378 weeks remaining....

I hope everyone had a great holiday and all your wishes came true. For us, it was a quiet week off work. It's been a little while since our last trip to the desert and we are itching to get to Jojoba Hills SKP park this Thursday, Jan 1st....

We have been planning to go full time for almost a year now and received a little resistance from the family as expected. Though something interesting happened a few weeks ago. My mother in law saw a mouse in the house and needed to escape until the issues was resolved. Guess what happened? She requested to stay in our trailer. Three weeks later she was back home, mouse free. When I asked her how she liked staying the the trailer, she said she could totally live in one. Now she doesn't think it is such a crazy idea. Everyone comes around in their own time.

We have seven years to go and we are still excited. Everything is falling into place and some decisions have been made. Others we are allowing to fall into place in due time. I am itching to get a new rig, but the wife is keeping me in check. We have decided to make our domicile Texas due to health care issues. This is also good because my son and his wife live there and we soon expect to have grandkids.

Well that's the end of the first year of planning. I am excited to see what comes this year. I am looking forward to increasing the percentage on my 401k and saving more money. It isn't cheap to retire early so I need to learn more about budgeting and sticking to a budget.

Until next year, keep on RVing!

381 Weeks remaining....

It's been a few weeks since my last post and not much of anything happened. We did complete the house refi and will be saving a little less than we thought due to property taxes going up this year. We are also well on track with paying down debt. By the end of this year we will have paid off well over $15k in credit card debt left over from the days before we decided to go fulltime in an RV.

We did go to Joshua Tree over the long Thanksgiving weekend and had a great time with all our RVing pals. Camping on a dry lake bed in windy conditions is not the best place to setup camp, but ended up being a fun time. For New Year's we are planning to go to the Escapees resort near Temecula, CA. Looks like a great place and just from the emails they are a friendly bunch.

Even though we have a no new "stuff" policy, we will be getting a new refrigerator for the house. No need to suffer for the next seven years with a broken fridge.

Until next time, enjoy life.

386 weeks remaining....

After our last trip to the Eastern Sierras this past moth, I noticed that I will definitely need television. After a few days of boondocking in the chilly weather near Mono Lake, being inside without TV was a hardship. We ended up staying only 2 days there before seeking out refuge in an RV park near Bishop, CA. The park was great with 50+ channels of cable TV.

So this bring me back to an earlier conversation about solar power and satellite TV reception. If we wanted 4 hours of TV a night how much solar and how many batteries would we need?  I am no electrician and hope someone reading this page can answer that question. Water/sewer seemed to be a non-issue, as we have learned over the years of RVing to conserve water.

I also started to examine how much space we "needed" to live comfortably. The size I am thinking for starting out is about 30 feet. Then as the years go by I think we would be doing less boondocking and more parking in nice RV parks.

I'm still reviewing daily the cost of fulltiming in an RV. I am planning on living off of $30k per year in today's dollars, adjusted annually for inflation. Currently we are plowing down our debt and I am feeling really good about the position we are in now. We are currently in progress on our second home refi of the year for an additional savings of $1200 per year. All that can go into our savings.

This is June Lake Oct 2014

390 weeks remaining...

Getting close to our next trip. This time we are heading to the Northern coast of California for a few days to attend a family friend's wedding.  Then we'll wind our way down to the eastern sierras for a week of boondocking. I am thinking of spending as much time and I can near Mono Lake assuming it will not be freezing. I really do get excited to practice fulltiming . This may sound weird but I think it does us good to find out if we even can do it for long periods of time. Also this helps with figuring out what rig we will choose. Boondocking also shows us how long we can go between dumping and getting water and how much we end up cooking and not going out to eat.

This weekend is the big RV show is Pomona and me and the wife will be going to see all the new rigs and all the neat gadgets. I promise I will not be buying a new rig no matter how good the deal is. We are will saving and learning how to trim our budget. This is the one thing that I keep thinking about,  because I don't want to be forced to go back to work full time.

So until next time. Enjoy your life now!

391 weeks remaining....

So it has been a very productive last two weeks.  I started an "RV Boondockers" group on Facebook and it has almost 70 members so far. Since I hope to boondock more often than not, this will be a great resource.

In a couple of weeks I will be heading out on a two week trip up the California coast and then to the Eastern Sierras.  Hoping to find a few new boondocking spots and hit a few favorites including Benton Hot Springs.

Also I have been reviewing how much it will cost to fulltime.  I'm hoping $35,000 a year will be sufficient and that the stock market will not crash as soon as I put my life savings in the market.  Also healthcare will be changing a lot in the next few years and hope that it too will work in our favor.  I have also been looking at the CARE program from Escapees and am very impressed and feel comforted in the fact that it is there when/if I need it.

So for now I am excited again and ready to get out there, but I need to be patient and wait until the finances are right.  Continue to follow me and see where this goes; you never know how awesome it will be.

394 weeks remaining....

Well at 394 weeks we are basically in the same boat. Looking to rid ourselves of belongings and really think through the reality of giving up our home and lifestyle. Saving money is getting a little easier, but still is challenging.  It will be much easier when we don't have a place to put all the crap we buy. Looks like we want to move up the date but I'm a little scared to go too early and be without a job for too many years before being eligible for Social Security.  But so far we are on track.

Encouraging comments welcome.

396 weeks remaining....

