We decided to go full-time in April and we had everything sold by August and took off. 16 years ago we had never heard of full-timing until our first winter trip south where we talked to many happy full-timers. Driving home we said, we didn't need any of the stuff in the house for the past months, let's sell it all and go.
After our decision we didn't make any future plans. We just took off. We didn't even have email, computers or cell phones at that time. Our kids, families and friends were all for it.
The biggest thing we looked forward to doing was getting rid of all our 'stuff'. You can't imagine how liberating that is! You commented that "you were burdened by past generations of stuff". We didn't want our kids to have to go through that. We definitely didn't want to store anything. We have had absolutely no regrets on that issue. The kids didn't want our stuff - they had enough of their own.
We gave the kids what they wanted and truly, it wasn't much at all. Then we sold the big items by ads in the newspaper (remember, no computer or Craig's List at that time), then we had the big house sale which was so much fun. People were taking things from the walls, from drawers, the basement and attic - and paying for it! We discovered things we hadn't seen for many years. What was left went to Goodwill and the real junk - you know, scraps of wood that might be needed some day, or a jar of misc. screws, etc., went to the dump.
The house went also. We knew we didn't want the upkeep of such a large house in our future. We also didn't want to return someday to the cold north.
Safe deposit box? We had none. The original will and what we considered important papers at that time, went to our daughter's. We kept copies with us. We had no 'jewels'. Later on, we'd do a backup on our computer and send a disk to her. Most everything nowdays can be done online.
Mail Service: We've always used Escapees RV Club with absolutely no problems. We tried our daughter for about 6 months but felt better by the mail forwarding service. No worries by her or by us!
We had 16+ years of total enjoyment with full-timing and when we began, had no idea it would last that long. We did a lot of volunteering for national and state parks which we loved. We joined Escapees RV Club and through them have met lifelong friends.
In fact, 22 of our traveling friends have all moved to a 55+ very active community and we have a great support system among all of us. We've all been through major medical issues as we traveled and we were there for each other.
The homes in this community are pretty much sold furnished and when folks die, the kids don't want their things so it works for everyone. Our new home is 1100 sq. ft - down from our old one at 2500 sq. ft. It's in Arizona so the furnishings are all Southwestern. If we had kept our old furnishings, it would have looked terrible in this home. Also, 16 years of storage fees? No thank you.
So, for us, everything has worked out great with no pre-planning for an 'exit' to full-timing. We just went with the flow.
Best of luck in your new lifestyle! It's all doable and it'll all get done....
