My wife dropped a bombshell on me tonight!

I full time, and I was full timing with 4 dogs in the beginning. Old age attrition had reduced me to no pets not too long ago and I found that I did not like be quite so alone. I will gladly confine my time away from the RV to less than 6 hours in exchange for the companionship and the reason to take several long walks a day.

If it can't be seen in less than 6 hours, well that's why I'm in an RV! I'll go to sleep nearby and come back again in the morning.

For a specific example regarding a longer day trip: at one RV park near the Grand Canyon the owners offer to come and make friends with your pets and take them for walks (for a small fee) if you want to go on a 9-hour Grand Canyon Mule Ride. There are many, many ways to fit the pets in. Cherry Hill campground near Washington D.C. has a similar offer. I'm sure there are others.

We've full-timed for 16 years. If you're both for it...it's a very wonderful lifestyle!! We also do volunteering for national and state parks and have had some neat experience. We are definitely 'traveling' full-timers and enjoy exploring every nook and cranny of our wonderful country. Sitting in one place is not for us. We love dogs but don't have any but we see many folks traveling with dogs. Sometimes you will be very limited as to what you can do or go but you'll find a way. Have fun planning!

One important thing. Have your financial situation in order with a back up plan.
I met a wonderful couple about 5 years ago, they had been full timing for about 6-7 years. They had sold their house and bought a beautiful 5th wheel and new truck.
They wanted to go back to a stick and brick, in the same area they had left, but not the means to do so as the housing market had passed them by financially and their 5th wheel and truck had depreciated considerably.
They were locked in.

CAN I go?

Dance Chick wrote:
I'm a slow mover in the mornings. It takes me forever to get up, eat and drink coffee, play on the computer, get dressed and out the door..

I spent years dragging my self out of bed to be to work by 4 AM, usually closer to twenty minutes after. When I retired, I said "I get up when I wake up and get going when I get around to it". 9 AM seems like a good time. The wife has a built in alarm clock and amazes me that she is up at 6 every morning. So you described me to a T! Have to wait another year and a half for the wife to retire.

Thanks everyone for your advice and wisdom on the subject. My wife and I read all the posts this morning. We headed over to the "full-timer" section also. My wife is awesome. She has always been rock solid and steady in the family and our marriage. She thinks we can do it and I'm still not sure.

Keep your wonderful posts comin'.:)


~Thanks, John&GayAnn

We just lost our dog who was 16 years old. Until the middle of July, we had never taken an RV trip without him. We also took a 16 year old cat with us one year for several months. We usually left him with our son, but he wore out his welcome by biting a neighbor, so we took him along. He really enjoyed the trip and we enjoyed having him. He died a couple of weeks after we got home. We will take advantage of the time without pets to take a cruise and maybe an over seas trip. We look forward to getting another dog traveling companion.

dverstra wrote:

Dance Chick wrote:
I'm a slow mover in the mornings. It takes me forever to get up, eat and drink coffee, play on the computer, get dressed and out the door.

For a minute there I thought that my wife had joined the forum under an alias.:)

Me too. Of course on the positive side that gives me time to do things I want to do while she piddles around.

Easy decision:
In Feb 2012, a close friend (age 55) died of cancer. Aug 2012, another close friend (age 66.5) went to see, and never woke up. Now you tell me what is important.

stepdad wrote:
Hey good folks,
I'm retired but my wife wants to work for five more years for financial reasons. Tonight she said if we sell the house and her fancy car we could get a big diesel pusher and she would retire tomorrow but we would be full timers with five animals. Sounds impossible to me.

I need some advice about full timing. Downsides, upsides, and otherwise.:)

Does anybody full time with three cats and two dogs? Yikes!

~Thanks, John

We have one dog and that's enough. We are full timers and love the life style. But, if it was me I'd decide on one pet to keep and get rid of the rest. I know, easy for me to say.