First Month Full Timing

We workamp, so usually spend a month or so traveling and then sit from 4-6 months. We will only be doing that for 1 more year, then traveling/staying as we wish wherever we wander. Right now we go between north and south.

You are still in the adjustment period. Seems like you have lots of time you don't know what to do with. Go sightseeing, hikes, swim, canoe, out to eat, clean, laundry, grocery shop, hobbies, computer time, watch tv - learn a new craft, take some jewelry, pottery or some type of class for something you always wanted to do. Some people sew. My DH has motorcycles with us - trail ride , work on the bikes ( he has tools too). Casinos, libraries,read, puzzles, crosswords, suduko, word search books etc. Plant a small garden either veggies or flowers in pots (transport in shower) ride bicycles - there is tons of things to do. Try new recipes - on and on.

We have only been FT 2 years & love it! We had a VERY active first year. We crossed the US & visited many places in the SE. We spent 3 months in FL (1 mo in 3 different areas.). We made a big list by location of places we wanted to visit. Fabulous!

Year 2 was much quieter... We spent several months at the beach and then went south for the winter.

We found the tourist year to be expensive, but we knew it would be. We have found, for us, that we can afford a big tour year every other year. The off year, we still did some touring, but stayed in RV parks with activities we had not had the opportunity to enjoy while working: dancing, bingo, dominoes, pool, swimming, water aerobics, water volleyball, dinners etc. We didn't have time to be bored!

We plan our trips far in advance. We enjoy the planning and anticipation for what comes next... We don't boondock & stay in FHU places because we like it that way for now). We have found that staying in parks for 1 month gives us our best rate. We then have the $ to spend a few months each year for travel.

Talk to your spouse. Find out why she isn't excited. If you can't find a way to both enjoy it, you won't FT long...

We full-time and our length of stay depends on what is in the area to see. We love history, museums and off the wall local points of interest. We've stayed for a month at a time 3 times in 2 years. Otherwise, it may be 2-3 days or a week or more. We've often stopped somewhere, then extended our stay because we found so much to see or do, or planned several days then cut the stay short. Since we rarely make advance reservations except in high interest venues and around Holiday peak times, it's easy to be flexible. We do ALWAYS have a reservation at our next stop, but it may have been made that morning from the road. We also rarely travel more than 250 miles in a day and are almost always off the road by 3pm.

We DO typically stay in RV Campgrounds because most State and National Parks cannot accommodate a 43' 5ver Toy Hauler, and since our motorcycle riding is a major part of our lifestyle, being able to get the bike on and off is important to us. That's okay because we still visit every park and see what they have to offer anyway. Our feeling is we're at home every night regardless of where the rig is parked, and we do not consider our lifestyle camping - we are touring the USA at our speed and on our terms. We did our camping in tents with our boys in Scouting over the years - now we're living comfortably in our house on wheels, and Home is where we're parked that night. It took us 2 years to cover the east coast and New England, so we figure we've got many years to look forward to, plus there's a lot we have on our "go back because we missed it" list.

You didn't expand on your wife's concerns, but I'd sure suggest you get those addressed if you want this lifestyle to work for both of you. It has to be a joint venture. Good luck and have FUN! Life is good!!!!

I'm like Geocritter in that I like to explore and see/do new things and have trouble staying in one spot for long. But sometimes it gets tiring and I hunker down for as long as I need to. I'll even rent a house or lodging for a week or two occasionally from Airbnb or VRBO. The beauty of this lifestyle is you can do exactly what you want to do, even if on a budget.

SGTJOE, I think the key thing to all of this is to go back to the beginning. "What was your vision, dreams, plans and goals to interest you both, in going FT RVing in the first place"? Recall the discussions the years and months before you hit the road as FTers.

Maybe after a soul searching discussion with your DW you can change things up a bit to accommodate what she feels she was going to achieve from this huge lifestyle change.

What interests do you and DW enjoy either individually or mutually, and how can you incorporate these in your travels. As with anything in life "a change is as good as a rest". Change it up somewhat. We for sure wouldn't enjoy being FT RVers if nothing changed about our lives from when in the SnB living phase, just to change to a rolling home. We also already know we hate being cooped up and dictated rules at personally in commercial CG's, and will always boondock/dry camp by choice first and foremost. Indirectly this latter choice that suits us enables us to also have more $'s to spend on what we enjoy visiting/doing.

Hubby, loves fishing (I'm supportive and don't dislike it but .....), fortunately I love kayaking/rafting/ swimming/snorkelling as does he also so they complement each other somewhat. We love our relaxation time by water and mountings with great home cooking to boot. We also enjoy stopping and starting lots (when I say lots even if one village is 2 mins from the next) during our travel days, and we don't toad yet and personally haven't found it's inconvenienced us at all on several weeks/months extended trips. We are in the process of finalising everything to go FT.

Noted well that it has only been "one month" thus far for you both FT, which is less than some folks spend on an RVing vacation at times. For sure you definitely need to make some travelling/sight seeing and activity doing plans, and probably plan on spending a few days here and there on route or even just an overnight.

You don't have to book into CGs "ALL" the time, you can boon docking here and there, take some odd down days to smell the roses and just enjoy the freedom. Do you play cards/games/jigsaws/sew/arts & crafts etc for wet days or a relaxing down day?

