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FULLTIMEWANABE's avatar
May 28, 2016

Why Did You Go Where You Went And When

Appreciate some patience and understanding here if you will but as best we can describe it .............

Picture this: Just retired, have familiar RV, been RVing for many years but now totally "Free To Roam" with zero commitments to be anywhere at any specific time. YEAH!

With so very many places and regions/areas that you want to see (on your bucket list), assuming weather aside, what made you turn left or right when you left your driveway for the very last time?

Restricted on our time allowed in the USA to under 6 months, naturally we would be snowbirds for the most part, but why would we target say Arizona over the RGV or California or Louisiana, or even Florida (there's something that appeals to us about ALL these areas and more)?

I guess what we are trying to establish is what makes non-working, uncommitted to any area FTers go where they go, why, and when they decide to? Obvious on North in the summer and south in the winter, we get that for weather comfort typically but with so many choices what makes you chose where you go, why and when you do? Sometimes we just feel overwhelmed with choices, and where to take the first bite of the elephant on the outset. For example, why would you chose to say do the California Coast over Utah State Parks over Alaska this summer versus another if all appeal equally to you on wanting to visit?

Commonsense tells us from a financial viewpoint of stretching our budget to try to pick a region and cover that as much as possible rather than zig zagging, but which region first and why?

Purely curious, but do so many folks spend the majority of the winters boon docking at Imperial Dam/Quartzite BLM etc purely from a financial aspect or is there genuinely other reasons and if so what are they? For sure we can appreciate the opportunity for geocaching, ATVing, Hiking etc, but to stay in one location doing that day in day out for maybe a couple months or more is it for the joy of or as suggested budgeting purposes primarily?

Thanks for sharing where, how and why you travel the way you do? It's so appreciated to gain a true understanding and settle yet more nerves that seem to crop up the closer and closer we get to the off.
  • When it comes to heat I’m a total wimp. I found I like to winter in Sierra Vista in SE Arizona. The RV parks are reasonable, it’s beautiful country with adjacent 9,500’ mountains, at 4,600' it's cool without being overly cold, and there’s excellent quail hunting. As for summers, the past two years have both been a little different. Winter of 2015 I found myself in Houston TX with a failing RV engine. During the spring I traveled to a friend’s place in San Marcos TX where I replaced the engine myself, but still burned up my travel budget. 2015 was one hot miserable summer for me! I was sooo happy to get back to Sierra Vista last winter! Spring of 2016 I acted on a 48 year old dream of driving to Alaska on the Alaska (Alcan) Highway. I’ve recently returned after two months and over 12,000 miles traveling and living in my 26mpg Dodge Caravan. I’m currently roasting in Sierra Vista, thankful that I’m not in Tucson or Phoenix. For August I’m relocating in my RV to Ruidoso NM and then up north to visit friends scattered throughout Illinois before I return to Sierra Vista for the coming winter. For next year, I plan to explore the Pacific Northwest and Montana, staying where it’s cool. I’m hoping to learn to fly fish next summer.

    Steve
  • I've found a greater sense of security, less stress not worrying about where to stay each nite by staying off the interstates. It seems the back road routes have much to offer, esp. when you get into recreational areas, there are a lot of unfilled campgrounds and nicer people without the crowds. The smaller off the route towns seem to have better places to eat also, otherwise the locals will stop going there. I do ask the locals which place is best too.

    Some nice people in them tiny towns.
  • We, as so many others, enjoy our National Parks. We are trying to see as many as we can, without consulting atlas can't remember how many we've toured. Some we've visited several times, e.g. Yellowstone and Tetons for example. Initial visits were to take our sons now we are taking our grandson. We usually do a lot of other sightseeing around said parks, but they are generally our destination. Sporting events, usually golf tournaments, are another motivation for travel, again with nearby sightseeing as another activity. Fly fishing is another motivation for travel, so we seem to find ourselves in or near mountains a good deal of the time, which is not a bad thing in July and August. Aside from visiting the National Parks, activities seem to determine a lot of our travel.

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