A team of researchers with the University of Rochester say that exposure to nature not only makes us happier and healthier, it also helps us put greater value on personal relationships and community, and tends to make us more generous. To reach this conclusion, the team took 370 participants and exposed them to either nature, or to man-made environments.

Those in the study  were encouraged to attend to their environments by noticing colors and textures and imagining sounds and smells. In three of the studies, participants were shown a selection of four images on a 19 inch computer screen for two minutes each. Half of the subject viewed buildings, roads, and other cityscapes; the other half observed landscapes, lakes, and deserts. The urban and nature images were matched for color, complexity, layout, and lighting. In a fourth study, participants were simply assigned at random to work in a lab with or without plants. Participants then answered a questionnaire assessing the importance of four life aspirations: wealth and fame (“to be financially successful” and “to be admired by many people”) and connectedness and community (“to have deep enduring relationships” and “to work toward the betterment of society”).

Across all four studies, people exposed to natural elements rated close relationships and community higher than they had previously. The questionnaire also measured how immersed viewers were in their environments and found that the more deeply engaged subjects were with natural settings, the more they valued community and closeness. By contrast, the more intensely participants focused on artificial elements, the higher they rated wealth and fame.

To test generosity, two of the studies gave participants a $5 prize with the instructions that the money could be kept or given to a second anonymous participant, who would then be given an additional $5. The second participant could choose to return the prize money or keep it. Thus, subjects had nothing to gain if they chose to trust the other participant, and risked losing their money.

The result? People who were in contact with nature were more willing to open their wallets and share. As with aspirations, the higher the immersion in nature, the more likely subjects were to be generous with their winnings.

As RVers, we don’t need to look at a computer screen to see nature. Many of us can simply look out the windows of our rigs, step outside the door, and we’re surrounded by real nature. The findings shouldn’t be surprising–after all, RVers are well-known for their concern for others and an appreciation of a simple lifestyle.

photo: R&T DeMaris

Granted, some have health issues that really do “ground” them. But on the other hand, some who’ve taken the plunge and worked around the obstacles have found that RVing, far from being out of reach because of health problems, has actually helped them have a more positive outlook on their problems, and in some cases, actually decreased their health problems.

We’re moved to comment on this, as yet another RVer with a chronic and serious health issue has been profiled in the media. Years ago, Harvey Wells found out he had kidney trouble. He managed to work his way through it, but things got worse, and in 1988 Harvey had a kidney transplant. Life was pretty good, until 2006, when the transplant failed, and Harvey found himself making three times-a-week visits to a dialysis center. Dialysis appointments definitely put a hang-up on any RVing for Wells and his wife. Harvey reports that while the dialysis kept him alive, it also left him tired and worn out.

Two years ago the picture changed. Harvey got a portable dialysis machine for his own use. Rather than head off to a regional center for his sessions, Wells plugs into his home machine six times a week. More sessions per week, true, but each of those sessions was shorter than when he had to go into a center. And now for Harvey, his “home” sessions are where he parks it. That is, Harvey, his wife, and two grandchildren are now engaged in a cross-country motorhome trek, seeing sights, hitting football games, and spreading the news about his new freedom. He adds, doubling up the number of dialysis sessions per week has actually helped him feel more energetic.

Yes, it took some planning, and no doubt a lot of cooperation with doctors, but Harvey is having a ball. Other friends of ours too, are looking to getting out on the road. An older couple, he who struggles with internal issues that mandate twice monthly injections at the doctor’s office, and she who doesn’t ever know when her energy level will leave her needing the comfort of home, are now preparing to make a snowbird journey to the southwest. By working with his doctor, the gentleman has secured the necessary medications and the training to self-administer. For her, having the motorhome with them is unlike traveling in a car and “moteling it.” If her strength departs her, their own motorhome being readily available simply means staying put “at home on the road,” taking it easy until her body feels ready to go again. And with the clear days of the southwest, we’ll wager easily that her “up days” will probably far outnumber the “down days” she’s struggled with before.

