If You’re Housebound, Take Your House with You!

[raytronx]

If You’re Housebound, Take Your House with You!

That's the new mantra of George and his wife. She has been ill and housebound for quite a while but I am pleased to say they are back out there RVing again. My wife and I feel so happy to have been an inspiration.

I wanted him to share his story with others and asked if he would do a guest posting on my blog. He was kind enough to agree.

George wrote:
Well, summer is about over and my wife and I have had the best summer that we have had in a very long time. Through Ray’s and his wife, Anne’s, inspiration we overruled our pragmatic arguments to the contrary and bought a motorhome.

By sharing our story, we hope it might inspire others like us; others with debilitating conditions, that there is an option to being housebound.
Before my wife became ill we spent most of our free time engaged in activities centered around camping: backpacking, fishing, white-water and lake canoeing, water skiing, snow skiing, etc. In fact the first three months of marriage was spent in a 17 foot camp trailer in the woods at Forest Glen, CA. We often tent camped but our greatest fun was had with a ’66 Chevy 4-wheel drive pickup that had utility boxes on the sides and a 6000 pound dead-lift Braden PTO winch on the front. I added a camper shell that we fixed up to be semi-self-contained. We could go anywhere with it, and did. Even though we used small camp trailers occasionally, our comfort zone was a little more on the Spartan side.
I mention that because when my wife became suddenly ill 23 years ago with a complicated auto-immune disorder that manifested itself with a syndrome of symptoms that includes multiple types of extreme pain, and total cellular exhaustion, as well as, easily triggered asthma and allergies. Suffice for me to say she is totally housebound. Obviously, our camping days ended some time ago to our great sadness. I mention all this because I think others will be able relate to our situation.

Link to full blog posting with photos - If You’re Housebound, Take Your House with You!

Cheers Ray

[gdwsr]

Thank you, Tony and Karen, for your feedback and kind wishes. I have only looked at the opening page on your Blog - interesting and informative. I will spend some more time with it. Right now I have to go get the RV out of storage as we are going to give it a go and run up to the lake. Each trip we learn something new and these comments and blogs such as yours and Rays sure help.

[tonyandkaren]

Glad to see you over here on the forum George! Please take a look at my blog at the link below. I've been in wheelchair since 1993 due to an accident. My husband and I had just begun fulltiming a few months earlier. We decided that the accident wouldn't stop us and we're into our twentieth year, hopefully with many more ahead of us.

Best wishes to you and your wife.

[gdwsr]

Ray just told me he posted our story over here. I relate to all of your responses. Looks like we are in good company.

Ray has added a new segment in his blog: Special Needs RVing. I hope you all will share the tricks and tips you have discovered to accommodate your needs.

Take Care
George

[raytronx]

Thanks so much for your replies and comments. Being healthy, touch wood, I've been a little ignorant to how many folks are utilizing the RV to help themselves do things that may be much harder using other methods of travel. George has helped open my eyes a little.
I now look around the park in a new way. One more great thing to love about RVing.

I saw a cool scooter setup a few weeks ago on the back of a fiver. It was platform weldeded to the back holding a scooter. With the aid of a cordless drill it could be raised and lowered easily and the scooter driven off. It even had a plastic cover to keep the weather off.

Best regards,

Ray

[mdamerell]

My partner has temperature sensitive asthma and a host of other health issues. The RV allows us to travel and see family and friends. A RV is a tool that allows many of us options we would not have otherwise had.

Thanks for sharing.

[hitchup]

We've seen many motorized wheel chairs on lifts or in the back of a TV. Parked next to us in NC one year was a wife and her husband who was missing an arm. I spotted them both on the roof, she was helping him do something to the AC unit.

There are others on here who full-timed with a disabled or ill spouse. Some have since lost the spouse.

[traveylin]

Wife is polio paralyzed both legs and when we were young and both working, we did extremely well traveling, worked internationally for 20 years and found that by starting early we could do pretty much anything.
Then those terrifying words, "your getting older now", began to crop up in our retirement. We first bought a class c and then a class a and you truly can take your home with you. Our favorite state is Utah with the long views in the canyon lands. She gets around fine inside our house on wheels and I do not have to load and unload each day at a motel.
Next year we go to Alaska again, leaving first of may and returning in late October. Spring up and frost back

life is good

[loulou57]

Thanks for sharing your wonderful story. I will read your blog and I am sure it will inspire me in some way.

[Dog_Folks]

Thanks for the great post and inspiration. We are full time on the road and I have a slowly debilitating illness. I can think of no other place I would rather be as my mobility becomes more limited. Every thing is "cozy" and close by.

[Ka_Ron]

Love the story and the inspiration.
For all that think RV'ing is not just the greatest lifestyle, this shows it can be.
Excellent.