The Buddha taught that Attachment was suffering. Attachment having to do with, on one level, the amount of stuff one has.Well if preparing to be full-timers doesnt bring you face to face with the huge amount of stuff you have collected and the process of divesting yourself of it nothing will.But, while I agree in general with the Buddhas philosophy on this, I have to say there are some things I think it smart to carry with you.While my Mothers idea of Roughing It was slow room service mine is a bit different. But I still do not want to feel like I am camping-out on an endless basis while full timing.So I have put together a short list of things that (for me at least) make life on the road more civilized.1. Real Wine Glasses The best ones you can get. A set of four2. One set of 4 real plates (not plastic or melmac) and silverware3. A set of 4 Real glass drinking glasses4. Really good sheets and bedding – no sleeping bags except as guest sleeping.5. A really good comfortable chair – one inside and one for outsideThis is not a complete list but it is the big and heavy things. But taken all together the weight is minimal. Especially since you are only dealing with the difference between the cheap stuff and the good stuff.Feeling like you are in a real home not on an extended camping trip I think is key to the success of RV'ing full time. One of my first projects will be to install a good wine cellar.Whats on your list?

Gourmet coffeeBig screen TVNo alarm clocksA beer at dinnertimeA Nook readerA heated mattressA weather stationA Sleep Number bed.OH wait! These are things I have now that I did NOT have in my regular house!!!! This retirement thing is much better than work.

You got that right!!!!I dont have a ton of experience but I talk to others who will be rv'ing and are geeked just as I was when I started out. One of the things I emphasize is what do you do everyday? They often say they will be out hiking and be out doors a lot. I tell them yes you probably will but at the end of the day what will you do? They say I'll be inside. I say will you be comfortable? Oh yes I can sit at the dinette. At that point I tell them to think about it as they will want to be just as comfortable as when they were in the s&b. So you nailed as far as a good comfortable chair. If I bought a small TT I'd be tearing the dinette out to put in lazy boys. We also talk about how they will stay warm even if going to the far south. They say oh I have sleeping bags and warm clothes. So that brings up another comfort issue to me. There is no way that I'm wearing anything different to bed or sleeping on less of a bed or using any different bedding then I use in a house. The thermostat will be set right were I want it and all the supporting batteries, chargers, generators, panels etc will be in place to do so.I'm not roughing it. No way. If a glass or dish breaks I will buy more. I'm helping people all along the way to put shoes on their kids feet.

I'm not roughing it. No way. If a glass or dish breaks I will buy more. I'm helping people all along the way to put shoes on their kids feet. My sentiments exactly. We are now helping the economy by spending the money we saved and saved over the years.:WBarb

After full-timing for over two years I have to agree with 4x4dodger. It's the little things that make the difference in your life and how you enjoy it. Yes we have paper plates and use them for pizza night but we still use our 6 place dinnerware the rest of the time for our meals. The same goes for everything else.This lifestyle or "attachment" is the difference between full-timing and camping. To us camping is sleeping outside, on the ground, cold and wet. Full-timing is living our lives free to be where we want and not having to endure the roughing it aspect.

I brought my mattress and bedding straight from my S&B. My back is very choosy!I quickly learned that I need a freezer (not just the compartment of a fridge), microwave, and hotplate (not just propane stove and crockpot), so I picked those up along the way.I bought one extra cooking pot and I will bring more from home next year.I brought my favorite cooking knives, and my favorite tools for working on the van. No second-best travel set.I brought a lot of clothes and bought some more. I like variety!I did not bring enough choices of perfume :).

The Zen of Full Timing - Living Comfortably | Good Sam Community

44 Replies

Lexicon7
Explorer
Feb 17, 2015
Hi Guys, I agree with that list and have everything on it except for that "comfy" chair and that is a very important one. We seniors get very good at staying in one chair for extended periods and should have everything we need at arms length. I was full timing last year and never found an answer to the "chair" conundrum?
Geocritter
Explorer
Feb 15, 2015
4X4Dodger wrote:

Sounds great. I wish I knew more about geology. I often look at the rock formations around me and wonder about their origination. I tried to get a good geology textbook from the library but none of them really were what I wanted.

