359 Weeks remaining....

Wow, what a great weekend at Sam's Family Spa in Desert Hot Springs. We arrived late and found three spaces in a row near the dog park and pool area entry. Saturday was a little windy and cool, but the sun was shining and beautiful. It's great having all your friends with you. First thing in the morning I had my usual donuts and coffee and just relaxed in the shade until everyone wanted to get to the pool.  Look close and see our new travel mascot "The Dude."

First one to grab a lounge chair was The Dude. He wants nothing but to relax in the sun and have fun. All he needed was a drink!

Once it got too hot The Dude wanted to see the pond and all the birds.

On the way back to the trailer The Dude saw a a wood carving of the owner Sam and wanted to pose with him. So cute.

Then on to horse shoes.

Here is a candid picture of The Dude hooking up our surge protector.

 He sure is going to love fulltiming.

Until then, keep on RVing.

361 weeks remaining....

Good news: we have now paid our credit card down to under $10k. For some that might sound like a lot but for us it is amazing it is that low. For 10 years it was well over that and dragging me down.  Now that it is getting lower I feel great. I have over the last year learned a great lesson, STOP SPENDING so much on crap and stuff that doesn't enrich our lives. Being happy does not require buying so much stuff. Another great thing is the housing market is going strong and I hope the house will be near where we want in just a few years.

I also calculated our savings and found we are about 25% to our goal. That fact is making me excited. We will be going to Sam's Family Spa for Mother's Day Weekend and expect to have a great time with friends. I plan on spending winters here when we are fulltiming since it is close to family and friends and just a wonderful place to be. Sam's is so relaxed and has kind of a beachy environment. I so badly want to be a snowbird. Can I call myself that if I don't have a home I'm running from? LOL

So that's about it for now.  If you are currently fulltiming and know the struggle we're having waiting so many years, comment below.

Until next time, Keep on RVing....

363 weeks remaining....

Well it's been a while since I have updated our blog, so here it goes.

Not so much to report, still saving money and camping as often as we can. We just returned from a trip to Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve. Although there were no poppies, we had a great drive and camping location at the "Californian RV Resort" in Acton, CA. Too bad there were only poppies on the side of the road.

 We also went on a short hike around "Arthur B. Ripley Desert Woodland State Park". Nice little park only about seven miles from the poppy reserve. Worth a quick stop.

I thought I would also post a link to our RV Park reviews.

We have found our travel mascot, and will be posting his pic soon.

Keep on RVing.

368 weeks remaining....

Well it's been a good few weeks of planning. Got some boxes down from the garage for the wife to purge, and we're planning a weekend trip to Joshua Tree National Park. JTNP is one of my favorite places to visit. There is something about the barren desert that calls to me. Maybe it's the bright stars at night with little to no light pollution. In a few weeks we will also be visiting the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve (SNR) to see all the poppies bloom. I have never been and am very excited. Look on my vacation blog in a few weeks for all the pictures.

On another note, I have been working hard at not spending money on "stuff" and am feeling really good about it. I was going to get an Apple Watch but decided to continue on the path of being debt free. Seeing my credit card debt fall by 50% over the last year has been an uplifting experience. Not only for being debt free but learning better spending habits and knowing I will be able to live on a fixed retirement budget when the time comes.

Did I mention we have applied for our passports and will be visiting Glacier National Park and Waterton National Park in Canada this fall? Very excited!

Until next time,

Keep On RVing!

370 weeks remaining....

Well, with over 7 years remaining I still feel confident with our decision to fulltime. I read a blog yesterday where they saved about $70k before they started to fulltime. I was astonished with this number. I was thinking about $500k for us. This got me thinking about what is really needed. There are many people on the road now living the lifestyle with way less than I want to have and most likely a lot people have less savings than the people in the blog I talked about. So there must be a middle ground, balancing freedom and security. I'm hoping readers of my blog will chime in with what they anticipate or had when starting to fulltime. I know this is a tricky subject, but this conversation is being had all over the country every day.

On to a much brighter topic. We are headed to Glacier National Park in August and are very excited. I think we can stay two days on the west side of the park, then two days on the east side, then maybe a day or two in Waterton National Park in Canada. This will give us a good feel for these parks for future visits. We love wildlife and Yellowstone so I think this trip will be a no-brainer.

See you all on the road!

Bill

A Word from the Wife... by Cait!

     I've been thinking about what we do and don't want from fulltiming.  We're still figuring things out, and I'm sure much more will be revealed once we're actually out there, living it.

     Being around people is important to my husband.  He needs the juice of human interaction, the hum and the buzz of other people to talk to (in addition to me).  Some time out in the woods alone is fine, but then he wants to go into town.  He loves to shoot the shit, press the flesh, rub elbows, trade stories, hear opinions, ask questions, break bread, maybe get in a game of pickle ball.  He's a people person.  So I think we will want to stay in campgrounds and RV parks at least half the time, and boondock alone in the middle of nowhere once in a while.

     My family is what's really important to me.  I want to be able to spend a good amount of time with them several times a year, at least.  So even though I want to see the far reaches of the country, I don't want to be too far away for too long at a stretch.  Or maybe traveling half to two-thirds of the year and wintering near family would work. 

     This will all require some balancing and some compromise on both our parts. One thing I know I need to do is re-calibrate my idea of where "home" will be.  Home won't be back in So Cal.  It will be on the road with my honey.  We will get used to it, and if parts of it aren't working for us we can make adjustments.

     There's a lot to do to get ready, but I wish we could leave right now!

374 weeks remaining....

Blogging ended up being harder than I expected, having to come up with something to say every week or so. But, in the end I keep writing.

Finances are going great and I can really see the end of the tunnel now. Just finished my taxes and am getting less than expected back.  That is disappointing, but better then owing. We've paid off 50% of our debt and hope to make it 100% in the next 12 months or so. Then to the savings.

I'm still having worries about what happens if I run out of money before Social Security kicks in. I am still hoping to get on the road early even if it's just to an RV park close to work. The thing that would allow this to happen is the housing market going up. I'm tired of taking care of all the expenses of a house. If I can sell it and make a profit I would be saving nearly $75k a year. That would give us the cushion we need to feel conformable to retire at 53.

I started a new Facebook group called "SoCal RV Fulltimer Wannabes". I'm looking for people that are in the same position as us so we can get together and discuss plans, hopes, dreams and just some fellowship with like-minded people.

As for a rig, I think it's come down to cost. A Class A will just be too expensive so it's back to a 5th Wheel. Plus I like all the added room a 5er gives you inside, and I love the front living room models.

So that's enough out of me for now. Until next time, keep RVing!