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Queen of the Road

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Tim and Doreen Orion full time RVers

Sometimes letting go and trying something new is the key to revitalizing a relationship. This, at least, is what Doreen Orion found.

Doreen, a psychiatrist, and author of Queen of the Road is married to a fellow psychiatrist. And that's where the similarities end. Her husband Tim is a driven, type A person who enjoys roughing it in the great outdoors and keeping busy. Doreen is a self proclaimed pampered Princess from Long Island whose idea of roughing it is staying at the Holiday Inn. So how and why did such opposite personalities come together? The answer is only part of the story.

It all began with a trick. Tim's first challenge was getting Doreen to go out on a date with him. Using his psychiatrist powers, he was able to outwit Doreen and trick her into going on a date. They have been together since. But after they were married, the ever-ambitious Tim set his sights on the most daunting challenge - convincing Doreen to take a mid-life career break and travel all over the U.S. in a bus for a year. This task would not be easy. Doreen's life was comfortable and she was content. Why would she want to change anything?

When Tim presented the idea, Doreen's reply was simple and to the point. "I will never, ever live on a bus." Doreen was adamant. She asked Tim, "Why can't you be like a normal husband in a mid-life crisis and have an affair or buy a Corvette?" Clearly, Doreen lacked the enthusiasm for the trip Tim was hoping for. This would be much harder than scheduling a date.

Tim found persistence to be the key to success. After years of asking Doreen to join, she finally consented. Tim was thrilled. Doreen was not. Doreen agreed to the trip not out of excitement, but out of love for Tim. It was a personal sacrifice. "It wasn't something I wanted to do. I tried to keep everything that was familiar to me while full timing. I kept in touch with friends. I had a library shelf installed in the RV. And we brought our pets."

As their trip progressed, Doreen began to notice a change in her outlook. She was beginning to enjoy the adventure that can only be had when RVing. "One thing I realized I loved about RVing is that I can travel while staying home in my pajamas. And that really got me to like it, initially. We met so many interesting people on our trip. People that we otherwise would have never met."

As her opinion of RVing was becoming more positive, her relationship with Tim was strengthening. The trip was providing Doreen and Tim new, fresh experiences to share together. "It's wonderful to see your spouse in new situations and share new experiences with him." Far from sitting in bed all day, eating bon bons, and reading (which she is not opposed to) Doreen was sharing in the adventure, stretching herself in new ways. She and Tim visited a nudist ranch and participated in naked karaoke.

For Doreen, the trip opened her eyes to a new world. "It took Tim several years to convince me to do 'the bus thing,' and I'm so glad he did. It changed our lives. Spending 24/7 together in 340-square feet for 365 days with our 60-pound dog and two cats, Tim and I discovered we were happier than we've ever been." By trusting in her husband and "letting go" Doreen was able to discover qualities of her husband and herself that had formerly been invisible. Most surprisingly, she found that she loves RVing. Doreen and Tim have put their home on the market and are planning to live in the bus full time.

For more information on Doreen and her RV adventures visit:
http://www.queenoftheroadthebook.com on Twitter or on Facebook.

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