Gray Nomad,  gray with an a for active seniors lifestyle.
 
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I have been asked to answer a question about communication system in the event of an emergency and I am diverging out of the traditional home set up, because our home is not traditional, we are on wheels for half of the year like many of our gray with an a for active, nomad, generation.

We could plan for every possibility with hugely expensive set ups but we need to make affordable choices.

When we are at a fixed home base, for half the year, our neighbour has our house key and us, and there is someone we all trust, who has 200 local home keys. This is an ideal country living safety arrangement. In the event of a grass fire across the oat field opposite us, we would know our pet would be taken to safe shelter quickly and our home would be cared for as well as our neighbours home, regardless of if we were home or not.

Now my husband is ill, everyone knows. Recently we were given bags of fresh bread. The vet refused to take payment from me when Indigo got a grass seed in her ear. All because everyone knows how ill my man is and while we never overhear our neighbours or neighbours care about us, and they are not in view of our home, they are all keeping an eye on us making sure we are OK.

This buddy system is not time consuming. We do not meet for coffee, though we could.  Some locals gather together on verandas around 5 pm and we wave to the small happy hour groups of rural neighbours gathering together after work for a drink before heading home for dinner. Happy hour is a common event on a summers evening.

 

We go out and speak to neighbours when we hear a car come along our private rural road. Our road is our, communications system.

Any unusual change in pattern of coming and going or if a dog barks unusually, we go and knock on a neighbours door  and ask if anything is wrong, or we would enter and check. It is a buddy system I have never seen work in the suburbs where perhaps people do depend more on landline telephone. 

Here in the bush, we know that landline telephone lines are something that the cockies might have a chew on, and disrupt, right when you might have been depending on them. We have overlapping buddy systems going so if two buddies were out of action , another buddy would wake up to it and would be here in a shot.

It's not nosey, nor time consuming, we keep to ourselves, don't hang around for coffee, but we would water someone’s garden or mow their lawn if they were away, these things just happen, unspoken.  You cannot buy this sort of country community caring and security in a Telstra store.

Then I have a CB radio and we never travel on roads without having my radio roaming between Channel 18 the caravaner’s news radio and the truckies news, channel 40 so I learn in advance of risks up ahead and can communicate any risk situation we see or emergency we potentially might have. I have not needed to use it for this but it is more useful for fast help than a mobile phone and I have a mobile phone antenna mounted on the car so I have wider coverage along the highways.

That's our security communications security set up, along with solar power and petrol generator and a diesel engine so we have four potential power supply sources to power our communications systems.  These are more secure systems, but that would be looking at enormous cost.

Insurance is not my expertise, I have full insurance on our car and caravan, it gives me peace of mind, and I’m insured through RACV simply because of 50 years of habit and having our 50 years a member gold card discount. http://www.wholesaleinsurance.net  is a web site you can reference for some comparable insurance ideas.
 
 
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Firstly assemble all your equipment.
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Mix the paint.

Feel happy, ‘it’s going to look nice’ J

Move the bed out from the wall and place precious hand painted lamp on the bed

Climb the ladder with can of paint and streaky effects brush in hand.

See Indigo our poodle, making a running jump from the doorway to her favourite snooze place, the centre of the bed.

 
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Pick up the broken lamp pieces.

Yell for ‘help to find glue’.

Thank helper, for glue and begin to repair, favourite lamp.
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Feel happy. You’re going to be able to save the lamp.
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SCREAM loudly, ‘HELP’ as it all begins to come unstuck
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Finish painting the wall.

Paint the old étagère in special effects streaky greys and creams with mother of pearl, to match a set in bought wardrobe, opposite wall.  J, I love painting ‘special effects’J.

 
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Return lamp to spot beside bed, remember to lock the dog out of the room next time I put delicate items on the bed and get insurance quotes plus update home insurance before beginning project.

Turn lamp on and enjoy the effect of the mother of pearl wall behind the lamp and the bed, and be pleased that all that fancy paint work in permanent enamels, I did to unify it into the colour scheme of my bedroom, helped hide all the repair work, just keep the lights dimmed and you would never know Thinking how well the silvery pipping trim on the lamp shade, works well with the mother of pearl wall behind the lamp.

Feel Very pleased with the work. J.

Think ‘I must write into my time management essays how work always has a tendency to expand into the time available and beyond if you don’t plan properly. LOL,’ J

 
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Caravan and motorhome insurance


is one more essential for the gray nomad to shop around for, before leaving for the big trip.

Consider memberships to caravan or motor vehicle service clubs that may give discounts to members. Often combining policies with one insurer will allow for a considerable discount.

Essentials to organize before you leave on a trip.

Have copies of insurance policies with you in the mobile home and the originals in a safe storage area where a nominated family member, next of kin can access these in an emergency.

Organize for automatic bank withdrawals for payment of policy renewals.

Have reminder notes in your diary so you can ensure sufficient funds will be in the account when the automatic renewal date arrives

What is usually covered by RV insurance?

While RV insurance can vary widely from one insurance company to the next, there are some points that are standard:

Personal and third party liability, to cover you, your passengers, and any other vehicle, person or property that may be damaged in an accident.

Comprehensive cover for repairs to the RV after an accident, typically including windscreen replacement.

Contents cover. The standard amount included in your policy ranges from $1,000 to $10,000, depending on the company insuring you.

What not usually covered by RV insurance?

RV insurance frequently pays out only the market value of the campervan or motor home when it is destroyed or stolen, rather than paying the full price for a replacement. Also, many policies will not cover certain personal items you carry inside the RV, such as computers.

The photo is of a little accident we had at Mullawa in 2008.  I want to say a huge thank you to Caravan Court, Springvale for expert and affordable servicing of our Eco-Tourer slip stream caravan and repairing the damage from this accident at no charge as part of our warranty. ***** Five stars for excellence of after sales service.  Thank you also to the friendly local with the earth moving equipment who helped us out of the jam we were in. :-).

The best insurance is to do your homework and choose the best travelling home suited to your needs that you can afford. 

Ask other caravanners about the reliability of the RV manufacturer before you buy.
 
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