We were only full time for a couple years before purchasing another sticknbrick.  However, it wasn't because we were not enjoying the lifestyle.  We decided to come off the road because we were seeing really good buys in SW Florida for homes.  After a couple years of being back in a house we missed being on the road so much we sold out again and here we are.

We now plan on staying on the road until our health dictates otherwise.  

We planned on learning to RV for years... before actually deciding & leaving in a 3-month time period.  We kept our house with our Daughter & Family moving in to take over... and built an apartment in the walk-out basement for DW and I.   Over the course of a year we spend approximately 8 - 10 weeks in this apartment with Kids & grandkids just above us.   (indeed, as I type we are preparing to drive back (toad) to spend the Holidays with family there)   

We have few, if any, regrets with our Fulltime lifestyle.   The benefits far more than outweigh any possible regrets.   We make it a point to stay in contact with old friends back home... and increasingly with new friends made on the road.   We pay extra for unlimited smart phone usage and internet access... all to stay in contact.   We have always loved to travel and can now indulge that urge without restraint.   We have learned workamping skills at an area that we love to spend the Summer in... and own a comfortable winter RV lot in sunny Arizona.   At both places, and in between, we indulge in our wish to 'jump in the car and roadtrip'!

If I had to name a regret... it would be "not being 1st-hand involved in our grandchildren's daily lives".  As stated, we spend significant time with them in the same house... and talk regularly via phone... but the gaps can be felt.  On the other hand, they can come to visit us in areas that they might not normally get a chance to!

So... we are very happy in our lifestyle and have no plans to change.   But as Member lenp stated...  "Just keep your options open if you can."    Good advice!   We have options for most contingencies and take confidence in that.

Good luck, Mickey! 

Edited October 19, 2018 by Jim & Alice

  On 10/19/2018 at 2:08 PM, Jim & Alice said:

We planned on learning to RV for years... before actually deciding & leaving in a 3-month time period.  We kept our house with our Daughter & Family moving in to take over... and built an apartment in the walk-out basement for DW and I.   Over the course of a year we spend approximately 8 - 10 weeks in this apartment with Kids & grandkids just above us.   (indeed, as I type we are preparing to drive back (toad) to spend the Holidays with family there)   

We have few, if any, regrets with our Fulltime lifestyle.   The benefits far more than outweigh any possible regrets.   We make it a point to stay in contact with old friends back home... and increasingly with new friends made on the road.   We pay extra for unlimited smart phone usage and internet access... all to stay in contact.   We have always loved to travel and can now indulge that urge without restraint.   We have learned workamping skills at an area that we love to spend the Summer in... and own a comfortable winter RV lot in sunny Arizona.   At both places, and in between, we indulge in our wish to 'jump in the car and roadtrip'!

If I had to name a regret... it would be "not being 1st-hand involved in our grandchildren's daily lives".  As stated, we spend significant time with them in the same house... and talk regularly via phone... but the gaps can be felt.  On the other hand, they can come to visit us in areas that they might not normally get a chance to!

So... we are very happy in our lifestyle and have no plans to change.   But as Member lenp stated...  "Just keep your options open if you can."    Good advice!   We have options for most contingencies and take confidence in that.

Good luck, Mickey! 

Thanks very sound advice, in our case I mentioned that our property taxes are $14,000 and the house is way. ,way to big for us. The grandkids have all grown into independence and adolescents. They are so busy with sports ,school and friends that there is no time for us. On holidays when they come over for a couple of hours they don’t talk much anyway.

oh and they live 1.5 miles away. We both said it’s time to go when the grandkids don’t need us any longer,. That time has come. I was seriously hurt several years ago in a accident and the cold weather kills me,as does my wife. So I’m pining for AZ or RGV.

thanks,

  On 10/19/2018 at 3:32 AM, JRP said:

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.

Very well stated.

  On 10/18/2018 at 9:18 PM, mickeyblueyes said:

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!