Don’t let the pains and problems of health cause you to think that RVing is out of the question. Question your doctor, tell them what you’d like to do, find out if there’s a way. You’d be suprised how many doctors recommend travel to a healthier climate when the possibility exists.

photo: R&T DeMaris

First, consider your RV kitchen. What’s really required for on-the-road canning is a lot of what’s required in a sticks-and-bricks environment: Lots of hot water, a range top you can control, and counter space to park jars while the cool and seal. We’ve found our standard six-gallon RV water heater to have sufficient capacity and recovery time to handle the rigors of home canning. The LP gas range, while it may not have as high a BTU output as the “home” equivalent (hence taking a bit longer to reach “temp”) was handy, as controlling pressure in a pressure canner is predicated by the burner. A gas burner is so much more variable than an electric range, and faster reacting, too.

A couple of other considerations? For us, during canning time, we simply resign ourselves to eating outdoors, or eating in the living room. We dedicate the dinette table to cooling jars. The one snarl you may find: Canning and boondocking don’t lend themselves to simultaneous performance. You need a LOT of water for canning, and there’s a lot of waste water generated. This can quickly outstretch the capacity of your freshwater and  gray water holding tanks. And canning on a hot day is a nasty business without air conditioned comfort–putting up in an RV park or campground with full utilities is a real necessity for canning.

But think of the advantages: You can go to the source of FRESH foods, be they vegetables, fruit, or even seafood. Pick up your produce or products, return to camp, and you’ll have some of the freshest canned foods available–oh so much better than you’ll ever buy at the store.

We’ve found that canning smaller containers, pints, makes the most sense for us. We store our empty or full jars in appropriately sized plastic storage containers. For big rigs with basement storage, it’s easy to keep both the completed work and the canning gear. For ease of work, water bath canning (fruits and acidic vegetables) is much, much easier than pressure canning, but yes, you can successfully pressure can “on the road.” Of course, you do well to take the “normal” safety precautions when canning on the road–have your pressure canner gauge checked at the start of the season; toss out any questionable canned goods (jar and all!), and above all else, enjoy the fruits of your labor!

photo credit: thebittenword on flickr.com

Maybe it is a brave new world out there. Red Box Video challenges the concept of movie rental stores by putting a kiosk in every Walmart.  OK, not in every Walmart, but in lots of Walmarts across the country, and in places like McDonald’s fast food joints, and Albertson’s grocery stores. What doth Red Box offer?

* $1.00 a night DVD rentals (just add a buck a night for each additional night you keep it)

* Reservations on the video of your choice by Internet (your movie waits for you)

* Around 200 new titles per kiosk, and new titles added on every Tuesday

* Returns at ANY Red Box kiosk, regardless of where you originally rented the movie.

We were afraid that “new releases” probably meant we’d never find anything we wanted. But popular “older” titles like Lawrence of Arabia are actually up for rent as well. And if you’re traveling with the younger set, there are plenty of family class videos available–chuck one in the DVD player on those long stretches and don’t worry about the, “Are we there yet” chorus.

How does it work? You can either run up to the video kiosk and choose from whatever titles you see displayed, or run up redbox.com on the web and pick out a video you’d like to reserve. Either way, at the kiosk you’ll swipe your credit or debit card and the machine pops the video out of a slot. On return, simply hit the “return” key and follow the instructions to have your video verified and checked back in. Here’s the catch with reserved videos. Your card is changed when you make the reservation, and if you don’t turn up at the appointed kiosk by 9:00 pm that evening, your “reserved” DVD can be checked out by anyone else–and you’re still charged the rental fee.

For a redbox location near your RV, go to redbox.com, and be prepared with either a zip code or city and state.  Now, if they can just add fresh popcorn with your choice of butter and salt, maybe this concept would be perfect!

Like many states, South Dakota doesn’t require a “full season” commitment from its volunteers. Maybe you’ve got someplace you need to be in mid-summer–outside of the Midwest. Happily, you can indicate which months you’re available, and the parks folks will see if they can work your schedule. Interestingly, the state says they have particular need for hosts on the “shoulder” months: April and May or September and October.

