The older I get, the pickier I get about the weather. When I was a kid, I don’t think the weather affected me at all, and I certainly don’t remember factoring it into my plans. I don’t remember 80 degree days being any different than 100 degree days. It’s possible I recognized some days were warmer than others, but there was never a summer day too hot for me to ride my bike. There was never a winter day too cold for a snowball fight.

That was a long time ago, long before I could feel upcoming changes in the weather deep within my bones. Whenever I check into a hotel room, my first order of business is to locate and set the digital thermostat to exactly 70 degrees. A single degree in either direction just won’t do. The thermostat must be set before I open my suitcase, locate the television remote, or use the bathroom. I’ve gotten soft in my old age.

This past August was one of the hottest on record in Oklahoma, with may days breaking 100 degrees. September was not quite that hot, but still warmer than usual. It was hot enough that I did not want to work on the van, or camp in the van, or frankly do anything with the van. My so-called “adventure van” has spent a very un-adventurous couple of months in my driveway.

Next week they’re predicting temperatures in the 70s all week. It would be perfect camping weather… if my camper were done. If everything goes right, I can work on the van while the weather’s perfect to have it ready to go for when the weather’s not perfect. Vanlife is complicated.

In many of the vanlife YouTube videos I’ve watched, people talk about the challenges of the lifestyle. People are always overcoming challenges — physical, mental, and financial. They also talk about how great it feels to overcome those challenges. I’m not sure how I feel about that, and secretly I worry that I’m not that type of person. If I liked challenges so much, wouldn’t I have been out there in the heat, toiling away on the van? If I like forward to challenges so much, why aren’t I out there working on it right now? I worry that I’m not up to this challenge. I worry about a lot of things.

I worry that the weather won’t be perfect next week.