This is a weird place to be. We have lived in Honalee, our new 5th wheel and our home, for over 3 months. We have no traditional home. We live in an RV park. We only have 2.5 weeks before we retire. We are almost there!
You know how life just kind of happens? You know, you grow up, you go to school, you might meet someone, you may get married, you have a job, you might have kids and life just keeps going on and on. Tom and I have never set a big goal and worked toward it. Maybe little ones like when we needed a new vehicle, researched and bought one. Or we wanted a new job so we applied for jobs. But never a huge life changing goal. We lived and worked in Kansas because that's where we were and where Tom's family lived. Even having our daughters was an easy decision. We got the jobs we could find out of college. We never set our sights on something out there that was huge and different!! We just never set a goal for something that would take years to plan and accomplish, and that would turn our comfortable world upside down. We just kept working, day after day, year after year. We raised the kids as they went to elementary school, then Middle School, High School and college. We dealt with obstacles along the way. We enjoyed the fun times and the challenging times. We just never planned for anything that would take us out of our comfort zone. Something that would change our life completely in ways we couldn't possibly imagine.
Three years ago we began to plan and research and we set a goal. And here we are, on the cusp of reaching that goal. We did it and although it was very emotional at times, it feels good!
We have sold everything except for a few items that we put in storage. I look at photos of my life 6 months ago and I see table and chairs, dishes, decoration and clothes in our home. That vase I bought in Minnesota while on vacation 20 years ago. That bread machine I thought I couldn't live without. The earrings I made when I was into making jewelry. That china buffet my mother passed on to me. The one that I dusted when I was a little girl. All that fabric in my sewing room! I look at pictures of Tom's woodworking tools. The metal Tonka trucks that Tom played with when he was little. The bedroom set we bought when the kids were little. The sweater I loved so much 8 years ago. The Christmas trees and decorations. Where is all that stuff now? I have no idea. I have no idea who has them or who is wearing them. I'll never see those things again. I wonder why it is that I don't miss any of it?
When we started looking into travelling full time, we knew we would be downsizing. At first we thought we would put everything in storage and only travel for 6 months. That morphed into traveling for years. We knew we didn't want to have a stationary home (In the RV world that is called S & B, meaning Sticks and Bricks.). We didn't want the maintenance, the upkeep or the cost. We knew there was a lot to see in North America so why not just keep going. Now we think we will travel until it's not fun anymore or until our health gives out.
I belong to and read many blogs and groups about people doing the very same thing every day. One discussion group I belong to is called "Graduating Class of 2017" through Escapees RV. I belong to Facebook groups about Full Timing (when people live in their RV full time), Full Tim Travel, Living Full Time in an RV etc. Seriously, EVERY day, someone posts, "We did it! We went full time today!" EVERY day someone writes, "We had our estate sale and sold everything!!" There are literally many thousands of people out there doing this same thing. Sometimes someone in a group will ask if anyone regrets selling everything and traveling full time. Out of hundreds of responses such as, "we don't know why we didn't do it sooner!" "This is the best decision we ever made!", there is usually one lonely response that says, "We have been full timing for 4 months and we want a real house again." So, we don't know if this is what we will love or not but so far,... we LOVE it!
The RV rigs I see are all so vastly different!! Some people full time in travel trailers from the very small to the very long. Other's drive motor homes that range from Class A to Class C. They range in price too! Some are large and stately and over a million dollars! Others are the more common motor homes that are around 30 to 40 feet in length and around $60,000 to $120,000. Some people have 5th wheels like ours and pull it with a truck. Some people are young and raising a family as they travel around North America. They home-school their kids and work at their jobs from their motor homes or they have consulting or traveling jobs. Others are middle age and when the kids left home, they left too! They usually are "work-campers" a term for those who work while they camp. They are not old enough for Social Security or retirement. They find jobs at National Parks, Independently owned RV parks, etc. Actually, many people work-camp as they travel! There is a huge network of people who offer or accept jobs for a couple months or up to a year or more. When one job ends, they move on to the next. They usually get their RV location for free, plus pay. And on their days off, they get to explore their new location. Then there are people like us who are older and retire and do nothing but travel!!
We haven't traveled anywhere yet. We have been in the same location for over 3 months now, waiting to retire! But, we love the people we have met. We love coming home every day. We love the simple life we have. We love the unclutteredness (not really a word) of the RV. We have everything we need. NOW WE JUST NEED TO RETIRE!!
As we wait to retire, we have begun to look into where we want to go. We a few thing we have lined up. We know we will go to Indiana to get some Warranty work completed at the factory. While that is being looked at, we are flying to Los Angeles to my uncles 90th birthday. Once we return to Indiana, we plan to head North to relax and see what we see. Upper Peninsula of Michigan? Ontario? In late August we will be in Kansas City Missouri for Parker's 2nd birthday. In late September we will be at an RV rally in Tennessee for 7 days. The rally is put on by a couple who have been full-timing for many years an from what we hear, they have a wealth of information to share. The rally is called, "RV Dreams Fall Rally in Seierville, Tennessee. We are really looking forward to this rally. It's all about living full time in your RV. Maintenance, upkeep, weight of trailer/loads, tires, emotions, equipment needed, domicile, organizing the space etc. Plus lots of social time to meet others doing the same thing! These rallies are offered several times a year. There are several groups that offer this type of training but some fellow RVers are at the RV Dreams Spring Rally right now and think the training is spectacular! They just bought their 5th, 5th wheel and said they are learning a lot! Then we head a little north to meet up with Karis and watch the fall leaves.
That's all we have so far. The in-between times will be just us exploring and finding new spectacular scenery and new ways to relax.
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