The People you Meet: Episode 1

He looked a lot like Sean Connery and his dark bushy eyebrows commanded attention. He had a trimmed white beard and a hint of Scottish in his English accent.
We first met Dick at a rest-stop south of Lethbridge, Alberta. I had immediately noticed the odd European-looking licence plate on the white Mercedes camper van as we pulled in. By the time I emerged from the bathroom, Frank had struck up a conversation with the owner. We learned that he had shipped his van from England to Baltimore and was travelling around the US and Canada. He mentioned that he had run into snow somewhere along the way and that "she couldn't handle that", as he nodded towards the van. I assumed his wife was inside. Sounded like they were on a great adventure.
Like us, he was also heading towards Yellowstone, but seemed to be set to spend the night there at the rest stop. We bid him farewell and said "you never know, we might see you in Yellowstone". "Not likely!", he replied. "It's a big place!"
A couple of nights later after pulling in to Mammoth Springs campground in Yellowstone, who did we spot but Dick. Well actually we spotted his distinctive van. We greeted him and I said to him "see, you didn't think we'd find you!" He accepted an invitation to join us for a drink after dinner.
Early in our chat, I asked Dick about his wife, and he said "oh no, she's been gone a few years, I'm alone". Well, the penny dropped immediately. Turns out I had totally misunderstood who the "she" was that he had referred to. It was, of course, the van. Silly me. I apologized and explained my misunderstaning. (Frank told me later that he knew that the she was the van!).
Over a couple of beers, Dick shared with us that he had cared for his wife for ten years of illness, and now that she had gone, he was still searching for his purpose in life. He is over seventy, no kids. They chose not to have kids, as he put it, for selfish reasons, and now he feels he's paying the price.
He had researched this trip, had sold his previous RV as he thought he needed something more rugged for this continent. The van is actually registered in Scotland although Dick now lives in Cornwall. He and his wife had moved there after retiring from teaching in Birmingham. He had gotten a six month return ticket on the cargo ship, but admitted to us that he didn't think he'd last three. He feels completely out of his comfort zone, stresses about the van and having issues with it, finds the distances very vast and finds it annoying that you can't get a spot in some popular campgrounds without advance reservations. Mostly he's just lonely.
We weren't sure what to say to our new friend. What can you say to someone who has lost his life partner and is going through what must be one of life's most difficult challenges. We empathized with his situation, but tried to encourage him. We chatted about options for his journey back to the east coast.
Perhaps we can all relate to Dick's search for his purpose in life to a certain degree. I still think about him and hope the best for him.

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