Why are we full-time RV'ers?

Why did we sell everything we own and choose to live in a small recreational vehicle full-time? Excellent question. The answer is simple, we wanted to send our lives in a radically new direction.

Working the same job, living in the same house and doing the same types of things for many years has a tendency to cause one to stagnate. I am sure that is not true for all people, but it certainly was for us. Susan and I, at 56 and 52 in 2004 and 2005 respectively, have in most people's opinion many good years left. That is basically true. But how will we spend those years? If you think about it, we only have 20-25 years before we slow down to the point that our travel and activities are significantly restricted. Heck, there are a lot of people who don't make it until their 80's. For us it was a sobering thought. If someone told you that you have 25 years or less to live, would you want to spend 10 years of it working… if you didn't really have to?

We just said no. No to the day-to-day grind of work, no to the house payments, increasing taxes, no to the increasing maintenance of our home and car, no to the rut of life we were in. We said YES to adventure, and throwing caution to the wind (within reason of course!). Our answer was to throw off the shackles of our tied down life and venture out to see the land that makes this country so great. Does that sound trite? Maybe, but for us it works. This is most likely is one of the last great adventures we will be able to take and we didn't want to miss out due to the fear and complacency.

What really surprised us when we told people about our plan is how often people said they were envious. Not that they would do the same thing if they could, far from it. Most quickly said they would not give up all that they had "acquired" over the years, but that the idea to travel and see America was exciting and enticing at the same time. I can tell you it is more than exciting and enticing. It is very liberating. No bills and no schedules. It is sobering too. Everything we own is with us and an accident or sudden illness could derail us… permanently. Not for the faint of heart, but our hearts are strong! Wish us well!!

How did we start?
 
From the Mental Spark to the Road

June/July 2004

When Bill first proposed he quit work early and we become full timers for a couple of years I was appalled. We were on our first day of a one-month vacation through the northern Rocky Mountains. I looked out the door of our RV across a Walmart parking lot in Elko, Nevada and thought, "What the heck?" Or words to that effect.

He offered a few more details and I ran for a glass of wine, hoping this whim would blow away on the high desert breeze.

Day two involved Bill pitching the concept and brought us to the Walmart in Logan, Utah. We shopped. We walked. We talked. I balked.

Day three took us through beautiful scenery that surely can only be found in the American West, and I thought, "Well, maybe."
 
Over the next couple of weeks we explored, strategized, fanaticized, vacillated, evaluated, and somewhere around the east side of Glacier Park decided to let it rest until we returned home.
 
As we pulled up in front of our home, hit the garage opener, and welcomed our oversized cat, Chad, bounding out to meet us, Bill asked, "So, what have you decided?"

His original proposal was to quit work three years in advance of his retirement date, lease the house, and travel for three years. I was already retired with a mediocre pension but had good medical benefits that provided for us both. However, Bill has been the major earner in our family and his retirement will be our cake, mine would provide the icing. Pursuing this dream would mean we are living on icing - slightly thin icing. But, we decided that our fantasy life would be a sweet indeed.

So within a month we decided to chuck our well-honed plan for our future, keep our eye on the horizon and imagine all the possibilities. We quickly realized that Plan 1-A, leasing the house, would limit our time horizon. We developed Plan 1-B: Sell the house; store our furniture and personal treasures. Which was quickly followed by Plan 1-C: Sell the furniture and keep personal treasures. And then, Plan 1-D: Sell everything except the items that will go in the RV, sports equipment, irreplaceable art and memorabilia.
 
August 2004

That brought us to the close of July 2004. August was filled with contacting an estate sales representative to organize the sale of our personal property, and a real estate agent. We evaluated the house and tasks required to market it. We evaluated our property and categorized it into 1) sell, 2) store, 3) put in RV, and 4) give away.

September 2004

In September, plan implementation took a major leap forward when Bill announced his plans to management and staff. He predicted he would terminate his employment when the house sale closed escrow toward the end of December. Grapevine communication went into full swing and within a couple of days we had a couple knocking on our door asking to see the house. Two hours later they called to make an offer. We accepted, and after a flurry of paper work, our home of sixteen years was sold - a month before we intended to list it.
 
The homebuyers also wanted several of the larger furniture items that were custom made for the house, and our weight system. We were very thankful about the weight system. It would have been miserable to try to move.

Flip Flop

In the current political jargon, "Let the flip/flopping begin." Did we do the right thing? Do we keep this or sell it? How can I give this up, it means so much to me? What about our friends? What about my garden?

I went through the house evaluating every item I touched. And every item evoked a memory, an emotion, and oftentimes a tear - or torrents of tears.

Then my emotions flip again. What is taking so long? I want to shed all these material burdens. The responsibility of this large house is limiting my horizons. I want to start this new adventure. But each time I walk or bike my neighborhood, see my friends and neighbors, I think, "Oh my. I am going miss them. I am going to miss this, it is all so lovely."

October 2004

Bill served on jury duty in September. One of his fellow jurists, a very energetic woman with numerous friends, was interested in buying some of our household items. She also referred some of her friends. I spent one very busy week walking around the house with strangers, putting arbitrary prices on our treasures and helping carry decorative items, chairs, tables, lamps and carpets out the door.

Then we sold the Lexus. It was very difficult watching the buyers drive away in my baby. OK, so my baby was nearly 13 years old and in "car years" that's about 104, but just the same...I shed a tear at becoming an "empty nester".
 
It is getting a bit weird around here. The house echoes. The walls are blank. Chad is nervous. It is a good thing the house buyers bought the sofa, bar chairs and dining room set, otherwise we would be very uncomfortable.

November 2004

We contracted with Brian Johnson of B & C Estate Sales to sell the remaining household and garage items. Basically, anything that wasn't identified as already sold or moved into the RV was up for sale - including items from the garden, closet, laundry and pantry. Brian's team invaded on Wednesday November 3rd, and we needed to be moved out by November 6th. Since B & C usually works with the dearly departed and we were very much among the living, it was somewhat strange for them, as well as us. But they were very considerate. Even the folks that were allergic to cats were kind to Chad.

Selling your belongings through an estate sale representative can reduce the pain, agony and effort of disposing of all of your earthly belongings that don't fit in a RV, but it also reduces your revenue from said sale. That said, I would highly recommend this option. B & C Estate Sales spent approximately a week setting up (including bringing items in from their warehouse to round out the rooms), and four days during the sale itself. I really appreciate all of the work they did, and they left the house in great shape.
 
NOTE TO OUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY: Yes, you saw many items you gave us over the years with price tags on them. B & C priced the items - we couldn't. There were many hard decisions as to what we could keep and what we could not. If your item was sold the memories of you and the times we shared were not - and please know there will be more in the future.