We never worked from our RV.  From day one we were fully retired.

I think just starting out we were like most, we leaned toward "vacation" mode more than we should have.  We didn't stay in one place long enough to really explore everything and tried to see too much the first year.  We ate out more than usual and exercised less than when we had the sticknbrick.

We have learned to slow the pace down.  Compared to the first year of full timing we are eating out much less and exercising a lot more.  My walking routine averages between 10 and 15 miles per week and the DW uses her bicycle for most of her exercise.  We also started using 2 kayaks this past year for additional exercise and entertainment.  

I think we live a pretty healthy lifestyle but maybe we would be doing about the same thing if still in the sticknbrick, who knows.

Well I am 82 when we started this Adventure 14 years ago I was  68 big difference between 68 and 82.We have been Rving  for 30 years and tenting and backpacking before that so we have  done it all.We are in very good health as is Helen but time takes its toll.Many of you may not understand that but you will.

We no longer bike. We no longer take long hikes.We like to eat out and do often. We finally purchased a permanent lot in Florida as our Rving Days are drawing to a close  and perhaps a single wide is  in the near future  but we will not do Ohio winters till we can no longer travel at all. We have a club car  golf cart at our Complex in Florida as it is a very large complex but we do walk Helen Golfs . 

We have Rv'ed the lower 48.Have not been everywhere but did over 130K miles.Everything has a beginning and a end. We are nearing the end of a great adventure. We all will in time.

richfaa, would you say you've had more adventure, more mental stimulation, more interest in an involved life than you might have if you had stayed in a permanent home and been somewhat confined to your community most of the time? None of us can "know" what we'd have done, but as a guess, would you have been as active and involved had you not taken to the road? At 82, and still enjoying your great adventure, it seems to me you're an excellent example of what I'm getting at: being in a situation that encourages new horizons, literally and figuratively, offers more reason to get out of bed and enjoy a fuller life. I just wonder if it's harder to be in a rut when your view is ever-changing.

I think Kirk's comments are right on.

I'm not necessarily the best person to answer since my house hasn't sold yet so I'm not a full-timer. I'm also solo, something that's not uncommon but isn't the norm. On the other hand, I have spent a lot of time in my RV, both living in it at one spot (4 months), as well as taking multi-month trips, some covering a lot of miles and others being more of a wandering, where will I go tomorrow or gee, this is a great place, think I'll stay here for a while type of trip.  I've stayed at a number of different types of camping situations from lovely, destination type campgrounds to open camping somewhere.

It's all about attitude. My experience is that I take my health and fitness attitudes with me. I can be as active or a sedentary as I want.

If I'm feel lazy, I don't get any exercise.  If I'm staying somewhere that doesn't promote walking, I'll stay inside on the computer or watch movies up to a point, I get bored with such things easily.  If I'm camped near a national park or somewhere with fascinating places to go hiking, I'll be at the trailhead with my camera(s) early because that's what I enjoy.  

As far as food goes, if I've driven a lot of miles (350 is a lot for me) and had to break camp in the morning and set up later on, I can almost guarantee I'll pull something out of the freezer for dinner, the last thing I want to do is go somewhere to find something to eat.  Doesn't matter if it's a market or a restaurant - I'm tired and just want to sit.  I figured that out very quickly, my original intention had been to carry less food and buy locally but quickly discovered that wasn't practical for me as a solo RVer.  Now I carry more food and make sure I build in "down days" whenever I'm traveling.  That way I'm more likely to eat properly and not depend on Stouffer's.

Local farmer's markets?  Too often I'm camping where such things don't happen.  In fact, most of the time I'm camping where there's only limited local markets and their choice of produce and products could be very limited.  That's my own personal choice for camping.

My personal experience is that traveling RVers have to have a certain amount of agility and ability to do things because that's the nature of it.  Current rigs don't necessarily take a lot of strength but you still have to bend over or squat down for hookups, moving stuff around if you set up chairs or a grill on your front patio, etc.  I have to have the ability to climb a ladder to clean off my roof-mounted solar panels, do roof maintenance and clean the slide roof since I don't have a slide awning.  That's the nature of my rig.  Would I lose those agility things sooner if I didn't have an RV?  Perhaps, but perhaps not (houses take more effort and energy for housework and basic upkeep, too).

I had a reasonable amount of fitness when I bought my RV, about 4 months before I retired.  My fitness level does seem to go up when I'm living in the RV - I have a small trailer and it's harder to be lazy in it.  Plus as a part-timer,  I've been camping somewhere I want to visit, whether it be for a couple of days, a week or whatever.  That in itself means I'm active.  Will that continue once the house sells? Probably, because it drives me nuts to be stuck at the house for more than a month or so.

  On 7/15/2019 at 1:20 AM, fpmtngal said:

my original intention had been to carry less food and buy locally but quickly discovered that wasn't practical for me as a solo RVer. 

I've wondered about this. We eat a healthy diet at home, with almost no processed foods, but produce in Florida is just appalling. All the prime produce gets shipped to other states for greater profits. I was shocked by that when we moved here from Michigan. I remember great farmers markets in Michigan that had produce that actually came from farms. Here in Orlando all of the farmers markets we've found get their produce from the same distributor as Publix. Some don't even bother hiding it, and just leave their produce in the distributor's boxes.

I was hoping most states have much better fresh produce. Maybe not?

  On 7/15/2019 at 12:57 AM, richfaa said:

Well I am 82 when we started this Adventure 14 years ago I was  68 big difference between 68 and 82.

