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Geocritter's avatar
Geocritter
Explorer
Oct 09, 2014

Some thoughts about full time travel

Hi all y’all,

It’s 7:00am, I’m sitting here in my home-on-wheels in Port Angeles WA enjoying my morning coffee contemplating my first year as a full-timer traveling this beautiful country and also thinking of my upcoming journey back to Texas.

This year’s journey’s been interesting and eventful. I’ve called it my Grand Western North American Tour and Shakedown Journey. As I’ve often mentioned, I didn’t pay much for my RV, it was (and I suppose still is) a monument to neglect and deferred maintenance. I spent about three months making it roadworthy and livable before I began this journey. It’s far from done and of course, being a shakedown journey, other annoying issues have come to my attention along the way.

The most important thing I’ve learned is that while I like my home-on-wheels to live in, and I like being able to change my scenery periodically, I really dislike driving the thing. I realized this sometime back when I found that I’d started calling my 33’ Class A “The Behemoth”. The thing is, the machine runs and drives just fine. I installed new shocks, the steering and brakes are in good shape and work well. My problem is the SIZE. Thank God I didn’t become a truck driver, the stress would’ve killed me by now. Not only do you have to be constantly alert while driving and I mean 100% alert 100% of the time, you also have to be very alert and careful whenever you leave the highway for anything be it to stop for gas, pull into a rest area, or a restaurant parking lot, that you don’t tear something off the roof, or become trapped. In addition, there’s been several times when I wanted to stop and visit friends on my journey but having to deal with the Behemoth made it too much of a hassle for a short visit. Now I don’t even bring it up unless I know for sure that I have a place to park my machine (and toad).

The Behemoth’s a total pain to travel in! Now that I got that off my chest, I now know to research and plan my journeys well in advance, including fuel stops and rest areas. If I have a friend along the way I’ll research where to park the Behemoth before I even suggest a visit. If there are two routes, I now know to choose the flatter one, even if it means driving farther. And finally, I always keep in mind the carrot dangling on the end of the stick, the one thing that makes driving The Behemoth all worthwhile, that when I do finally get to my destination, wherever I am, I’m home! BTW, thank you Tioga-George for drawing my attention to that reality!

Steve

20 Replies

  • SpknTC's avatar
    SpknTC
    Explorer
    Oct 12, 2014
    Geocritter wrote:
    I’m glad I started this thread; it’s been helpful to me. BTW, so far I’ve named my home-on-wheels Escape Plan and The Behemoth, I’m thinking, after I do this winters repairs and modifications, of renaming it SunChaser. Whatcha all think?


    I think it's helpful for many, Thanks! And yes the new name is fitting... :B

    BarbaraOK wrote:
    We spent most of the summer in Western Washington this year, looking at places that we might want to consider as a 'home base' because after 8 years of moving we've come to the point where we want to gradually ease into traveling only 1/2 of the year. While it was a glorious summer in the Seattle area, and my sister tells me it is still going on, I decided that even though I grew up there, I've spent to many years in areas where it didn't drizzle from October to April. We arrived in Mesa, AZ yesterday to begin looking for a park model while will be our winter destination and we will become sunbirds in the spring chasing the sun north to more moderate temperatures for the summer, and return to Mesa each year for the winter. We also decided to do this because it takes long each year to get through physician's appointments and we need to be able to take 2-3 months to get a problem thoroughly checked out, new medications tried, etc.

    Barb


    Barb, I agree!! As a homegrown Washingtonian we got tired of the snow (east side) and headed south to Chandler/Gilbert AZ (14 yrs) but have since returned home however we think our future plans could include another home base down south and become sunbirds. Of course this would be after we've traveled a while.
  • BarbaraOK's avatar
    BarbaraOK
    Explorer
    Oct 12, 2014
    We spent most of the summer in Western Washington this year, looking at places that we might want to consider as a 'home base' because after 8 years of moving we've come to the point where we want to gradually ease into traveling only 1/2 of the year. While it was a glorious summer in the Seattle area, and my sister tells me it is still going on, I decided that even though I grew up there, I've spent to many years in areas where it didn't drizzle from October to April. We arrived in Mesa, AZ yesterday to begin looking for a park model while will be our winter destination and we will become sunbirds in the spring chasing the sun north to more moderate temperatures for the summer, and return to Mesa each year for the winter. We also decided to do this because it takes long each year to get through physician's appointments and we need to be able to take 2-3 months to get a problem thoroughly checked out, new medications tried, etc.

