What Should I do about this Problem?
When you're RVing you sometimes run into a problem or situation, and you can't figure out how to fix it.
Everyone has problems, but sometimes it seems like we RVers have more than our fair share. Like the silverback gorilla in the picture at the top of the page, sometimes we have to scratch our heads and give some serious thought to what we're going to do about a problem.
(By-the-way, awhile back I spent two weeks hiking and tent-camping in the mountains and jungles of Uganda. I did this so I could see silverback gorillas in the wild and up close. They're amazing creatures. I got some great close-up pictures of them but unfortunately, the pictures are on a different computer that I don't have with me here in Costa Rica, so this is a free stock photo that I downloaded and not one I took myself.)
Back to talking about problems
A lot of things we think of as problems are not real problems at all. They're just attitude problems.
I saw a post on Facebook the other day where a guy said the biggest problem he had with RVing was not having room for a printer.
That's an attitude problem. There is plenty of room in an RV (even in a van) for a small, wireless printer. If you really can't find room for a printer, get rid of a pair of shoes. I use my printer all the time, and I wouldn't want to be without it.
Another so-called problem I hear people talking about is not being able to take a long hot shower. If you're in a bathhouse at a campground, you can take a long hot shower. Of course, sometimes the water is not as hot as you would like it to be, but most of the time I've found it to be plenty hot.
If you're in your RV, you have six gallons of hot water (some RVs have 10-gallon hot water tanks). That will allow you to take a reasonably long shower. If you want to splurge, you can invest in a continuous hot water system. That way you won't ever run out of hot water.
But if you're boondocking, running out of hot water is not your only concern. You don't want to fill up your gray water tank. That's when you will have to take what's called a navy shower. That means you get wet, turn the water off, lather up, turn the water back on and rinse off. It's not perfect, but that's what you have to do.
Complaining about not being able to take a long, hot shower is another attitude problem, in my opinion. You can solve the problem if you want to. It's just a matter of how bad you want to solve the problem.
Bottom line: Like the gorilla at the top of the page, sometimes you have to stop, scratch your head, and give some serious thought to solving a problem. But before you waste much time worrying about a problem, stop and think about whether it's a real problem or just an attitude problem.