Why Are Full timers Wrong?

[Dog_Folks]

Every so often we see threads about newly minted full time travelers and the "resistance" they encounter from friends, and family, when they reveal their plans. Somme even keep their plans a secret to avoid the questions/condemnations.

I am curious why you think this is?

Do friends just fear the unknown? Do they fear anything that breaks away from the typical two cars, house and two kids model?

Many of us have experienced this, but why?

When I meet someone with a different lifestyle, I want to know more about it, not condemn or criticize it.

[John___Angela]

tkcas01 wrote:

John & Angela wrote:
I guess we are still trying to get back on our feet. 🙂

I certainly hope things start going your way soon! :W

They are actually. We use to get the no name brand macaroni and cheese, now its nothing but real Kraft dinner. 🙂

[RoadLife]

I think most people are making comparisons to their own life and can't see how it would fit their own lifestyle. They aren't really thinking about you. Plus a lot of folks still think RVs are for grapes of wrath type folks - trying to get back on their feet.:-) And I wouldn't be surprised if some of the same folks ended up being RVers too - after they "get it".

[John_Joey]

John & Angela wrote:
When Angelas grand parents found out we were full timing they would assure us that someday things would get better and we were welcome to stay with them for awhile until we got back on our feet again. Sweet old folks. That was 9 years ago. 🙂 I guess we are still trying to get back on our feet. 🙂

That has to be one of the funniest and nicest things I've ever heard.

[sowego]

I think "other" folks just don't get it. Family and friends can be either friend or foe so...everyone just has to deal with the situation in the best manner they can reassuring people that you have a good plan, a back up plan and can handle anything that comes up.

[revump]

My kids and friends love it. The kids in WA know that they will see us during the summer as we travel between Seattle and Spokane trying to visit on their schedule. When it gets cold and/or hunting is over, we head for Santa Maria, CA and spend a month with our sone there. Then, on to Vegas for a Christmas visit and on to Palm Springs (playing golf with my sons in Jan. and March), Quartzsite, Yuma, hot springs where ever. Then, back to Santa Maria for a month before we head back to the NW when it gets too warm. And the cycle starts again

[tkcas01]

John & Angela wrote:
I guess we are still trying to get back on our feet. 🙂

I certainly hope things start going your way soon! :W

[John___Angela]

Larryzv7 wrote:
I think that some people are just into what they consider normal, healthy, and stable, and they see full-time RVing as an unstable abnormal lifestyle. In my opinion these people are just very insecure and they feel it takes a lot of courage to live and travel in an RV full-time. Many of them seemed especially alarmed to learn that there are single women who are out here alone fulltime RVing.

A lot of these people look at full timers like they look at homeless people who live in their car, only we live in an RV. I got a lot of blowback when I told people I was going full-time RVing. Mostly people seemed concerned and afraid for me. Like I was going to wander off the end of the earth into uncharted territory without any backup or support.

My VA doctor thought I should not be doing this; especially since I am an insulin dependant diabetic. He even wrote it in my chart that I was doing something against medical advice. When I saw my dentist at the VA he pulled up my computerized medical records and told me what my doctor had written. My dentist was very happy for me and encouraged me to pursue my dreams.

Other people told me that I should keep my house because fulltime RVing is a very unstable life and I should have a permanent base for the sake of having a stable and secure foundation. These people do not acknowledge that a sticks and bricks structure can burn down, flood, or be met with other natural disasters. I believe that it is just a very rigid mindset that some people have, and also some may be jealous.

When Angelas grand parents found out we were full timing they would assure us that someday things would get better and we were welcome to stay with them for awhile until we got back on our feet again. Sweet old folks. That was 9 years ago. 🙂 I guess we are still trying to get back on our feet. 🙂

[Gunship_Guy]

We've been full timing since September. We told friends/family that we sold the house and what we were going to do. We received nothing but support, well-wishes, and comments about wanting to do the same some day.

If anyone had any negative thoughts they didn't share them with us. If they had, I wouldn't have cared. It's not for everyone, but it's for us.

