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Since we are taking the plunge soon I would like to ask if there was or is something about fulltiming that you did not expect and regret doing it.
Believe me I understand leaving a house you raised kids in and spent 40 or more years in can be difficult and down right scary.
I for one am scared as is my wife. There are a million what ifs? There are a millionwhats ifs staying in your home also,but a complete life change seems daunting.
When I first retired I was scared stiff I would be bored to tears. It took a while but I found a niche helping seniors in my neighborhood.
they keep me busy.
is there anyone out there that is bored stiff by fulltiming? My plan is to layup in a nice resort for the winter months and see National Parks in the warmer time. One can wash and wax a RV just so many times!
is there anyone out there that is bored stiff by fulltiming?
I suspect that you won't hear from those folks because they don't stay around very long, but they are out there. It is really no different than it was to retire in that you can be as busy as you wish or you can have nothing to do, but you are responsible for which way your life is. We started doing RV volunteer positions when we went fulltime as a way to stretch our budget because we left well before we could draw social security and Pam had been a "stay at home" mom so had only a few years to build any retirement and then leaving early, it was insignificant. When we reached the age to draw social security, we stopped volunteering for 6 months but found we missed the experiences and feeling of satisfaction we get from those positions. We have become part-time now but we still do our volunteer positions because we enjoy them and we have now completed 30+ tours as RV volunteers.
Others have hobbies to stay busy and others have internet projects while some belong to service groups like SOWERS or Habitat for Humanity. Most of our friends come from the RV world and we have observed that those who stay busy also stay on the road for a long time and usually live longer than average. We live in a community of RV folks, most of whom have been fulltimers for at least 10 years. While there are many different stories about what they did on the road, the common thing is that none of them just sat in a chair to watch, but they were out, involved, and living.
Remember that there is no single best way to live on the road in an RV. The only limit to what you can do while RVing is your own imagination!
Edited October 18, 2018 by Kirk Wood
Thanks,Kirk, inspiration!
You will be fine. We have now been fulltiming for almost a year. Winter in a resort is fine, plenty of things to do. The rest of the time it is surprising how busy we are. The one thing that we had to get use to was that we had all the time in the world to see things in our wonderful country. We do not over plan nor make reservations unless a special weekend. We have learned to boondock comfortably. Planning what to do and see consumes time. In addition we have a blog with pictures that consumes time. At least one day a week we dedicate to laundry and shopping. You need to remember you are not on vacation, this is your life.
There are also many volunteer opportunities. Go to volunteer.gov to see what is available. You can volunteer at CARE in Livingston and many other places that aren't really documented.
There is Habitat for Humanity, Sowers and other groups of that nature to volunteer with.
You can be as busy or as bored as you want...................
We are still very happy full timing after over 8 years. Be careful to not get trapped in "vacation mode" and don't rush anything.
No regrets, here (about the lifestyle, anyway). We don't "stay put," though - even in the winter - unless it has to do with a new grandbaby or a serious illness with one of our mothers. A rolling stone gathers no moss, as the Kingston Trio said. I could tell my wife was serious when she looked at me yesterday and said, "I've been thinking." Yesterday was a travel day and she had watched me remove the ground tackle (chocks, levelers, etc.) and hitch up in the morning and ("Strike that, reverse it. Thank you.") unhitch, level and set up in the afternoon. She was regretting not waiting the few months until auto-leveling was standard equipment on our fifth wheel. She's also concerned about me climbing up a ladder or on top of the rig to sweep off the slides when we've stayed under trees. So, her "thinking" was about me doing these things when I'm 70 or 75 (I'm only 65 at the moment). We prefer the floorplans, living arrangements and storage in a fifth wheel as opposed to a motor coach, so I guess we'll be thinking about a few upgrades to the rig (auto-leveling and slide toppers).
In three years and two months, we've put 26,000 miles on the rig and logged 170 stays (some were in the same place as we have favorites near family, etc.). We have enjoyed every day of it... well, except for when we both caught pneumonia and she spent five nights in the hospital. That would have happened whether we were in the RV or the house, however, since it followed a visit with some of the grandkids. The only times we've been bored were our own fault(s) - we failed to get motivated, get off our duffs, and get out to do something. We even enjoy the rainy days or cold nights curled up with a good book on our Kindles (that would be the same in a stix 'n brix, too).
Finally, Dale Carnegie said, "If you want to conquer fear, don't sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy." I find that it I'm worried about something, my best therapy is to find something to look forward to and do.
Rob
Edited October 18, 2018 by Second Chance
x2 about husband going on roof.