Retirement will be boring for any of us whether in a SnB or RV if we don't have a reason to get up in the mornings and embrace doing activities.

If you love the interaction of meeting other folks, what about a volunteer gig at a Fish Hatchery or Wildlife Refuge or otherwise, but not until you've had the chance to explore somewhat first with your new found freedom.

There's no right or wrong way to do this FT lifestyle, same as there's no one way to live retirement = we are all so very different in our interests, needs, wants and desires.

A lot of folks talk about just going where the wind blows them "serendipity" - ironically for us we've found that planning our travels (with some wiggle room for extra days if wanted enroute) has been far more rewarding, enjoyable and fulfilling for us. To others it would drive them bonkers being quite so structured. No one way is right or wrong and we can of course change it up as we go along.

As always, to each their own, but remember, nothing is forever! However, it would be a shame for your wife not to embrace at least a few months to a year of living this lifestyle, before making a concrete "not for me" decision. You've both waited an awful long time to experience this part in your lives.

Personally we can't wait to be out there FTing it, especially after spending many years of extended time out there. Will we like it in the long run? Truthfully I don't know, but for sure we'll keep changing up anything we don't like in case we might be missing the big picture somewhere down the road.

Determined to enjoy the Highlight of our Twilight which we can now taste not just smell :)

JimK-NY wrote:
You have chosen an RV lifestyle that I would detest. My idea of RV living is to travel and see the national parks and other outstanding features of our land. Occasionally I even include urban areas in my visits. What do I do? Hike, explore, photography, ranger talks and tours, museums, art galleries, farm stands, restaurants, Indian ruins, boondocking in beautiful and peaceful areas. What I don't do? Sit in an RV park, listen to the neighbors have a fight, talk about mileage and RV parts, stretch out and do nothing, watch TV, play cards.

I rarely spend more than a few days in any campground. I certainly avoid RV parks.

Well that is your option

We typically spend 3 months volunteering at a national park, 3 months hopping from state and national parks to national forest campsites anywhere from a few days to a week at a time, then 3 more months volunteering at a national park, and so on. Right now, though, we are at a small, convenient RV park near our former home to accomplish annual doctor checkups (DW got a cataract removed too) and see old friends. Enjoying life.

SGTJOE, JimK-NY brings up a good point. Like I said, I roll the way I do because of financial considerations. However, it’s far easier and cheaper to explore an area in my 25mpg toad than in my 7mpg 33’ Class A behemoth. For instance, when I drove through California on my way to Port Angeles WA I spent a month in Fresno, the reason being, that I was only 90 miles from Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks. I was also 190 miles from San Francisco where my brother lives and 220 miles from LA where my daughter lives. Between multi-day camping trips up in the Sierra Nevada’s and visiting family in beautiful areas I didn’t spend much time in the RV park (which was basically an over-priced dump, but cheap by California standards). I spend about 4-5 months wintering over in Sierra Vista AZ. While I’m there I’ve joined the local hiking club and hike and camp all over the nearby Huachuca Mountains. From December through mid-February I hunt quail. When I’m not hiking, camping or hunting I’m visiting the area museums, attending local events (the Cochise Cowboy Poetry & Music Gathering comes to mind), and the nearby historic towns such as Tombstone or Bisbee. Like JimK-NY said, if you just sit in the RV park you’ll soon tire of the full-time lifestyle.

Steve

We have been on the road for 18 months.

The longest we have ever stayed anywhere, was when we first started last year.

We found ourselves in Winchester Bay, Oregon. We were planning on staying for a week, and it turned into a month. With the views, and the weather, we decided to hanker down for a bit, and do some serious sightseeing and relaxing. That was definitely too long though.

We move, usually once a week. After about 5-6 days, we get pretty bad hitch itch, and move on down the road. Though, sometimes, we only stay 2-4 days. It depends how much is in the area to see, and do.

There is never a boring day. We sightsee, geocache, go to local museums, check out the little touristy areas, read, and generally, just relax. We also take care of any maintenance issues that come up.

For the first time in 20 years, I have the time to do some serious cooking, so we are both enjoying that.

After so many years of working 12 hour days, we have come to enjoy doing absolutely nothing on certain days.

Our idea of full time rv'ing, is to see this beautiful Country, and all it has to offer. Not sit in an rv park someplace, and not move. Our home has wheels for a reason :-)

It is personal preference, so only you two know what will make you happy.

Financially, it is much cheaper to stay somewhere for a month, but, at this point and time, we prefer not to. There is so much to see, and we have barely just begun.

Best of luck in your endeavors. Safe travels

JimK-NY.., Completely agree!

JimK-NY wrote:
You have chosen an RV lifestyle that I would detest. .. What I don't do? Sit in an RV park, listen to the neighbors have a fight, talk about mileage and RV parts, stretch out and do nothing, watch TV, play cards.

x2. Don't forget "talk about health problems." :)

Our homes have wheels and I use them. 10 days is about all I can take in one place, and RV parks are the last place I want to be...especially the ones where working people live.

What do I do with my time? I find simply tooling down the highway is the most relaxed I feel, ever. When I stop I enjoy playing with the cat and being on here.

To each his own budget, to each his own pleasure. In the end we all do what we enjoy. It just may take time to find what you enjoy, especially with a hesitant DW who probably misses family.