Do you have any recommendations of a good reference guide to geology kind of like the National Geographic or Sibley guides for birds?

Geology is an extremely varied field, one can be an expert in one area and clueless in another. I’m somewhat of a generalist. However, since much of my career has been in petroleum geology, my knowledge tends to be concentrated in the study of sedimentary rocks (sandstone, siltstone, shale, conglomerates, carbonates etc.) and their deposition since these rocks are where most hydrocarbons are sourced and/or trapped (accumulated). My mid-career foray into environmental geology was mainly studying groundwater issues. I’m not much of a mineralogist, though I can typically tell if a rock is igneous, sedimentary, or metamorphic and I can typically make an educated guess from that point about exactly what the rock or mineral is. In college (nearly four decades ago) the go-to reference book was written by Dana. I’ve picked up other books over the years but I don’t currently have them with me. My advice is find a reference book that summarizes useful field identification techniques such as scratching to test for hardness or putting a drop of dilute acid on to test for reactivity. Supplement with a field guide that has good reference photos. Finally, purchase a good, at least 10x, hand lens.

BTW thanks for asking, I need to dig out my mineral books. I’m planning on wintering in Arizona next year and it’d be a shame if I didn’t get any rock hounding done.

Steve
4X4Dodger
Explorer II
Feb 15, 2015
UPdate: In some other posts in other topic areas there is the discussion about how to take all those things that one has NOW in ones home like the SAT/Cable TV, the phone plans and the constant WIFI, with one on the road.

While these things are nice and they may fit into this category of this topic I have posted...I am not so sure.

Do these things really satisfy us? I went almost three years without watching tv. I never missed it. Especially the 24 hour news cycle of hate and violence and political extremism. I found myself actually Happier without it. Now that I am back here in the states and have fallen back into the tv watching habit again I find myself increasingly unhappy with the world as a whole.

Part of the "Zen of Fultiming" might be to shed ones-self of some of these types of electronic baggage as well as keeping some of those things that make us feel truly at home and provide pleasure and comfort.
was_butnotnow
Explorer
Feb 14, 2015
It's not camping it's living... Try to do it well as you can...or not at all. This lifestyle is not expensive... but much better if you are not living day to day... or as in SS check to SS check. Yes I like the statement... If you have to ask what it costs... You can't afford it. Esp fuel.
Nothing is worse than if you have to worry if you break down you are done. Makes for sleepless nights.. You have seen the pleading signs at the freewy exit... Need Money For Gas.... Just how did they get that far anyway, I ask.
4X4Dodger
Explorer II
Feb 07, 2015
Geocritter wrote:
I’m a geologist and love the outdoors. I enjoy exploring, backpacking, camping, hunting and fishing. I view my RV as my base camp and roam far and wide in a Dodge Caravan exploration vehicle. To further my explorations off-road and for my enjoyment I carry a Kawasaki KLR250 dual sport motorcycle. For fishing, this past year I’ve purchased a 12’ Porta-bote (boat) that I can carry strapped to the side of my RV; it’s powered by a small outboard. My RV base camp has stainless steel cutlery, real glasses, ceramic coffee mugs, Corelle dishes, All-Clad cookware and it has a spacious food prep/cooking area. I have a small recliner so that I can relax and read in comfort and I’ve equipped my rig with a small office where I do my part-time research/writing work. I have a TV but it’s not hooked up, I feel that the current TV programming burdened with commercials taking up 50% of my viewing time is excessive and I refuse to support it. The TV is nice for watching movies that I've check out from the local library. Overall I'm very comfortable with my life.