If you're looking for volunteer-type activities to keep you busy, it will help immensely if you hole up in one place for extended periods of time.  You'll notice that most of the suggestions here assume that.

We've been fulltiming for 15 years now, almost always just hopping around with no plans, and it's almost impossible to volunteer when you're doing that.  For one, it's hard to even find out who might want people until you're there, and then you're leaving shortly.

But for another, almost nowhere has volunteer opportunities where you can just show up.  Well, things like hiking trail work days or the like you can do that, but they're just periodic and of course would have to coincide with the days that you're there.  And they're pretty hard manual labor.

But more often, you have to be a known quantity to the organization, which people passing through can't be.  Some places require a background check, and that will take time that someone passing through doesn't have.  For example, a hospice advertised that it needed someone to wrap silverware in napkins.  I called about doing it, and was told I needed to have a background check done first.

I thought, "To wrap silverware in napkins?"  But then I realized that it would be an enormous risk for an organization to allow just anyone off the street access to the premises, so I get it. 

I explained that I would be there for only a short time, but it didn't matter, and I realized that that actually would work against a person, since what organizations ideally want is someone who will continue to volunteer there, and people passing through will never be that.  So they'd have to make special accommodations for someone to come in and wrap some silverware, and I can see why they wouldn't be interested.

So I volunteered for the Red Cross, and went through their volunteer orientation--thinking I could become a known quantity that way, like be in their records.  But it was right after the earthquake in Haiti and everything was a big uproar and I did volunteer there but ultimately had nothing that would tell a different Red Cross chapter that I'd been vetted.  Now, if I'd been able to stay there for a while and get established, maybe it would be different.  But that's incompatible with fulltime travel.

So I joined the Elks, but then realized that their charity is mainly money-based, and that in-person opportunities happen only occasionally, as organized events.  I would probably be welcomed because I'm already an Elk, but the usual problem with having the event coincide with while I'm there presents itself.

All that said, I did find a soup kitchen in Denver that allows people to come in unknown and unannounced--just show up any Monday and ask somebody with an apron what to do.  But it's the only gig like that I've found in 15 years of fulltiming.

Basically, without a fixed location or long-term schedule, volunteering as a fulltimer is a lot harder than you think.

  On 10/19/2018 at 8:19 PM, mickeyblueyes said:

I was seriously hurt several years ago in a accident and the cold weather kills me,as does my wife. So I’m pining for AZ or RGV.

Mickey, I think the first Winter you spend in Arizona... or any other warm area... will remove any doubts that at least "winter timing" is a smart thing to do!   $14,000 in house property taxes... is a lot.   For that amount of money, in many states, you could rent/buy a condominium - that could be an anchor home to come back to on home visits.   Expensive in my thoughts, but doable, and we know folks that do just that to have a 'home place'.   One thing to productively invest time... perhaps write up a "Family Biography" as only you can do - aim it at your grandkids (when they grow beyond teenager), focus on your life, with incidental stories, anecdotes, person-memories, and lots of Dates, events, and facts.   They might not appreciate it now, but they certainly will later!   

  On 10/20/2018 at 12:46 AM, Blues said:

If you're looking for volunteer-type activities to keep you busy, it will help immensely if you hole up in one place for extended periods of time.  You'll notice that most of the suggestions here assume that.

We've been fulltiming for 15 years now, almost always just hopping around with no plans, and it's almost impossible to volunteer when you're doing that.  For one, it's hard to even find out who might want people until you're there, and then you're leaving shortly.

But for another, almost nowhere has volunteer opportunities where you can just show up.  Well, things like hiking trail work days or the like you can do that, but they're just periodic and of course would have to coincide with the days that you're there.  And they're pretty hard manual labor.

But more often, you have to be a known quantity to the organization, which people passing through can't be.  Some places require a background check, and that will take time that someone passing through doesn't have.  For example, a hospice advertised that it needed someone to wrap silverware in napkins.  I called about doing it, and was told I needed to have a background check done first.

I thought, "To wrap silverware in napkins?"  But then I realized that it would be an enormous risk for an organization to allow just anyone off the street access to the premises, so I get it. 

