22/06/2024
Many of you know I have taken the year off from my biz due to this economy.....no one is buying or adopting dogs I am traveling around with my Labs around No Cali, Oregon and a bit of WA...boondockin/.Non-campgrounds.
The last 2 weeks I was out at Duncan Reservoir BLM property and it was very special. I met a couple staying overnight from the Netherlands. I wanted to share with all of you some of the conversation.
They are married, kids grown and they are now late 40s. They travel every 5 yrs abroad and have visited the States 20 yrs ago, 5 yrs ago and now. I asked them the differences:
Today more Americans wearing guns on hips, more have sold their homes willingly and now permanently residing in their RV or trlr, more politics discussed and find more conservatives living this lifestyle and most working in stores and restaurants not happy like before and the Americans that are happy and embracing their freedoms are the ones out living their freedoms.
5 yrs ago more using campgrounds and RV parks and living out in the bush or on the beach was not as common other than for homeless. Politics not discussed. Only saw a few guns...or none. Didn't recall if certain workers or travelers were more than happy than others.
20 yrs ago saw no guns. Only RV parks and campgrounds for overnight stay. Freedoms were huge. Everyone was happy. Politics not discussed. Didn't see much homeless other than a person needing a handout for food in front of a market.
They landed into San Francisco and were amazed in how much homeless they saw. They were forewarned about the crime there so they traveled north out of the city quick. They have been here for 3 months and are leaving in a few weeks. This trip they focused on Cal and Oregon only. They like seeing the desert as they don't have that terrain in Netherlands. They leave out of Portland in a few weeks but are thinking of traveling north into BC Canada for a bit of time and checking it out there.
They said they have a feeling this is the last trip for them into US. The news they hear in Netherlands is true about USA. I asked why, their answer is increase of guns as Americans are keeping them handy to protect themselves more so now and they are unable to have a gun while here. So they believe it is getting unsafe for them plus even though they have not seen or dealt with the illegals coming into US they are concerned in the future they might. They are going to travel to Canada or New Zealand from here on.
They feel bad for us Americans seeing the changes. They are excited to get home with new conservative changes at home in the Netherlands. I asked if others from their country have seen the same. They said they have run into many from their country and Europe here on this trip and have heard their Patriots from abroad say the same.
Last I looked we still have very little manufacturing here and the main income to this country is tourism.
Thought you all would find this interesting.