Monday, March 31, 2014

417 weeks remaining....

Today marks the 8 year count down till we become fulltimers. Over the last few months we have cleaned up most of our debt, started this blog and informed our friends and family of our intention to go on the road. Family and friends seem to be taking it harder than I thought. They don’t realize that we have plans for seeing them multiple times per year (based on a deal I made with the wife). 

I have been reading many blogs lately and am searching for younger fulltimers for advice.  Most of the younger fulltimers I have found are still working full time jobs as opposed to workcamping or volunteering for space rent or small wages. So if you come across any of these types of people, drop me a note.

I’m getting so excited… Can you tell?

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

418 weeks remaining....

Well, another week, another dollar saved for full timing. Other good news: I received a gift of an Escapees membership and will be attending the Escapees Boot camp next January in Quartzsite, AZ.  I’m very excited for that.  We also might stay a day or two for the rally.

On the financial side, we are still plugging away saving as much as we can.  I’m really hoping to get on the road in less than eight years.  Working in this office might be killing me.  I really just want to get out there and make a difference and have some fun.  But the thing that scares me is the money part.  What if we run out, our get too sick to travel?

We are also planning a trip to Yosemite the week of May 12th.  Planning on staying in the Alabama Hills for two nights, then off to Lee Vining for the rest of the week.  This should be a relaxing trip with not too much driving.

If you are reading this blog, please post some details of your life as a full timer or what you are looking for in the full time life style.

Thursday, March 20, 2014

419 weeks remaining....

Well this past weekend I camped for three days in the one of my favorite spots, in Idyllwild, CA.  A great time was had by all and I can totally see myself there for weeks at a time when I finally get out on the road. See http://blog.spantz.com/p/idyllwild-yellow-post-sites.html for the spot I am referring to.

I am still keeping up the charade of writing this blog with so much time left to plan. I know no one is reading it, but it still a relief writing it.  The wife got a bonus and paid down a big chunk of debt this past week -- wow, how nice to see the numbers going down.  Housing prices are stagnant, but that is fine for now, with so many years left.  I’m still reading so many blogs, my mind is getting fuzzy with all the things I want to do when we begin our journey.  We are on track and that’s all that matters.

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

420 weeks remaining....

This week I have been focused on how long my savings will last and how can I earn money on the road.  I hope my house will increase in value in the next eight years to make this a no-brainer, but I have some backup plans.  The first is to sock away all the money I can and increase my 401k contribution.  This brings up another concern:  what happens if the market collapses or there is another issue where all my savings is lost?  I guess I can’t plan for everything, but just do my best.

The next part is, how to earn money on the road.  I found a cool article that mentioned “Amazon Mechanical Turk”. This is an Amazon site where people can make money doing work only humans can do efficiently.  In about five minutes I made 57 cents.  I imagine if I spent more time I could make a few dollars a day to help the mission.

One last note, the official eight year count down starts April 1, 20014 and I have already made significant headway to achieving my goal of retiring in 2022.  I hope others seeing this page who are on the same journey follow this blog and share your journey with me.

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

421 weeks remaining....

Happy Ash Wednesday everyone!

This week I have been thinking more about what happens when I’m too old or tired to keep moving, and how that translates to what type of RV I should get. Spending $150k on a RV is not an option, though I do like the ability to pull in somewhere and just head to the bedroom and sleep without having to get out in the elements and unhook a trailer.

I’m not sure how I will be able to wait the full 8 years, I’m so excited to get out of the rat race. The only thing stopping me from leaving today is money. I have to wait until the house has increased in value and I have saved the all the money I can. I don’t want to end up having to work a “real “job again.  I am looking forward to work camping and meeting new people.

Question to all of you: How much did you save or think you would need to fulltime without working for 10 years? That’s how many years I need to be able to support the wife and myself before we start getting social security.