Today, instead of sharing a recipe like I normally do with my RV Cooking Show posts, I want to branch out a bit and share with you a bit about my journey and perspective as a young full-timer. Watch the video below, and then share with me your perspective by leaving a comment.
Happy Camping!
Evanne Schmarder
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Lynne Caulkett
Hi Evanne. No I had not heard of RVing women, but will give it a look. Thanks! Lynne
Ruth
I just turned 40, going on 19, and am in the process of reinventing my life so I can fulltime. Even if gas was ten dollars a gallon, it is still cheaper than rent in my part of the world.
I already downsized, and the stuff that I have now will fit just fine in an RV.
All I need is the rig and a cute little dog.
Mary
Thanks for an encouraging post. I’ve been researching motorhomes and the fulltime lifestyle for several months. I’d leave today but my husband is tied to a 9-5 for at least 3 more years to collect retirement. I’m willing to work on the road and have afew ideas but I am alittle worried with the new cost of fuel. How is this increase affecting those of you already on the road. I want to keep moving as that is the main point to being “on the road”. If we see $6 – $7 a gallon we’re talking a dollar a mile.
Aaron Paulley
My wife and I are going to be full-time RVers this coming January. When we hit the road, I’ll be 33 and my wife will be 29. We are going to be roadschooling our two daughters, and they will be 6 and 3 when we set out.
My work in entirely online and will go with us wherever we go and we are planning on doing some workamping as well. We have no idea how long we will RV, we’re just going to play it by ear.
Our website is http://www.unendingadventure.com and there we’re blogging about our preparations. Gonna be fun!
Evanne - RV Cooking Show
Thank you all for your interesting and insightful comments. In future installments I will talk about working on the road, mail and banking options, preparing for the dream, day to day life and more. There’s plenty coming up so please do stay tuned.
Lynne – I’m so sorry to hear about your husband and am proud of you for taking control of your life and living. Have you heard of RVing Women? Check it out here – http://www.rvingwomen.org.
Be well and happy…see you on the road!
Evanne
richard/robin coster
what a “dream life” you lead!
we are sure it has it’s challenges, it’s “daily grinds”, but what are they?
for those of us that think we would like to live that dream, what should we expect? the good and the bad.
what was your decision process that lead to full timing? how did you need to prepare to obtain that standard?
we are sure there are plenty of us “wannabees” that are just itching to know!
George
Thanks for sharing your perspective as a young full-timer. Very enjoyable. I’m relatively new to RV’ing, but full-timing someday is a nice thought. I have a few more years of teaching before retirement. Thanks again. George in Florida
Lynne Caulkett
HI. Loved your video. My husband retired from Ford’s 13 years ago at age 51. Although we didn’t go full time RVing, we camped a lot over the years. Sadly, Jim passed away this past January. Last month, after several months of grieving and depression, I came to the realization that I could either sit home and feel sorry for myself, or get on the road with our 35 ft. motorhome.. I left our Florida home last month and am currently in a beautiful RV park in Houghton Lake Michigan. Next month I will be going to another park closer to Detroit, then on to my daughters in Garden City, Michigan, and then on to northeast Georgia for the month of October. This “healing” trip has proved to be better than any antidepressant. I am finding peace, and am once again happy. RVing is an indescribable joy. I have met so many great people and look forward to spending a good 6 months a year on the road. I keep busy sewing, reading, and visiting and it has made a workd of difference for me. Thanks for sharing your recipes, by the way. I love your videos, and have tried just about all of your recipes. Keep the blogs coming!
Dan DeWinter
Very nice post. The wife and I retired early 3 yrs. ago only to find our investments dwindle in this market. Would love to hit the road and do some workamping or other for some income while exploring this country. We have a ranch that’s paid for and can use it as a home base. Sure would like to hear how some of you make a living on the road. Happy travels, may see you one day.
Martin Dockery
We are now 6 months away from going fulltiming, emptying the house of the stuff is a fulltime job in it’s self. Days are spent sorting for yard seles, things to give to the kids and what to trash. Evenings are spent on the computer finding places to go, campgrounds to stay at.
We are COUNTING THE DAYS….
sande
Thanks for a lovely post! We are new to RVing, but are looking forward to going fulltime soon.
Dan and Audrey Steiert
should read,this past summer and love to hear from you,Dan.(we are in………….)
sorry for the screw up.
Dan and Audrey Steiert
Good article,Evanne,we live in Canada and started RVing this with a class A,we shoud’ve started 10 yrs ago,we are 60 now and still very active,we go to polkafests every weekend and work during the week,have a good week,love to hear from you,Dan,we are in Alsask,Sask.Canada,on the Alta.Sask. border.
David
How I miss the opportunities to travel that I had when younger.
Like most people, I never managed to obtain work that permitted travel full-time that really allowed you to go when and where you want, or even at your own speed. When I traveled it was either by air at the company’s expense or by car taking the shortest and fastest route available. Even now, self-employed in photography and writing fiction for publication, I still can’t go full-time because of my wife’s own work and the costs involved with purchasing and maintaining an RV of sufficient size to full-time in. Add to this the problem of somehow maintaining a fixed address for main and financial purposes and full-timing seems even more unlikely.
However, almost all of these restrictions can be defeated in today’s Information Age. If you have a job that permits telecommuting, it is possible that if broadband internet is available at your campsite you could work right out of your RV. Though that means you either travel only during the weekend (when campgrounds tend to get saturated) or overnight when you are legitimately afk but miss out on the scenery you pass through.
The mail issue can be handled in a variety of ways, mostly by having bills and financial information handled online and the USPS forwarding collected mail to your next campground. As long as you’re spending a reasonable amount of time at each place, there should be few issues in doing so. Of course, having some sort of drop box account somewhere that can do the forwarding for you might be a little easier… for a little extra cost.
Personally, I envy the full-timers and while I never got the chance to actually try it, my own parents did, taking several months to explore the western States while I stayed home in Tennessee and house-sat their home. Strangely, in their own case, knowing that they had a fixed base to operate out of made them feel more comfortable as they traveled… yet they also seemed worried about what condition their home would be in when they returned. A small accident on the RV which resulted in a broken heel for my father ended their experiment and saw their big Class A sit in the back yard until after he passed away.
Nathan Focht
My family has been fulltiming for a year now. I am 38 and my wife is 36. We also travel with our three kids, my mother-in-law, and two dogs. It is a great lifestyle if you are in a position to adopt it.
We have not missed our stick-n-brinks once. Life is too short to plan for the future. Live your dreams today and find new dreams for tomorrow. If I knew how wonderful this life is, we would have made the jump long ago.
Nick Russell
We started fulltiming when we were 45 years old, and the one comment we heard over and over from older fulltimers was “I wish we had started at your age and not waited so long.”
We have been fortunate in that we have developed a successful business on the road publishing the Gypsy Journal RV Travel Newspaper http://www.gypsyjournal.net, writing and publishing books on RVing, and speaking at RV rallies and Life on Wheels.
We have found that our relationships have changed over time (we’ve been on the road over 9 years now), and a lot of Boomers in our age group have now joined us out here. But we have also found this lifestyle to be a great equalizer – we have friends ranging in age from very early 20s to 91 years old. Our love of adventure and the freedom of fulltiming brings us together and provides common ground.