Want more information on the ins and outs of state campground hosting? Here’s a shameless pitch: Check out our book, Camp Hosting USA at the the RV Bookstore. On sale now at 35% off the list price. Wow! And for more details on South Dakota campground hosting, check out the state’s web site.

host photo: South Dakota State Parks

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health say that the 1995 repeal of the federally mandated 55 mile-per-hour speed limit has resulted in a much higher incidence of traffic fatalities. You might recall that in the oil-starved 1970’s, Congress enacted a law that cut down on fuel consumption. From 1974 right up to 1995, “double nickle” speed limits were the rule throughout the nation. Lead author of the study, Professor Lee Friedman writes, “During the first year there was a drop of almost 17 percent in fatalities after the speed laws were reduced to 55 miles per hour.”

And since the law was repealed, and states have been allowed to use their own judgment on freeway speeds? “Over the 10-year period following the repeal . . . there were approximately 12,500 deaths due to the increased speed limits across the U.S.” Making a comparison to the tragedy of the September 11 terrorist attacks that took 3,000 lives, Friedman says, “That tragic event has led to a whole new foreign policy. We estimate that approximately 12,500 people died as a result of a policy to deregulate speed enforcement–four times what happened on September 11th-and yet changing the policy to reduce speed limits may be very difficult.”

But if Friedman thinks federal mandates should rule again on freeway speeds, he isn’t alone. This week the American Trucking Association (ATA), an interest group for commercial truck drivers, made a repeated call for federal a back-down in speeds. Rather than calling for 55 signs, however, the ATA says they think a national speed law of 65 miles-per-hour would enhance safety for the traveling public.

photo courtesy California Highway Patrol

Hydrate: Dehydration. Heat stroke. Heat exhaustion. Heat cramps. None of them sound fun, and most can be prevented. If your travels take you to hot weather, be sure to prepare. Keeping plenty of water in your system helps. Health experts advise if you don’t have kidney problems that drinking a pint of water an hour if you’re outdoors and exerting yourself. Don’t make alcohol part of your liquid intake, it simply accelerates dehydration.

If your compaion (or yourself) seems confused and they’ve been out in the sun, get medical help.

Watch out for heat related pain. Cramps are brief muscle cramps that happen during work or excercise in the heat. Calves, thighs, abdomen, and shoulders are particular targets.  Exhaustion happens when your body can’t maintain its normal functions because of fluid loss. Heavy sweating, intense thirst, dizziness, nausea, and a pulse either rapid or weak are signals of danger. Heat stroke is a life-threatening emergency. As water and salt dwindle in the body, body temperature rises substantially. A body temperature over 104 is a sure sign, although it can happen at lesser temperatures; disorientation, confusion, even coma can result. Call 9-1-1 for help.

Keep safe by keeping cool! Stay in air conditioned areas where possible, and take to the shade if outside.

Suntan Danger: Sun exposure can lead to skin burns, heat rash, even cancers. Stay out of the sun between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. when possible. Wear a sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or greater. Keep your head covered. Apply sunscreen every two hours if you’ve sweated, been swimming, are in the wind, or at high altitude.

Thanks to the US Aif Force for the illustration

Even if you’re a “challenged do-it-yourselfer” it may not be too difficult for you to build a cabinet shelf divider. Even if you can’t cut a board, the “Mom and Pop” lumber yards will often cut boards to your specified length for a small fee, or sometimes for free.  Here’s a simple divider project to consider.

We started out with a cabinet over an RV’s “TV alcove.” The two-door cabinet was nothing more than a single box hidden behind those doors, and pretty useless for our needs. We decided if we could put just one shelf halfway across the cabinet it would allow us to put tall stuff on one side, and smaller items on the other. To do this we needed a flat shelf with two supporting ends.

First rule: Accurate measurements. We measured inside the cabinet from the back wall up to the inside edge of the cabinet. We also gauged how “tall” we wanted the shelf unit. Based on those measurements we figured we wanted a “shelf” that was 15 and a quarter inches wide, and 11 and three-quarter inches deep. To support it, we figured we needed two “end” pieces 8″ tall, and the same depth as the shelf.