We switched from a 5th to a MH due to our age, DH is 74. Meets our needs, still liked the 5th better. We have not had a trailer without slide toppers since 2000, you will really enjoy them. The MH came with autolevel. We would not consider anything without autolevel again. I guess we get lazy as we age.
Great assessment as always Kirk and so very true 
. Basically it all boils down to knowing thy self, just like the City mouse or country mouse? Embracing change or fearing change = same when you retired, same in the work place over the years. Some embrace and look forward to it and some F.E.A.R. it. Ironically most often we had nothing to fear, and whatever life throws at us we find a way to deal with or accept it anyways.
F.E.A.R = False Evidence Appearing Real.
If you've done your pros and cons sheets against going Full-time or not, and added solutions/compromises to the cons, then there's your "road map". (Pardon the pun).
Personally, we were on target to going Full-time a year and a half ago - daughter getting married last summer, and taking over the family acreage = a win-win all round. It meant we had a space to come home to site wise for several weeks in the summer, and we weren't totally giving up somewhere we've loved living for many years and the memories. Alas, after 6 years engaged, the wedding got called off, throwing a huge spanner in our plans, and for now we've had to compromise with continued longer and longer extended trips instead of Full-time. Not quite our initial dream, but it works well for us, and we have peace of mind personally that, we haven't kicked a gifted horse in the mouth by selling up everything. As another plus, "if" the grass wasn't as green on the longer term RVing side we have a back up still in place.
If daughter (huge emotional pull for us) wasn't so in love with our home place, then for sure if it was just hubby and I, we would sell up everything and go Full-time, footloose and fancy free which without question would give us far more financial flexibility to boot, but ........... We all gotta do what we gotta do based on our individual personalities .
Can so relate to your being scared MBE! Just a thought but is there anyway you can keep your current home, and test the waters so to speak for a year or two RVing = you might find that emotionally after a period of time, you'll find it easier to sell up the family home then. Alternatively, as has been the case with many, you "just" might find that FT RVing isn't for you. We've read of a lot of folks over the years feeling the latter, but few remain on the forums after the fact.
As always ............ to each their own.
No regrets & no surprises here. I had been a part time RV'er for years before retiring and going fulltime; so it wasn't a major adjustment for me. I had also been a bit of a nomad before hand, moving frequently. Since I am a type A, go go go, the biggest adjustment for me was to slow down, smell the roses and enjoy each day regardless of what it included or where it ended. Some days will be driving days, some days will be work days, some days will be exploring, and some days need to be rest days. etc
I agree with others comments, fulltime RV living is a bit different for everyone and its up to you how you want to fill your spare time. I saw it no different than living in a sticks & bricks, as far as how I enjoy spending my spare time. Some have hobbies, some volunteer, some work at remote jobs or part time jobs, and some thrive off just traveling around the country. You will soon find that there are 57 different flavors of fulltiming. Some folks sit in place most or part of the year, others never stay in one spot more than a week. Some folks seek out every opportunity to socialize, while others prefer to stay remote and enjoy the solitude of nature. Some folks always stay in RV Parks while others boondock year round. many sample a variety of all the above. etc
The key to keeping you & yours happy is to understand why you're doing this, maximize what you enjoy about it, minimize what you dislike about it and keep in mind what you want out of it. I also think its important to go into it with an exit plan in mind. Although some continue fulltiming for 10,15, 20 yrs, the majority stop in less than 5 yrs.
Although its good to get input from others, be sure to balance your choices & decisions heavily toward your own personal preferences & priorities.
Planning what to do and see consumes time. In addition we have a blog with pictures that consumes time.
I suspect we all underestimated the time we would spend doing these two things. Good thing I enjoyed doing them.
Linda Sand
Great assessment as always Kirk and so very true
. Basically it all boils down to knowing thy self, just like the City mouse or country mouse? Embracing change or fearing change = same when you retired, same in the work place over the years. Some embrace and look forward to it and some F.E.A.R. it. Ironically most often we had nothing to fear, and whatever life throws at us we find a way to deal with or accept it anyways.
F.E.A.R = False Evidence Appearing Real.
If you've done your pros and cons sheets against going Full-time or not, and added solutions/compromises to the cons, then there's your "road map". (Pardon the pun).
Personally, we were on target to going Full-time a year and a half ago - daughter getting married last summer, and taking over the family acreage = a win-win all round. It meant we had a space to come home to site wise for several weeks in the summer, and we weren't totally giving up somewhere we've loved living for many years and the memories. Alas, after 6 years engaged, the wedding got called off, throwing a huge spanner in our plans, and for now we've had to compromise with continued longer and longer extended trips instead of Full-time. Not quite our initial dream, but it works well for us, and we have peace of mind personally that, we haven't kicked a gifted horse in the mouth by selling up everything. As another plus, "if" the grass wasn't as green on the longer term RVing side we have a back up still in place.
