A question that I often asked my staff when I was running the BIG Vision Foundation was, “What is your ‘Why?’”

I loved hearing their answers.  Why did they get up every morning and come to work?  What was their motivation?  For many years, I had a photograph that hung on the wall of one of our concession stands. In was a picture of some of the kids in our organization with the words, “This is Why” written above the photograph.  That was my reminder every morning as to why I did what I was doing.  I absolutely loved what I was doing back then, so most days I didn’t need a reminder.  However, even the best jobs in the world don’t come without their bad days.  So, when one of those bad days might crop up, it was easy for me to be able to remind myself what all of the early mornings, late nights and 80-plus hour work weeks were for.

Back then, our, “Why” is something that we talked about as a staff almost daily.  Ironically, it isn’t something that I’ve given much thought about since we’ve been on the road.

One of the objectives of this journey was to be able to help tell the stories of the people that we would meet on the road.  One of the things that I loved was hearing my mom tell the stories of the people that she met on her journey.  I found it absolutely amazing that people that she may have only spent a few minutes with as well as those that she may have spent weeks or months with could make such a great impact on her life.  Some of those people she stayed in contact with, others she didn’t, but the impacts were great in either case.  She impacted them as well.  I know this from people who I never met showing up at her memorial service and telling us what she meant to them.

One man came up to me and told me that she saved his life.  He was an addict in recovery.  He was on the brink of using drugs again and committing suicide when he reached out to my mom.  He told me that she got together with him and they talked for hours.  She convinced him to write all of his pain, regrets, and things that he hadn’t forgiven himself for on a piece a paper.  After he did, she had him read them aloud and then they lit them on fire because it was time to forget about them and move forward.

I know what her impact was on others as well from the random letters that showed in up in my mailbox for months after she passed.  More people telling me what Loretta Magary meant in their life.

We haven’t been able to meet as many people as we were hoping to since we started traveling due to the pandemic.  However, there have been a handful.  So, as we’ve slowly been able to meet a few more full-time RVers on our journey, I love hearing their stories.  I want to hear their, “Why?” as well.  What were their reasons as to why they decided to live in an RV as opposed to a sticks and bricks house?

Strangely enough, I still possess a knack to be able to make adjustments.  With the pandemic hindering our ability to meet people in person, I’ve begun to reach out and meet several full-timers virtually.  Although, it did take me some time to readjust back to the Zoom world.  I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to do podcasts with two of them so far and I’m currently in the process of lining up a couple more.

Phil and Shar Roos, who founded the Year to Volunteer project and April Crossley, who is a real estate investor from our old hometown of Berks County, Pennsylvania are the two podcasts that I’ve done with fellow full-time RVers so far.  They each have incredibly inspiring stories and I can’t wait to meet them in person.

On this leg of our trip, I’ve also been able to do two “in person” podcasts.  One with one of my old players, Stephen Sauer and one with Anna Kimbrell, who is a member of the United States Women’s National Baseball Team.

I had been in a little bit of a rut with my podcasts up until about a month ago.  The frustration of not really being able to meet people was started to wear on me.  For the five years that I was doing the “Stepping Up to the Plate” podcast for the BIG Vision Foundation, I only ever conducted two interviews where I wasn’t sitting face-to-face with my guest.  It was that way with my new “Journey of My Mother’s Son” podcast as well.  We launched the premiere with my producer at the time, Toni Reece and knocked out our first four episodes with in person interviews.  Then the world started to shut down.  Sandy and I did our first episode together in quarantine and then I shifted into the Zoom world.  I figured that I might as well take advantage of the technology that was at my fingertips.

I did podcasts on Zoom from March through the end of the July.  As Sandy and I got closer to settlement on the house, we did several episodes of just the two of us talking about our preparation and anticipation of this new chapter.

Once we started traveling in August, I was able to do a few more in person interviews with some of my former players and some family members.  Then I hit a lull and, in my mind, it was almost as if I was fighting to go back to doing podcasts on Zoom.  It was like I was thinking that if I did a podcast on Zoom, then I had failed at accomplishing my goal of telling the stories of the people that we’ve met on our journey.

It was almost as though I had forgotten my “Why?”

I had to come to the realization that even though we are certainly on a real physical journey, telling the stories of the many little people in many little places that are doing many little things to make the whole world better isn’t limited to those who we meet in person.

I had to refocus on my, “Why?”  It wasn’t important what platform I was using to tell the stories.  What was important was that I was actually telling the stories.  What was important was that I was reaching out to guests and getting them on the show.  Regardless of how that happened, it just simply needed to happen.

I needed to refocus on making sure that I was consistently lining up guests for podcasts and telling those stories.  I also needed to focus on my writing more consistently as well.

At the end of the day, I am a storyteller.  Whether it’s telling those stories through the written word or through podcasting, my “Why?” on this new journey that God has placed me on is to tell the stories of the people we meet.  Hopefully those stories will help to inspire others as well.

It’s funny how sometimes we can get so distracted by things that don’t really matter.  Details are important, but sometimes we can be overwhelmed and distracted by the details.  Sometimes it’s ok to just figure it out as we go.  Sometimes we just need to take that leap of faith, that first step and take care of what we can control.  That which is right in front of us.  Take care of this moment today and worry about tomorrow when it comes.

As much as I absolutely love what Sandy and I are doing on this new journey, it doesn’t come without some pain points occasionally.  Every day is a new adventure, which is absolutely awesome.  Our biggest routine is that there is no daily routine.  We literally have the freedom to do what we want, when we want to, and many times how we want to do it.  That also means that I have to exercise the discipline to sit down and write when I can.  I have to still have the discipline to reach out to podcast guests and get them on the show.  I have to make sure that when I’m doing the show, I’m in a spot that has a good internet connection.  If there is one thing that all full-time RVers have in common, it’s cherishing a good internet connection.

I’ve always been able to be pretty fluid with whatever was thrown my way.  When I was working in sales, there were always adjustments to be made.  At the foundation and running a 130-acre youth sports complex, same thing.  Adjustments were part of my everyday life.  Being on the road is no different.  We always have to make some sort of  adjustments.  This leg of the trip, we experienced a gas shortage, so we had to adjust our thought process on when and how we would get fuel.  I somehow miscalculated the distance between our last two Harvest Hosts stops, so we had to adjust what time we’d be leaving one morning.

The main thing that you need to remember with making adjustments is understanding that it is so much easier to make those adjustments when you stay focused and remember what your “Why?” is.