I explained that I would be there for only a short time, but it didn't matter, and I realized that that actually would work against a person, since what organizations ideally want is someone who will continue to volunteer there, and people passing through will never be that.  So they'd have to make special accommodations for someone to come in and wrap some silverware, and I can see why they wouldn't be interested.

So I volunteered for the Red Cross, and went through their volunteer orientation--thinking I could become a known quantity that way, like be in their records.  But it was right after the earthquake in Haiti and everything was a big uproar and I did volunteer there but ultimately had nothing that would tell a different Red Cross chapter that I'd been vetted.  Now, if I'd been able to stay there for a while and get established, maybe it would be different.  But that's incompatible with fulltime travel.

So I joined the Elks, but then realized that their charity is mainly money-based, and that in-person opportunities happen only occasionally, as organized events.  I would probably be welcomed because I'm already an Elk, but the usual problem with having the event coincide with while I'm there presents itself.

All that said, I did find a soup kitchen in Denver that allows people to come in unknown and unannounced--just show up any Monday and ask somebody with an apron what to do.  But it's the only gig like that I've found in 15 years of fulltiming.

Basically, without a fixed location or long-term schedule, volunteering as a fulltimer is a lot harder than you think.

 

Great information,thank you,I might have posted that after my accident I was in a wheelchair for a while,I really was bummed out. I should say I was really depressed.

but it took a while and things fell into place I ended up helping all the older widows in my general neighborhood.,handyman,and the like.

well it is very satisfiing  as they all worry about me if I disappear for a couple of days. 

I’m sure I’ll find something to do if not I’ll do crosswords or read or ride a bike or cook or relax..........I’m just going thru the “prewedding” jitters lol

Life is what you make it. I would get on the road and really see how bored you are. You may be surprised. Just don't overplan your travels and be able to adjust your time, flexibility. Keep a bucket list so if you here of something you would like to see, put it on the list.

We just came from the North Rim and the CG closed down for the season, we put the North Rim back on our list as we felt we had more to explore. On our way back to Page, AZ we added Coral Pink Sands Dunes, Grand Staircase, Page area(more to see) and other stops. When we visited Durango, we ran out of time due to snow in the mountains. Back onto the bucket list.

We had thought we had a handle on our bucket list but it keeps getting longer.  

I don't think we will ever be bored.

The other thing, travel as far as you want each day. Somedays w travel 50 miles but never more than 250. We are 2/2 people. 200 miles or in camp by 2, whichever comes first.

It will take you a while to get out of "vacation" mode.

  On 10/20/2018 at 4:55 AM, mickeyblueyes said:

I’m sure I’ll find something to do

There are plenty of things to do from your RV if you explore. We took early retirement and my previous employer paid for us to take an early retirement seminar. In it, they recommended that we set some goals for what we wished to accomplish in retirement. We actually had a workbook that we used to explore the costs of different modes of RV living as well as what activities were available. The idea was not to set an inflexible plan but rather to have some point to what we did since it is very difficult to know if you have succeeded at something if there was no goal. Our first goals were things like spending time with grandchildren we had not seen in more than a year, to see orca's in Puget Sound, to see the redwoods, to spend some time with Pam's brother that we had not seen in 5 years, to experience several places along the west coast that we had not been to, and so on, all in the first 6 months. We also had some goals for the first year and some longer term goals. One of the 5 year goals was to spend time in every state west of the Mississippi and for 10 years to visit all 50 states. There were other things and some of them got changed before we reached them but we continued to set loose goals for our lives and we still do so today. It doesn't have to be formal or written, just a reason to get up and move every morning. 

I like that idea, someone recently shared a couple of links to RV journeys with me. I’m sure you have seen them. The first was to spend a entire year in 72 degree weather.

it has a journey planned out for you to travel fir 12 months and stay comfortable. There are 12 moves involved I think. 

The second involved following a trail that visits all national parks on the main land US.both sound pretty cool to me.