While you have 5 years of experience on me, I must agree with your point. I was 57 when I retired and we went fulltime, and back to part time after just under 12 years. We were completely off the road for 2 years while Pam was getting somehealth issues under control and since that we are part-time RVers once more, but being retired we are out longer than in our working days. 

  On 7/15/2019 at 1:20 AM, Bigthinkers said:

I just wonder if it's harder to be in a rut when your view is ever-changing.

I'm not sure that this is always the case, but it can be. I suggest that you make some advance plans and set some goals before you begin, just to keep yourself from falling back into the same pattern that you have now. Goals could be to play a round of golf in each state, or perhaps to take a hike in each state, or maybe to visit each state capitol, or to visit all 47 national parks in the lower 48 states and possibly the 61 national mounuments as well. We attended a preretirement planning course as part of my employers early retirement program and they had us make a plan with goals for our first year, a rough outline of a plan for 5 years and some target goals for them. It was their belief that anyone who has a great first 3 years will have a great retirement.  I think that it is more challenge if you are changing your activity level than for one who has always been active. 

The goals we're setting in place are the reason we can't start until May 2021. We do love our work, and we'd be lost and unhappy without it, but we need a re-focus that involves less time sitting and more time experiencing. The RV lifestyle seems to encourage that.

Along with the two-year goals we're already setting in place, we've got several that are work-related but don't involve churning out copy for 12 hours straight. I do like the idea of adding State-specific goals once we're underway, too. We've been to most States, some of which we probably won't visit again, but the ones we do want to see might be even more fun with a "themed goal" in mind, as you suggest, Kirk W. Interesting thought!

We love to kayak, hike, paddleboard, go boating, and get under the skin of an area's history, all of which are terrific fodder for our work AND have the benefit of being healthy pursuits. It's figuring out how to transition so that there's TIME for those focuses. Great idea to choose a State-specific goals that move in that direction.

  On 7/15/2019 at 1:20 AM, Bigthinkers said:

richfaa, would you say you've had more adventure, more mental stimulation, more interest in an involved life than you might have if you had stayed in a permanent home and been somewhat confined to your community most of the time? None of us can "know" what we'd have done, but as a guess, would you have been as active and involved had you not taken to the road? At 82, and still enjoying your great adventure, it seems to me you're an excellent example of what I'm getting at: being in a situation that encourages new horizons, literally and figuratively, offers more reason to get out of bed and enjoy a fuller life. I just wonder if it's harder to be in a rut when your view is ever-changing.

We worked for the Government  (FAA) in a highly technical  job so the mental stimulation was something I was glad to leave behind when we retired. We also traveled the country in the job and had been to most of the USA in my travels. Wife and I have always been involved in our community however since we are not in our community very much anymore the only involvement we have is with the Lions organization.

Being retired and On the road is a entirely different lifestyle and you are active and involved in different ways. Time means little.We do not own a watch. . We do what we choose to do when we choose to do it. Yes Rving encourages new horizons and new adventures and we have had 14 years of new adventures.We get out of bed when we choose to after having a alarm telling us when we had to.Yes the view is ever changing there were times when we had no idea were we were going  other than let's head west, or south.Wife looked at the weather radar once  when we were traveling west noted a big line of bad weather in our path and said...take the next left to Albuquerque another  time I asked  where are we spending the night... she replied   how about devils towers..where is that said I.. it is that big hump on the horizon off to your right said she. We spent 5 days there and yes we walked completely around it. 

Kirks idea of goal setting like visiting all the national parks is a good one  we once decided we were going cave /cavern hunting and spent a very long time traveling around to different caves and caverns all over the country.It was a great experience but we do not care if we ever see another cave  or cavern. Did you know New Mexico has a Dormant cinder  cone Volcano. Actually New Mexico has many  dormant  volcanoes. Capulin national monument in Capulin New Mexico.Who knew so we headed that way spent a few days in the area and yes we did hike around the cone.Spent a few days with the outline of a Volcano  in our rear window.

  On 7/15/2019 at 3:28 AM, Bigthinkers said:

I've wondered about this. We eat a healthy diet at home, with almost no processed foods, but produce in Florida is just appalling. All the prime produce gets shipped to other states for greater profits. I was shocked by that when we moved here from Michigan. I remember great farmers markets in Michigan that had produce that actually came from farms. Here in Orlando all of the farmers markets we've found get their produce from the same distributor as Publix. Some don't even bother hiding it, and just leave their produce in the distributor's boxes.

I was hoping most states have much better fresh produce. Maybe not?

We're from Michigan also and loved the markets!!!  We did a lot of canning and freezing.

While RVing we found that a lot of  "Farmer's Markets" are geared toward crafty stuff or handmade soaps, etc.  We've been so disappointed often by them.  However, if you drive the secondary roads through farming or orchard areas you'll find lots at roadside stands.  We also found a good market in Santa Fe and also in Oregon & Washington.

  On 7/15/2019 at 3:28 AM, Bigthinkers said:

...produce in Florida is just appalling. All the prime produce gets shipped to other states for greater profits...

It is not just Florida and not only produce. A few years ago in central Kansas, we were talking to the owner/chef of a local BBQ/steak restaurant. He told us that it was getting harder and harder to get the best grades and prime cuts even though there seemed to cattle everywhere you looked.

If you travel to many of the more remote areas with National Parks, National Forests and BLM lands; in my experience you are not going to find a lot of farmer's markets. In fact you may have to travel considerable distance to find any market at all.