrio and illustrated by Sandra Salsbury
National parks, state parks and decent commercial parks, while a bit more expensive, have become the mainstay for my nightly, weekly or even monthly stays, as this past summer when I volunteered as a campground host at an Idaho state park.
For additional safety, I have a guardian travel angel, a daughter-in-law who always knows the route I’m traveling when I’m on the road, and with whom I check in with once a day. And when I lock the doors of my 22-foot RV, I actually feel safer than if I were living in a home where I couldn’t see all the doors and windows. For added measure, my canine travel companion, Maggie, makes an excellent alarm system. She barks when anyone comes within about 30 feet of our home on wheels.
I wish when I was younger, and a mom of five kids, I could have felt as secure about their safety as I do today about mine. I was fortunate that my offspring escaped all the pitfalls of speeding cars, unsupervised creek swimming, stranger encounters and teenage foolishness to become adults who now worry about the safety of their children.
I do believe their job is even harder than it was for me, and more complicated for their children than it was for them. Rana DiOrio, author of the award-winning “ What Does It Mean To Be …” children’s book series tackles this situation in her latest offering” “What Does It Mean To Be Safe?”
It’s a book I want my grandchildren and great grand-children to read. One of the best messages of the book, which is delightfully illustrated by Sandra Salsbury, is that kids should follow their inner voices, that their own intuition will tell them when they are not in a safe situation.
I found this interesting because it was my own inner voice that told me I would be safer while on the road if I traveled only when the sun was out and spent my nights where there were people and lights.
I also remember times as a young child when my intuition told me never to be caught alone with a distant male relative. As an adult, I realized how on target my inner voice had been when I was only eight years old.
While designed for children, Rana’s book has a message even for us grownups.
Readers can buy her book by going to: http://shop.littlepicklepress.com/what-does-it-mean-to-be-safe-p33.aspx Enter the coupon code BBTSAFE at check-out to get free shipping and a free poster to go with the book.
Pat Bean's blog 
Pat, that is the book I’ve been looking for. I try to tell my children about safety and they don’t always take me seriously. I will get it for them. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for hosting us on your beautiful blog, Pat. This book is such a good way to start a conversation with children about different kinds of safety, and I know this has to be an issue traveling as much as you do.
Great post! It is definitely a book that has a message for the big folks too. I see a lot of parents who think bad things can’t happen to their children. They need to know that’s just wrong. They need to read this book!
What a wonderful analogy, Pat–
The process you follow for staying safe in Gypsy Lee is very much the process Rana talks about in her book–listening to your inner voices, and developing a safety plan that addresses your unique circumstances, and that under most conditions you cam implement without excessive outside help.
You’re so very right about our deepest fears being not for our own safety, but for our children’s safety. In retrospect, I grew up in a world filled with very real dangers, but I never really felt fear until I had to send my child out into the world. Just to survive, I had to teach him how to help me keep him safe (and our biggest fights are those that result from him flouting safety precautions).
Safety for kids is so tough these days. If I was a parent, I’d be a basket case.
Glad you watch yourself on the road, Pat. Too many weirdos out there.
Safety is so important for children. On Halloween, when my husband and I were driving in our suburb’s downtown area, a child was so excited and ran in front of an SUV. Fortunately, it stopped in time. He was young, and his mother should have been holding his hand, and paying more attention to him.
Morgan Mandel
http://acmeauthorslink.blogspot.com
http://morganmandel.blogspot.com
Intuition and the inner voice are so important, and children are remarkably good at discerning good from bad. Unfortunately, there are so many other pressures on them that can cause them to stray from their gut instincts. Pat, take care of yourself in your travels.
Thanks so much for your perspective, Pat, and for sharing the Kim Bassinger quote. I have been presenting this book and message to students all across the country. What has amazed me most is that even very young children have a clear understanding of what their “inner voice” means. I advise them to follow their inner voice, and it will guide them to safety. I took that advice myself recently, and now I am safe. Be safe, Rana DiOrio
I grew up in a rural area and didn’t think twice about safety – at least when it came to other people. Thought everyone was trustworthy – after all I was!! Got a rude awakening when I went out into the big, wide world. My intuition saved me more than once, and still does. Now my rule is: if it ain’t a Hell, Yes, then it’s a Hell, No!!
Stay safe and keep writing!
Personal safety for us lone RV travelers is not a much discussed issue but it cannot be too far below the surface of our thoughts. As a guy I escape the extra vulnerability that women feel. So I can—and often do—travel and night, park deep in the forest. I am in regular touch with close friends and sibs but don’t report my GPS location nightly. I have also acquired a stack of decades worth of street smarts, stay alter, trust my instincts and intuition.
There is a level of vigilance required of the solo vagabond that is above the ordinary plane and train, hotel and motel, restaurant and coffee shop traveler.
Most single female RV gypsies I’ve met have dogs—yappers are more popular than brutes. Half, or more, are packin’ weapons.
But every day and in every place, parked or on the road in a remote area, I feel safer than in many big cities especially in their shag-nastiest night time neighborhoods. I never been happier or had greater peace of mind or been more connected to my Self.
AL
Ride with me and Lightnin’ on our Year on the Road at http://allevenson.wordpress.com/
I truly do feel safer in my RV than I think I would living alone in a big old house. But because I’m a woman the first thing I’m often asked by someone not familiar with my nomad lifestyle, and more often by a man than a woman, is “Don’t you get scared.” I truly don’t. And while I take precautions, there is still one thing I refuse to give up. I hike on lonely trails alone, well with my dog but Maggie would be hiding behind me if trouble came along. It’s something that gives me extreme pleasure, and something I’ve been doing all my life. I refuse to give the trails I love over to the bad guys. If a strange man comes along, I smile politely at him, look him in the eye and say hello. I want him to know I’m not a “victim.” My former boss, an FBI agent turned publisher, offered to get me a gun and teach me how to shoot before I went on the road. I declined. But I’ve thought about getting one a few times. Thanks for commenting Al. It’s nice to get a male perspective. I meet a lot more old broads like myself than I do our male counterparts. Keep writing … Pat Bean https://patbean.wordpress.com
There must be a bit of gypsy in my blood, because these travel stories and living in tiny places sound like slices of heaven to me. Thanks for sharing your adventures with us!
I think one of the things that modern day parents do well is encourage children to listen to their own hearts and souls. Adults today have faith in young people’s abilities, and capabilities, allowing them to decipher things for themselves. And it’s books like these that help usher that way into actualization. Thank you, Pat, for such a nice introduction to such a terrific book!
Sounds like a great book. I talk to my kids about intuition, about that feeling that someone is a “bad guy.”
Recently, that got turned around on me when my 8 y.o. with ODD started screaming “These aren’t my parents!” in a public place. Fun, fun.
I would love to travel the country in an RV someday. It does sound romantic. Have fun, keep staying safe.
I think its important for books to teach parents as well as kids. All too often this is not the case. In this dangerous world of ours parents have to be vigilent and do their best to protect their children.
Sometimes when I’m having problems understanding something I know nothing about, I look for a children’s book about it to get an explanation in terms I can understand. Anybody else every try this. Thanks for commenting Stephen.