If daughter (huge emotional pull for us) wasn't so in love with our home place, then for sure if it was just hubby and I, we would sell up everything and go Full-time, footloose and fancy free which without question would give us far more financial flexibility to boot, but ........... We all gotta do what we gotta do based on our individual personalities
Can so relate to your being scared MBE! Just a thought but is there anyway you can keep your current home, and test the waters so to speak for a year or two RVing = you might find that emotionally after a period of time, you'll find it easier to sell up the family home then. Alternatively, as has been the case with many, you "just" might find that FT RVing isn't for you. We've read of a lot of folks over the years feeling the latter, but few remain on the forums after the fact.
As always ............ to each their own.
Thanks for the reply, but it’s just the two of us now and we have to downsize any way 6 bedrooms 5 baths. FIL Built the house ,we are not Provost people if you know what I mean. Taxes are $14,000 a year. Highest electric in the country.
To crowded ,rude people and on and on. But we did give it a thought.....
I suspect we all underestimated the time we would spend doing these two things. Good thing I enjoyed doing them.
Linda Sand
Agreed. And the fancy the phone gets themore pictures to go through finding the right ones for the blog.
If daughter (huge emotional pull for us) wasn't so in love with our home place, then for sure if it was just hubby and I, we would sell up everything and go Full-time, footloose and fancy free which without question would give us far more financial flexibility to boot, but ........... We all gotta do what we gotta do based on our individual personalities
Couldn't daughter still live in the house?
As far as the OP's question on being bored. I think you have to have purpose, not think it's going to be a long vacation. We decided and took off, sold everything within 4 m. time. and never had one regret. We were downsized from our jobs in our early 50's and knew we didn't want to stay home especially living in a place with seasons. We wanted to travel and be in 'almost' constant good weather. While still in the home we made a trip to a nearby national park. We loved the area in the summer/fall and loved the park. We went into the office to see if they had any volunteer openings. We were 'hired' on the spot to camp host. We had to tell them our full-timing plans and that we were in the process of selling everything but we could be back in Fall. We did that..... for 9 Fall seasons along with some summers giving lighthouse tours for the park. We made good friends by doing this and the park rangers were awesome, including us in many potlucks and activities. We finally decided we wanted to go other places in summer/fall so then we traveled. We still volunteered a maximum of 6 weeks at a time at various public parks throughout the country. Without volunteering I think we would have become bored at times. With volunteering we had a chance to give back to the parks that we loved. We really enjoyed interpretation and gave lighthouse tours in other places but we also camp hosted. We picked the place we wanted to explore more; applied in person and always got a gig.
Our grandchildren grew up with us as full-timers. That's all they knew. This was before the common use of cell phones, internet, email, etc. However, we made an effort to spend much time traveling to them and being there for their special occasions such as first day of school, grandparents day, graduation for pre-school and upwards. Sometimes the family would meet us as a special place so we could vacation together. Sometimes one of us would fly to them. Sometimes we would take them on trips. We spent many hours in a telephone booth. We took their school project, Flat Stanley, traveling with us and packaging him up with tons of brochures and trinkets from his trip for Show & Tell at school. It was always a hit with the class. They didn't miss out on anything with us leaving. They gained more. They were crushed when we stopped RVing because they were such a part of it, too. The oldest got some travel genes and loves backpacking in Europe when he gets the time. All of them are so independent and free-spirits. They thank us all the time for the gift we gave them of sharing experiences and places with them.
Never bored and absolutely no regrets!
My plan is to layup in a nice resort for the winter months
In addition to activities that the resort may have, most communities have opportunities to get involved. State Parks, National Parks and National Wildlife Refuges often have volunteer programs for the local community and often have friends groups that organize volunteer activities, run book stores and conduct other fund raising activities. As mentioned, Habitat for Humanity has volunteer opportunities for both the local community and RVers. Fraternal Organizations like the Elks, Moose, Jaycees and Rotary will welcome your participation. There may also be opportunities to volunteer at a local community/Senior Center.
We started full time in 1999 and stayed on the road for eleven years and loved it! Fortunately, we did not sell our house - had house sitter and renters the whole time. When health issues hit us both we moved back into the house in 2010 and traded the fiver for a MH and travel south every other year. We had even bought into two SKP Co-ops with plans to sell the house but later sold them.
Looking back I am VERY glad we didn't sell the house as I now have my workshop back and enjoying it along with being very active with the local VFW post.
Just keep your options open if you can.
Lenp
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