Mid Life Crisis Or Just Ready To Live?
Ya know what...it's clear now that some have utterly missed the actual question and gotten the seriously off the wall impression this was a dire, desperate sort of question when it wasn't. If you a...
Forum Discussion
@cruisingat60
Thanks and I may absolutely take you up on that. I'd love to hear your story too :) Mine didn't kick me out. He about bankrupted us though and I divorced him (won everything) and struggled another 2 years while he dodged support enforcement. The last year I just decided to take a year off from the BS and regroup. We've got an ideal set up but I'm watching my life drain away on top of the dread I'll end up dying while living at home with my parents. My worst nightmare.
When I think of going with an RV/camper full time, it makes me smile, breathe in, die happy. I just feel done with all the typical nonsense thrust at me constantly, and keep fighting it. I don't see the point in all this constant struggle to maintain a lifestyle I don't actually want.
I wouldn't have a shred of a problem with full time van living but it's impractical with a 16 y/o and a cat. Never had a problem ditching my "stuff", freeing up and taking off - which is why an RV was always my dream home. My son will go along with it, and it's not the worst experience he could have but I am battling the doubts that the family/friends would be right and I'm "subjecting" him to "prolonged homelessness" and "people" and all that. I supposed their idea of full time rv life is equivalent to driving to an abandoned farm road and never seeing another soul ;-p But then I think when he's my age he'll look back on that and tell his friends his mom got it right and he'll remember the freedom and how it shaped his real life to come once he moves onto his own, how it'll make him far more independent and self reliant before he turns 18...if I died today he'd never make it on his own. The family would intervene and take over.
Full time RV he could survive and overcome.
But this doubt battle is killing me!
Re HOMESCHOOL - we do that and have for years, it's a non issue, he's adapted and good to go
Re FINANCES - I haven't made it to the stage of financial planning for it because it's getting the cart before the horse...I don't know for sure I'll make the decision to go full time or RV at all. I might talk myself out of it yet...which is why I'm here...to see realistic expectations and anxieties. That said, I have a monthly income and will be increasing it. I've also been looking much more seriously into "portable" kinds of work, and things my son can ultimately do - so I am still taking this seriously as a contending option!
Re Golden Years - please don't kill me off at 50...I so do not want this to be my mid life crisis! I'm hoping it'll be when I start trying to have sex with 23 year olds!
I don't see this as "retirement" or any golden pond thing. I see it as extricating myself from an enforced lifestyle I never wanted. Living simply. Focusing on the daily experience and not planning an entire month around what bills must be paid to keep the lights on. I'm happy with a solar oven and candles. Though I'm gonna need the internet 24/7 and hot water. I can even handle dry camping here and there, boondocking, and being a nomad. I can cram a lot into small spaces as much as I can live simply. The up side is through the post divorce transition my son has had to downgrade a lot too and has adapted to living with less. I hate it but it could still be a good thing if presented the right way - so he doesn't define himself by his stuff.
I also know he hasn't experienced it so any protesting is him being anxious about it being so different more than fearful it'll wreck his life. Other people are getting in my head I think and I'm worrying maybe this will wreck his life before it gets started...
Thanks for the comments.
Thanks and I may absolutely take you up on that. I'd love to hear your story too :) Mine didn't kick me out. He about bankrupted us though and I divorced him (won everything) and struggled another 2 years while he dodged support enforcement. The last year I just decided to take a year off from the BS and regroup. We've got an ideal set up but I'm watching my life drain away on top of the dread I'll end up dying while living at home with my parents. My worst nightmare.
When I think of going with an RV/camper full time, it makes me smile, breathe in, die happy. I just feel done with all the typical nonsense thrust at me constantly, and keep fighting it. I don't see the point in all this constant struggle to maintain a lifestyle I don't actually want.
I wouldn't have a shred of a problem with full time van living but it's impractical with a 16 y/o and a cat. Never had a problem ditching my "stuff", freeing up and taking off - which is why an RV was always my dream home. My son will go along with it, and it's not the worst experience he could have but I am battling the doubts that the family/friends would be right and I'm "subjecting" him to "prolonged homelessness" and "people" and all that. I supposed their idea of full time rv life is equivalent to driving to an abandoned farm road and never seeing another soul ;-p But then I think when he's my age he'll look back on that and tell his friends his mom got it right and he'll remember the freedom and how it shaped his real life to come once he moves onto his own, how it'll make him far more independent and self reliant before he turns 18...if I died today he'd never make it on his own. The family would intervene and take over.
Full time RV he could survive and overcome.
But this doubt battle is killing me!
Re HOMESCHOOL - we do that and have for years, it's a non issue, he's adapted and good to go
Re FINANCES - I haven't made it to the stage of financial planning for it because it's getting the cart before the horse...I don't know for sure I'll make the decision to go full time or RV at all. I might talk myself out of it yet...which is why I'm here...to see realistic expectations and anxieties. That said, I have a monthly income and will be increasing it. I've also been looking much more seriously into "portable" kinds of work, and things my son can ultimately do - so I am still taking this seriously as a contending option!
Re Golden Years - please don't kill me off at 50...I so do not want this to be my mid life crisis! I'm hoping it'll be when I start trying to have sex with 23 year olds!
I don't see this as "retirement" or any golden pond thing. I see it as extricating myself from an enforced lifestyle I never wanted. Living simply. Focusing on the daily experience and not planning an entire month around what bills must be paid to keep the lights on. I'm happy with a solar oven and candles. Though I'm gonna need the internet 24/7 and hot water. I can even handle dry camping here and there, boondocking, and being a nomad. I can cram a lot into small spaces as much as I can live simply. The up side is through the post divorce transition my son has had to downgrade a lot too and has adapted to living with less. I hate it but it could still be a good thing if presented the right way - so he doesn't define himself by his stuff.
I also know he hasn't experienced it so any protesting is him being anxious about it being so different more than fearful it'll wreck his life. Other people are getting in my head I think and I'm worrying maybe this will wreck his life before it gets started...
Thanks for the comments.
