Red Shoe RVing...I Need Your Stories!

[DMalone]

I joined yesterday and posted the mid life crisis one but through reading over it and clarifying for others it helped clarify for me why I actually joined. I wasn't looking for advice though I appreciate your time to share that...what I'm looking for I think is to hear your stories about what you went through, dealt with, faced, your situation that inspired your final decision to actively go RV full time.

I'm also interested in how the people around you handle it - whether supportive or not and how you handled the non supportive ones.

I'm having anxieties that maybe the ones around me have been successful in getting in my head and causing me to second guess myself, indulge the doubts and anxieties, or if I was the one being silly and unrealistic and they're just getting through once and for all. I think by reading your stories I'll be able to pick apart whether or not I'm in a similar place and this is par for the course or if it's so alien that it reveals things I never considered so maybe they have a point.

I don't mind how long it is, I'm genuinely interested in the period that led to your decision to go for it and what happened.

ETA PS - and to clarify that, I'm looking at the actually active period when you were having to make a move one way or the other, as opposed to just thinking about it for years and just doing it. There was that period of time when you knew you were serious that you went into "serious" consideration mode, bringing it up to people and what you experienced. If that makes sense!

Thanks!

[BeckyIO]

August 25, 2010 I had been graduated from college and working in my chosen field for three years.... and I hated it. I hated the 9-5, I hated the thought of being an upstanding citizen and working another 40+ years with only two weeks of vacation a year. Being an adult sucked.

That night I randomly stumbled upon a blog post through Facebook that basically said: get out and live your dreams, now. And I listened.

Four months later I stumbled upon full-time RVing with that new mindset. It took me a while to find people online who were younger and doing it to show that is it was possible, but once I did I knew it's what I wanted to do.

The second guessing and anxiety are a very normal thing. My parents thought I was crazy, they still aren't happy with me traveling but they've gotten use to it now. How I got around it is I only brought it up with people I thought would be supportive, folks online on places like this who would root for me. 🙂 A few of my close friends irl knew, my coworkers didn't - it was my little secret.

It October 2011 I bought my truck. March 2012 I bought my travel trailer. April I moved into it, and September 2012 I hit the road as a full-timer.

It was terrifying, that early period, trying to pull it all together. But it was oh so worth it!

[billkaufmann]

DW and I want to go FT. We have to sell our business and commercial building first. I like the idea of going for a few months to start. We have been camping for 30 years. I need to get going before it is too late. (I'm 75)

Send me a BUYER PLEASE!!!!!!

[Scottiemom]

We lived in central Indiana. Had RV'd since the second year of our married life. At age 47, my DH suffered 3 rapid and debilitating heart attacks and eventually had to quit work. In the winter when the snow would fly, he was housebound, not able to leave warm air. . . the cold air made him pass out. Not a great life for someone who traveled for a livelihood and camped and boated on the weekends.

I was a couple years away from retirement when he asked if I was interested in fulltiming. The answer was an unqualified "YES!" We already had a class A and spent the next two years selling and emptying out our house. It sold the first week we left for the road. It's been 9 years, starting 10 and we are still loving it. DH gets to stay in warm weather all year long, so he is more active and his doctors are amazed at how well he is doing. Did Alaska last year. . . warm summer there. It was great!

My parents had done this before us, traveling in their 5th wheel between Texas and Indiana every year. Our two kids moved to Virginia and Florida when they left the nest, so there was no one who was upset. It actually means we get to see them more now.

Dale

[Clay_L]

We are sort of “accidental” full timers.

We didn't intend to full time, just wanted to take a three to six month trip around the country visiting friends and family and then find some warmer, cheaper place to buy or build a house. At the time we had a 96 model year motor home with no slides.

We threw away stuff, gave stuff to places that could make use of it and distributed as much as possible to our kids.
We put all of the rest of our stuff in storage so we wouldn't have to go back to NH if the house sold quickly and it was still cold and yucky there.

The house did sell quickly (in a month) and we found after about a year that we were having so much fun traveling and having no ties to a stick house that we decided to keep on full timing. We traded the 96 motor home in on a new 2004 with a lot more CCC, storage space and two slides.

That was 12 years ago and we both loved the life style. But health issues and sort of "having done it all" have intervened and after one year as snowbirds we now live in our home in CO.
It was a wonderful 12 years though.