[bigdogger]

It is impossible to make blanket judgments from the information we get on these forums since it is but a sliver of the entire picture. If someone is financially well off, has no history of being flakey or crazy, and is generally level headed, full timing can be a great decision. If someone has put their last dollar into a rig, has a history of starting projects and never finishing and has been making bad decisions all their lives, there is no reason to believe full timing is going to be the one decision that works. We never know the full background.

[Larryzv7]

I think that some people are just into what they consider normal, healthy, and stable, and they see full-time RVing as an unstable abnormal lifestyle. In my opinion these people are just very insecure and they feel it takes a lot of courage to live and travel in an RV full-time. Many of them seemed especially alarmed to learn that there are single women who are out here alone fulltime RVing.

A lot of these people look at full timers like they look at homeless people who live in their car, only we live in an RV. I got a lot of blowback when I told people I was going full-time RVing. Mostly people seemed concerned and afraid for me. Like I was going to wander off the end of the earth into uncharted territory without any backup or support.

My VA doctor thought I should not be doing this; especially since I am an insulin dependant diabetic. He even wrote it in my chart that I was doing something against medical advice. When I saw my dentist at the VA he pulled up my computerized medical records and told me what my doctor had written. My dentist was very happy for me and encouraged me to pursue my dreams.

Other people told me that I should keep my house because fulltime RVing is a very unstable life and I should have a permanent base for the sake of having a stable and secure foundation. These people do not acknowledge that a sticks and bricks structure can burn down, flood, or be met with other natural disasters. I believe that it is just a very rigid mindset that some people have, and also some may be jealous.

[DianneOK]

Jean...lol...that was my mil's take on our 9 years on the road 🙂 my mother? she knew I was the black ewe...so it just confirmed I was a rebel 🙂

[Jean_S]

Maybe it depends on the circumstances. When we did it 20 ago, it was a mixture of relief that we were not going to be a burden on them and resentment that the ones that provided loans and holiday dinners and other goodies would not be thee any more. I guess our parents might have been a little worried about us going off with limited funds. I know hubby's mother did not like her friends
Knowing that we were trailrt trash.

[dahkota]

The world is made up of nesters and nomads. US culture and the government promote the nester mentality and vilify the nomad mentality. Consumerist culture practically requires nesting - buy a house, fill it with stuff, buy a bigger house to buy more stuff, etc.

We haven't really had anyone say we are crazy or stupid. Many people tell us they wish they could do the same but they can't afford to. We didn't spend the last 17 years "Keeping up with the Joneses" and I think that is really where the jealousy comes from. At 47, we are able to retire comfortably, without debt. Many of them need to work at least another 10 years to get out from under the stuff they had to have. We can work if we want to, not because we have to; it makes a huge difference in one's outlook.

[John_Joey]

We've been conditioned to associate a persons wealth/happiness with their possessions. Having a RV "down by the river" isn't the American dream of home ownership. Some would even say that greed was good. I'm thinking that a person living in an RV FT is looked at much different then someone that owns a suite on a cruise boat.

I find the argument of jealousy a wishful thought of those that want to FT and not at all accurate of those with a more conventional lifestyle.

Not everyone likes to travel, many will even suffer from extreme anxiety prior to leaving on a trip. It is much more comforting for them to sit back in a secure and known environment and look at travelling through some digital media that someone else has created. Can you imagine the stress level that FT'ing would create for them.

I find those that do not travel (or very little) to have a very small view of the world. Scary to think that their only information is coming from Fox news, CNN, the weather channel, and some local group(s) (church, bar, a guild, etc...)

[oldmattb]

Sprink-Fitter wrote:

oldmattb wrote:


In two weeks he went from the adventure of a lifetime to stuck at home, payments on three big new things he couldn't use, huge medical payments, and his savings almost gone. His problems would have been compounded had he had no home to return to.


Matt B

How would the problems be compounded? Couldn't they park there fifth wheel in a park a southern state and live in it full time if they did not have a house, there are plenty of parks in Arizona.

Good question. Months after release from the hospital, he could scarcely walk across a room. No way he could have handled RV steps.