Off to the lumber yard, where the “yard bird” who helped us found a small chunk of thin plywood that met our needs. Using the dimensions provided, he cut the plywood into pieces, and we walked out for a bit under $4.00 for the shelf and cutting. Here’s where we say, “accurate measurements.” Had we been thinking, we would have made sure that the same “depth” applied at both sides of the cabinet. When we got the pieces back to the rig, we found that the cabinet was not square–on the right side, where we’d measured it was 11 and three-quarters deep, but on the left side, “between the doors,” we were almost a half inch “too long.”

While we may not qualify as “wood butchers,” one of us can run a saber saw, so this problem was quickly dispatched. Next, we sanded the rough edges of our materials down smooth. We could have added a coat of finish or two, but in this case, time dictated we had to get the shelf in sooner than later. Using metal “corner braces” from the hardware store, we screwed four braces onto the underside of the shelf. We made sure that the distance in from the edge of the shelf would accommodate the plywood support pieces. Mind you, we didn’t screw the support pieces onto the shelf yet–there wouldn’t have been enough room to get the unit into the cabinet in one piece.

We placed one upright support in the cabinet, balanced the shelf in its proper location on it, predrilled a screw hole into the support, and drove home the screws. Repeating the process with the other upright left us with a slightly “crooked leg”–the support trying to “toe in” under the shelf. A small wood screw driven into the wood of the bottom of the cabinet held that reluctant support in place–but be careful if you do that. Oftentimes cabinets have “false bottoms” that may contain electrical wiring. Don’t short your fuses!

We now have a much more serviceable storage cabinet, and it took less than $6 in supplies and a relatively enjoyable hour or two of labor.

1.Pick a good agent. Don’t just throw a dart at the yellow pages, be selective. An agent who sells homes in your own home’s price range will be in the best position to help you. Cruise neighborhoods in your range and see whose name or what brokerage pops up. Then interview three different possible agents. Ask them how they would go about selling your home. What are market conditions now, what’s selling and why. Ask them how they’re different than any other real estate agent and why you should sign with them. Don’t sign with an agent that you don’t feel comfortable with.

2. Price it Right: If you’ve lived in “the old place” for ages, your emotions may well color your judgment as to how much to ask. A real estate agent who is familiar with your neighborhood is often in a better position to suggest an asking price. And to sell quicker, you’ll probably wind up with less.

3. Declutter: One of the biggest turn-offs for prospective home buyers is a cluttered house. If you’re moving into the fulltime lifestyle, you’ve probably already had your share of garage sales. If there’s “stuff” that you’ll be taking with you in the new life, but it adds to a cluttered appearance, beg space from a friend, or rent a small storage unit to put those precious possessions. If you won’t be taking them with you, just get rid of them.

4. Turn-key is the key: Many home buyers in today’s overloaded market are looking for a place they can move into without having to do anything but bring in the furniture. If you can do it, or afford to have it done, fix things that need fixing. A fresh coat of paint, a bit of landscaping, deferred maintenance items, get them taken care of before you hang the For Sale sign.

5. Be prepared to “sweeten” a deal: It used to be that buyers and sellers would split closing costs. In today’s cold footed real estate economy, be prepared to offer to pay more–maybe even all–of the closing costs.

What if it doesn’t sell in time? Consider renting the place out, but make sure the new tenants will be willing to be ready to show the house. That can be a bit tricky, because if they’re sloppy and cluttered, walk-throughs with prospective buyers can be a nightmare. It’s a bit of a trade off: Can you afford to keep the house un-tenanted, or run the risk of the “tenants from hell”? It’s a tough call, and one we’re glad is long behind us!

First, a bit of a Medicare primar: Medicare is the federal government sponsored health plan for folks 65 or over, or others who are eligible for the plan because of a disability. Medicare has several important “flavors” if you will.  Part A covers hospital stays and “skilled nursing facility” care. Part B is for the day-to-day doctor visits, lab tests, x-rays, and a host of other medical services. Durable medical equipment like canes and walkers fall under Part B. Part D is the most recent Medicare add-on, which helps pay for prescription drugs.