Note that we went into the lifestyle with the financial means to do it and pay for medical insurance until we got old enough for Medicare while leaving plenty for implementing an exit plan back to a house when it became necessary or desirable.

[RoadLife]

DMalone wrote:

I'm also interested in how the people around you handle it - whether supportive or not and how you handled the non supportive ones.
Thanks!

If they were non-supportive I never let it bother me. My life, my decisions. They are allowed to have an opinion, just not any voting rights - lol.

[Don_Shar]

I was working at a job 38 years, 3-11 shift, 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. No time off and even worked through some of my vacation because "they needed me". The wife worked 8 to 5 shift so we did not see much of each other except on weekend when she didn't work. The wife and I decided to by a diesel pusher and take trips on my vacation and I decided I was taking the vacation I had coming no matter how bad "they needed me".
We bought our Beaver Patriot and was going to use it about 6 weeks a year. Our first trip out to South Dakota was great, we loved every minute, not worrying about the job, the boss, or whether the work got done. Well I was turning 62 that February so we planned to go to Yuma, Arizona for the month of February. My boss said I could not take a whole month off. I said I am 62 and don't need this anymore" I retire" Well we sold the house, gave our belongings to our children and grandchildren and we left for Yuma. That summer we went to Alaska for the summer. The following winter we went to Texas in the valley.
Well to make a long story short we have done a lot of traveling spent winters in Florida, Texas, and Arizona. We fell in love with Yuma, Arizona and last year we bought a place and next winter we plan to live in Yuma, still travel but home base will be Yuma, Arizona. The most important thing is we will be married 52 years in 4 more days and the last 10 have been the best 10 years of my life because we are together doing what we want to do and I Love It. We have been to all 52 states including Hawaii and have spent a winter in Mexico. We are like newly weds seeing everything and doing everything Fulltime RV living is the best life I could have asked for.

[colliehauler]

I suggest you rent an RV to see if you even like the lifestyle. The RV lots have lots of RV's that people bought and found out it was'nt for them.

I quit careing about what other people thought back in High School, it has to be your decision.

[Nutinelse2do]

Usually it is not something people make a spur of the moment decision about, though I am sure some retired people have decided last minute.
That situation is totally different than yours.
Personally, we have been planning and saving for full timing for over 15 years, but do not plan on staying anywhere longer than a few days to a week at the most, and we will not be working or have any income needs. And no children or house to take care of since we will be selling our primary home, and don't have kids.
The people that think we are crazy, well, some are jealous, and some have no desire to live the lifestyle. Honestly, we could care less what others think about it.
It is definitely not for everyone. Even we cannot honestly say we are going to love it, though we have been RV's for 22 years. Only until you live the lifestyle will you truly know if it is for you or not. Thus, the importance of a backup plan, which has to be planned for too.
Best of luck with your decision

[arhayes]

We've never owned an RV but tent camped for many years. We started talking about an RV a year or so ago, but just for weekend use. I finally made the decision to retire this March, and my DW threw becoming FT RVers on the table. I jumped at it, but balked on selling the house. In the end, we've sold the house, bought the RV, held an Estate Sale and sold virtually everything, and haven't looked back. We've been in the RV 3 weeks and love it, yesterday was my last day at work after 40 years (I live that), and we'll be pulling out in a few weeks to travel the country.

We've travelled overseas extensively, and now look forward to seeing more of our country until we're tired of traveling. That may be next year or 20 years from now. Until then, we're happy to be FT'ers!??

[rockhillmanor]

Snow birded twice to Florida for the winter. Third winter I stayed up North. That is all it took to put the For Sale sign up on the house. Spoiled having spent a couple of winters in Florida, I was NOT about to spend one more stinkin winter up North.

Didn't tell, ask, or discuss it with anyone. Sold the house, bought a toad for the MH and hit the road literally from the closing on the house! KISS theory.

I would suggest that anyone thinking about full-timing should at least snowbird a couple of times FIRST before taking such a serious change in lifestyle.

I have met countless weekend RV'ers that thought they would just love to full time......only to find out they couldn't even take the few months of snow birding in an RV. Luckily before they spent money and/or sold their home and belongings.

Just my