    Barb
  • Geocritter's avatar
    Geocritter
    Explorer
    Oct 11, 2014
    I’m glad I started this thread; it’s been helpful to me. I’m headed back to Texas soon. Fall has finally arrived here in Port Angeles and the Pacific Northwest’s legendary cloudy gloomy weather is upon me, YIIICK! As I’ve gotten older I’ve found that gloomy weather really depresses me. It’s not winters cold, it’s winters short gloomy days that trouble me. It’s ironic, here I am in my golden years having occasional problems with skin cancer, due to sun exposure and yet my psyche can’t seem to do well without constant sunshine. The gloomy weather here is a wonderful reminder of the very large positive aspect of my current lifestyle that makes it all worthwhile (even driving The Behemoth). It gives me the ability to live somewhere when it’s perfect and leave when it sucks. BTW, so far I’ve named my home-on-wheels Escape Plan and The Behemoth, I’m thinking, after I do this winters repairs and modifications, of renaming it SunChaser. Whatcha all think?
  • Mootpoint's avatar
    Mootpoint
    Explorer
    Oct 11, 2014
    JimM68 wrote:
    And (this is a big one) I've been gradually reducing the number of miles I'm willing to drive in a day. 300 is a full day, 200 is better. Out by 10, stop in a rest area for an hour to eat lunch and walk the dogs, in a campground setup with my favorite adult beverage in hand by 3. NOW we're talking, this is camping.



    Big Yuup! to that.

    We found driving at first stressful and tiring but learned to slow down and enjoy. Three day point A to point B trips now take 2 weeks. Much better. :B
  • MTPockets1's avatar
    MTPockets1
    Explorer
    Oct 11, 2014
    I actually look forward to moving day. Maneuvering through traffic, mountains, Walmarts, campgrounds, etc., is a large part if the fun. Getting to know the rig, how it responds in various conditions and circumstances does take being alert and knowing what to do all the time... This is, for me, a big part of the enjoyment of a full time traveller.
  • dahkota's avatar
    dahkota
    Explorer
    Oct 11, 2014
    When we start getting irritated at driving our "bus" we just remember back to less than a year ago when we were commuting daily in DC traffic. Even in a 16' car, there were days it was just brutal.

    I will admit I hated central/southern Florida, driving the bus, but the 10 days in the Keys in a beachfront campsite more than made up for it.
  • jswat's avatar
    jswat
    Explorer
    Oct 10, 2014
    I sure hope you can overcome your fears/stress and begin to enjoy this way of living. I would much rather drive my DP than either of my cars. You will have bumps and scares along the road but it will get better.
  • Geocritter's avatar
    Geocritter
    Explorer
    Oct 09, 2014
    My Behemoth is a 1994 33' Class A Holiday Rambler built on a Ford F53 chassis. There's a picture of it in my profile. For me it's not the machines handling, it's the things size. As far as daily mileage, I hear you about the 200-300 miles a day. Chances are I'll be doing that next spring when I head north to first southern and next northeast Illinois (where I grew up) and then east to Binghamton NY to visit my son and his wife, and finally north to Maine for summer fishing and fall pa'htridge hunting.
  • John_Joey's avatar
    John_Joey
    Explorer
    Oct 09, 2014
    I find everything you described Geocritter was also my perspective on MH'ing. My saying was "the best part of MH'ing is when you turn the key off." BTW, I called mine "the beast."

    I swapped my Class A for a smaller 5'ver (28 foot) with a slide this year. Without a doubt it is more livable and so much easier to drive. The problem now is when you arrive at the campsite (for me it takes much longer to setup) plus now I drive a big truck with poor mileage all of the time.

    Good luck with the rest of your adventure, and keep telling it like it really is.

    Also the beast was a F53, it made $$$ sense and served me well for those six years of snowbirding. Hard to justify a DP for me.
  • JimM68's avatar
    JimM68
    Explorer
    Oct 09, 2014
    I don't know what type of vehicle "behemoth" is, so can't comment directly...

    My first, a 36' Fleetwood on a Ford F53 chassis, well it made me feel like you describe. Some of it had to do with my "vacation mode" attitude, where I just KNEW a 600 mile day was normal. Part of it was the horrible ride of the old ford truck chassis, wandering steering, etc etc...

    Fast forward to the current... My '08 Monaco DP is a pure joy to drive. One hand, glass of cold beverage in the other. Smooth, quiet, a pure joy to drive. And (this is a big one) I've been gradually reducing the number of miles I'm willing to drive in a day. 300 is a full day, 200 is better. Out by 10, stop in a rest area for an hour to eat lunch and walk the dogs, in a campground setup with my favorite adult beverage in hand by 3. NOW we're talking, this is camping.

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