Daydreaming was made for downtime! And, with a pleasant day, just outside of Stoughton, Wisconsin, I look back at how I got this far with my experiences in trucking, my goals for running my paperwork on computer, and even how I have felt more at ease to wherever the last load leaves me. Before stating this lifestyle, I always wondered what it is like, not knowing where you may wind up, in a forced dispatched transportation business. I always wondered if it was as adventurous as it sounded. It took over five years to confirm my wonderment.  Like any career change, it starts out rough, being “immersed” into field with strict rules and guidelines, dangers of all sorts, and that endurance I keep talking about. Over time, every driver finds a routine they can make their own, and keep it up. But after all the learning curves, that adventure finally caught up. Now, comes the curiosity to explore.

      In trucking, there is no gradual application through this experience. It’s more along the lines of, “you want it, you got it, now deal with it”, and holds true to, “Be careful for what you wish for, you just might get it.” Once you get past all that, there is a life worth experiencing in truck driving. Looking back, I had a different agenda, and made that first time learning curve harder than it had to be. Somehow, I was able to stay persistent, and include more work into the typical paperwork of trucking…yeah, I’m talking about computing. But, I did it.

      Not only was the experience hard at first, but it was also hard to work out how to do everything by computer. The first three winters were hard on every machine, and the first two summers knocked out the one’s that handled the winters. Hey, I wonder if Consumer Reports would like some stories.  I actually learned how to buy cheap, but for more than one (I’ve mentioned redundancy, and the need for spare equipment in the past). I’ve even had one experience that challenged me to decide what was the minimum amount of personal and business materials I needed for this “adventure”. Disposing of a wardrobe of clothing, and many accessories, I got it down to what makes me feel comfortable to count on, when in the past, I counted on having more than I needed, just in case…whatever came along. I threw out nine green garbage bags of old and ripped clothing, and technical accessories, fighting down to a common denominator. It must have been over two hundred pounds of personal gear, old, yet no longer necessary. Of course, the regret phase came fast, but, I still found myself seeing the brighter side of “traveling light” and having more room.

      So, now comes the thoughts of exploring. Between the local news, and the internet, curiosity on how to use future downtime (when the truck is not under a load, and safe at a terminal) becomes my next focus. Maybe it took the month of May 2012 to roll by to start noticing the local events and “going’s on” in the places I was at rest at. Of course, it is not like changing into sneakers and just walk about. No, I know I can be more creative than that, and start planning down time, rather than let it be a need for one reason or another, pick where I want to be, and start seeing what is going on.

      I have not even done some of the things I did before driving, such as fish and bowl. There are plenty of spots that offer Non residence one day fishing permits, and bowling alleys exist in large towns and cities. Horse riding came to mind. By the way, now I wish I had thought about this when in Louisville for their fireworks and amusements weekend, then again, that month of May had to pass for the inspiration to come about. With my work habit where downtime is not weekly, maybe it is time to stop walking around to parts unknown, and plan the time. I bet there are plenty of craft shows and fairs this year, all planned and advertised (and can even be found online).

     I guess my downtime Blogs will have more to talk about, sometime in the future. 🙂