I decided to start this blog so that I can keep track of the many adventures that I have as a trucker's wife who travels with him. I've noticed lately that there are a lot of support groups and blogs for the trucker's wives who stay home and miss him (as there should be) but I haven't found very many places for those of us who have the opposite problem--trying not to kill him as you spend weeks or months together in an enclosed space.
Now, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Manda, I'm 26 years old and I was born and raised in Texas, spending summers and holiday vacations in Arkansas with my dad. I have four brothers and one sister, three wonderful parents and a lot of amazing family. My dad has been behind the wheel of a truck for pretty much my whole life and I went with him several times as a child, so I thought I was prepared when my husband came home and opened a discussion about him going to school to get his CDL. His big thing was that he didn't want to be away from me so he stressed that I had to be okay with being on the truck with him after his probation period was up. I remembered all of the good times I used to have with my dad and agreed almost instantly, thinking that it was going to be a blast and that this was the easiest decision I'd ever made.
Boy, was I wrong about that last part!
I'm sure that you can see the differences between going over the road with your dad and going over the road with your husband. I'm also pretty sure that you can see the differences between going out on summer vacation and permanently. I did. But what I failed to account for was the differences between going over the road as a child and going out as an adult.
Think about it--when you're a child, everybody takes care of everything for you, you don't have to help out a lot and most importantly... they make sure to get you to a bathroom as soon as possible. As an adult, you are often helping your husband back out into the street by blocking traffic (scary!), trying to get the truck's engine to turn over while he looks at it to try to figure out problems, helping with a pre-trip, helping him unhook/hook to a trailer...
The list is endless and mostly I don't mind doing any of it. (Well, except for blocking off traffic. I don't like doing that part because it can get pretty hairy.) It was a pretty rude awakening though to realize that I wasn't just getting to quit my job and see the country with no effort on my part. Instead, I became a part of his job and even though I don't have a CDL I consider us a team. He drives, I cook and clean. I go into the truck stops in the morning to get us breakfast, Coke and coffee and help with the pre-trip if he's not done by the time I get back. I try to help him out as much as possible because now I understand how stressful this job really can be.
Bathroom breaks are seldom and far between because of tight loads, huge stretches of highway with absolutely nowhere to stop and sometimes just because we need the money and can't afford to stop. "If the wheels ain't turning, you ain't earning." I'll never forget the first home time that we had after our first trip out together. I thought that sleeping in my bed was going to be the best thing ever but as it turned out, being able to just get up and walk a few yards to go to the bathroom is my favorite thing in the world now. We even got a hotel room the other night because of truck problems and all that I could think was, "Yes! I can go to the bathroom with little effort!" (True story.)
But, with all of the bad things that I've listed so far... I love this life and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I've been to 27+ states so far, I meet new people all the time, I'm getting to see things that I never dreamed I'd see, and most importantly I get to spend every day with my husband. This may not seem like that big of a deal unless you have ever had to go for weeks/months at a time without seeing your significant other but let me tell you, it sucks. I spent six months at home only seeing him for two days every two weeks. That means that we only spent four days out of the month together and even though we talked on the phone often, it's not the same.
Now, the one drawback about spending so much together is that we fight a lot more. All of the little nitpicks turn into big annoyances when you spend so much time together. He always wants us to spend time together when the truck's not moving but I've recently started putting my foot down on that. We spend quality time together but I will also take my laptop into the truck stop every once in a while and just get away for a little while. It's already helped a lot!
I suppose that I should let you see what my trucker and I look like, huh? The first picture is over a year old and the picture of us is a few months old but neither of us like to take pictures. :) Our picture is from just before we went to the wedding of two of our really good friends.
So... I think that I've made this long enough for now. :) If you have any questions about truck driving, me or anything else then please feel free to ask me!
~~Manda (Current location: Davenport, IA)
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