Do you collect rocks and store them in the trailer like Lucy did in the movie the Long Long Trailer? :)

Sounds great. I wish I knew more about geology. I often look at the rock formations around me and wonder about their origination. I tried to get a good geology textbook from the library but none of them really were what I wanted.

Do you have any recommendations of a good reference guide to geology kind of like the National Geographic or Sibley guides for birds?
Veebyes
Explorer II
Feb 06, 2015
We call it roughing it in comfort. We are multi month travelers, not fulltimers but our 5er is no weekender starting with the 4 door fridge & going through the list of home style stuff from there.
4X4Dodger
Explorer II
Feb 06, 2015
noplace2 wrote:
4X4Dodger wrote:

This is completely off the topic of this post. It was supposed to be about the things you take with you that makes it more like home and life more civilized while roughing it, not a mine-is-bigger-than-yours argument.

I just re-read your original post and my apology is in order and tendered. I plead guilty to complicity in meandering far afield of your intent. I still maintain that I was on the "mine is smaller than yours" side. But I digress :)

To respond appropriately, I'll have to say that even after 14 years, our day to day way of living hasn't changed much from when we were in the sticks and bricks. It's just always in different places :)We want for very little. We don't eat or drink from plastic, nor do we sup from Waterford or Delft. We didn't then either. Wine is one area that comes to mind that has changed. In the S&B we had an 80 bottle cellar. Only rarely have we had a really good red since we got on the road given that I'm loath to subject a $100 or more bottle to the vagaries of travel.

We probably carry more good cookware than most. Cooking has always been a passion (I've owned 2 restaurants and managed another) and we never even considered compromising, despite the weight and space requirements. We might go to a restaurant 4 times a year (usually a disappointing experience). The other 361 days, I cook and we eat VERY well. And because we walk an average of 3 miles/day plus other exercising we are in great shape compared to some folks our age. (59 & 63)

In 19 years my DW has only complained about 1 meal I have served her. It involved snails. Enough said? It was incredibly delicious. To me anyway. :) Compared to the other 6859 meals I've prepared since we got on the road, she admits that it didn't suck that badly. :B

Bottom line? One does not have to sacrifice much of anything out here on the road. If the idea of experiencing things in (for most folks) a vastly different environment which can change literally daily and still keep your creature comforts doesn't appeal to you, stay home.

Snails and a Hundred dollar bottle of wine...I want to come camping with you....
Geocritter
Explorer
Feb 03, 2015
I’m a geologist and love the outdoors. I enjoy exploring, backpacking, camping, hunting and fishing. I view my RV as my base camp and roam far and wide in a Dodge Caravan exploration vehicle. To further my explorations off-road and for my enjoyment I carry a Kawasaki KLR250 dual sport motorcycle. For fishing, this past year I’ve purchased a 12’ Porta-bote (boat) that I can carry strapped to the side of my RV; it’s powered by a small outboard. My RV base camp has stainless steel cutlery, real glasses, ceramic coffee mugs, Corelle dishes, All-Clad cookware and it has a spacious food prep/cooking area. I have a small recliner so that I can relax and read in comfort and I’ve equipped my rig with a small office where I do my part-time research/writing work. I have a TV but it’s not hooked up, I feel that the current TV programming burdened with commercials taking up 50% of my viewing time is excessive and I refuse to support it. The TV is nice for watching movies that I've check out from the local library. Overall I'm very comfortable with my life.
Cummins12V98
Explorer III
Feb 03, 2015
220V dryer

6500 wat gen so if in 30A park the clothes can get dry. Of course many other reasons.

Sleep number bed

Winegard roof top auto Dish

Real dishes, wine glasses

55" TV

Shower for two;)
anniemae
Explorer
Feb 03, 2015
Noplace2. You may do snails (escargots)for me anytime. I will bring the wine AND glasses, yes, long stem wine glasses.

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The Zen of Full Timing - Living Comfortably

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