No, we didn’t forget Part C. This is an optional plan, where you can voluntarily sign up for a “Medicare Advantage Plan,” which in many cases actually saves you money. Part C offers a variety of individual health insurance “plans” which often limit who you can see to a given list of medical providers in their “network.” Go out of the network, you may have to pay more. The question fulltimers often raise is simple: Why on earth would you enroll in such a plan if you spend time traveling outside of the network area? With “standard” Medicare Parts A and B, you can go to any doctor, anywhere in the country who accepts Medicare and get help.

It often comes down to money. On standard Medicare, Part B visits (say to the doctor or get X-rays) you’ll pay 20% of the total bill–after you’ve satisfied a yearly deductible amount (presently $135). Need to go to the hospital? Hold on to your wallet! You’ll pay over $1,000 before Medicare starts picking up the bill. However, one RVer we know who carries a Medicare Advantage plan coughs up a co-pay of just $100 a day for being in the hospital. When he visits the doctor he hands over a $20 co-pay (or $30 for a “specialist). How much does he have to pay for the plan? The same amount is deducted from his Social Security check that all other Medicare recipients are docked, and for his plan, he pays nothing else. Prescription drugs? Under his plan, $8.00 a month each for his “generics.”

What about the network restrictions? “On my plan,” he tells us, “I can see any doctor, anywhere in the US who will accept Medicare assignment and whose willing to bill my insurance company. I had surgery in Tucson, seen specialists in Washington State, and if I need to see somebody in Vermont, I won’t have any problems.” But here’s the fine print: The plan isn’t available to everyone on Medicare. What plans are available are based on your residency address. Our RVing friend shows his residence address in a fairly large city in Washington, and his plan is just one choice among many. Another friend of ours who shows residency in Quartzsite, Arizona has few plans to choose from.

For fulltimers, here’s just one more thing to throw into the mix of where to call “home” for tax and insurance purposes. By logging into the Medicare web site, you can investigate what plans are available by logging into medicare.gov. We’ll spell out a specific way to go about this later. You can also compare “medigap” plans on the web site, which are insurance plans that allow you to keep standard Medicare but help pay the difference between what Medicare pays the doctor and what the total bill is.

Doing the research is admittedly a pain in the neck. It can be a frustrating bunch of mumbo-jumbo, but if you stick with it, you’ll find what Medicare option best fits your needs–and your finances.

What to look for: First, you’ll need to evaluate your own priorities. If money is an issue, find out how much the plan costs, both in terms of an up-front monthly payment to the insurance company, and how much individual co-pays are for each type of service. When you check out plans on the Medicare website, you’ll be asked the general state of your health, and the site will provide estimates of your annual cost for each plan. It’s a pretty broad estimate, but at least you can compare plan for plan to see which would likely cost less.

You’ll also need to know what happens if you go out of the network–if the plan has one. Some plans are very tight and only allow you to obtain non-emergency services in the network. Others will allow you to go out of the network for a higher cost. Still others may allow you to see any doctor, anywhere, who’ll accept Medicare assignment.

Be sure to check out how much it will cost you for prescription drugs. Each plan has its own “formulary” of what drugs it allows, and how much you’ll pay for them. If you’re on a lot of drugs, or some expensive ones, it will pay to shop around.

The one RVer cited above who has the “go anywhere” plan, there is another hitch to look for: He can’t be out of his “home” state for more than six months. As a result, in his travels he always plans on being “home” twice a year to meet the plan requirement.

Learning more about Medicare plans: Log on to www.medicare.gov.  Lookfor the option on the left side of the screen labeled, “Plan Choices” (this will also help you sort out Medigap plans) and click on it. Chose the “Medicare Advantage Plans” option. Now look for the choice, “Medicare Options Compare,” and next find “Find and Compare Health Plans.” (Whew! Told you this could be frustrating!). If you click on “General Plan Search” you can enter a zip code for any town in the country you might call “home,” and you’ll find what plans are available and the details.