Well not much to report on in the last few weeks. Only thing I have been thinking about is what happens if we don’t end up liking fulltiming. I know that sounds crazy, but there are no sure things. I’m glad we still have so many years left to ponder our future. What I am sure of is that I don’t want to be stuck at a desk for the rest of my life, I want to live life free to do what I please.  By following so many other fulltimer blogs I really am seeing that it is not a fulltime vacation.  Life still rolls on and life keeps coming. I’m just imaging that when it life hits you, being in an RV might be the ticket!

400 weeks remaining....

At 400 weeks even until we can get out from under these jobs, all is progressing well. Paying off debt, saving money and still enjoying life. Not much changes from week to week but the excitement builds daily. Reading blogs and listening to podcasts keep us up to date with the RV industry and what we can expect. It seems like most of the blogs I follow don't boondock as much as I think we will when we're out there living the RV lifestyle.

I dream of the days waking up all by ourselves in the middle of nowhere with only the beautiful views to greet us in the morning.I'm planning on 5 days out in the boonies and 2 days in an RV park to do laundry, flush tanks and get more water. This will help us save money when we are not workamping.

This is my sample budget for Full Timing. I hope we can keep our expenses down to this. There is a lot of cushion in here. But I wanted to make sure I am realistic in my expectations.

Any feedback from current full timers is welcome. Thanks!

401 weeks remaining...

Six month update

So after six months we are positioned to be a success. The RVing lifestyle is looking like something we can do. The reason I say that is because we love being on the road and seeing the country and love being out with no one but us. Boondocking is our favorite. Another reason is that the money it takes to keep going will be easy to obtain over the next few years. The house is rising in value seemingly daily.

A few things that I will need to do the the house before selling are installing new windows and fixing up the kitchen and bathroom. I think I can do all for under $15k. I think spending that will increase the value at least $20k and make it easier to sell our 62 year old house.

We have narrowed down our rig to used 5th wheel about 30' long.  We will start looking at used rigs in year 5 or so and wait to jump on a deal when it presents itself. Wish list will include but not limited to solar and a washer/dryer combo.

I also am getting more and more excited to start workcamping. I get emails daily listing  jobs that pay a per hour salary and space rent with full hook ups. Working in a customer service role is not something I do for a living now but am excited to start. I love helping others in need and being of service to my RVing community.

A few things to research are: health insurance, solar power, mobile internet and boondocking locations.

Next month we are going to Big Bear Lake for a few days and in October we are going to northern California and cruising down the coast taking about 10 days. Really looking forward to that trip.

402 weeks remaining...

At 402 weeks before retiring, I am feeling great.  I'm really considering smaller and smaller rigs that could be replaced more often, since they don't seem to last all that long.  This way I can keep getting "new" old rigs every few years without breaking the bank.  The first few years I really wanna get out and see things and experience what this great nation has to offer. Work camping also sounds very good -- I can't wait to get my first job on the road.

The finances are going great.  $11k of debt paid off already and excited to get it all paid off.  I have been spending for years and it feels good to start to reverse the damage.  For all you out there who think you can't get ahead, don't give up.  I thought that for years and just recently found that I could get out of debt and get ahead and still have a good life without feeling deprived.

I also recently found out that more people are following this blog but not commenting, so if you're one of those people please say hi!

Until next week, SAVE SAVE SAVE and DREAM DREAM DREAM....

403 weeks remaining...

This week I found a few Facebook groups that discuss full time RVing. This has been a great resources for question and answers for people like me planning a full time lifestyle.

• https://www.facebook.com/groups/rvdreamers/
• https://www.facebook.com/groups/ftrving/
• https://www.facebook.com/groups/livingthervdream/
• https://www.facebook.com/groups/rvtips/

If you know of more groups I should be following please use comment section below. Savings is still going well and I haven't made any big purchases or small for that matter this entire year. Well except for the inflatable kayak. But that will go with us on the road.

Had a few great emails regarding Elk's lodge camping and membership with Ingrid from http://livelaughrv.net, which was so helpful. Congratulations on completing your first year full timing. This gives me hope that I too can do it.

For all you bloggers out there, keep blogging so I know what to expect.

404 weeks remaining....

So this week I would like to talk about our progress with savings and getting out of debt. Our savings has been stepped up a little more in the past two weeks, saving as many pennies as possible. With still a little credit card debt remaining, we are getting very excited about living without debt which is the biggest thing we hear is needed before we get out on the road. I have historically been a spender and buy things I want without thinking. These last few months have been an eye opener on how much I was wasting. I am really enjoying saving and wish I would have started years ago. Once we got started, the ball really started rolling and we can see the end of debt and a lifestyle of living within our means.

This month marks 7 1/2 years remaining till we hit the road and we really can see ourselves living in a RV full time. We talk about it almost every time we are in the truck. I have been listening to a lot of podcasts about fulltiming and am getting a lot of ideas and things to think about. Recently I have found a few blogs and podcasts of people that either changed their minds or just plain quit the lifestyle. I found that a little disconcerting but will continue researching and dreaming.

I'm hoping more people begin to read this blog and comment. If you read this blog and can offer any tips or suggestions, please comment and like this page or just let me know you were here. I think this blog will get more exciting as the years go by.

See you on the road.

405 week remaining....

Well today I have only 405 weeks until we split this joint. The housing market is booming where we are -- not sure how long this can continue. It's up over $100k this year alone. So that means we need less then $97k more. We also decided on not getting a new 5er and finding the best deal we can find, so that if there are issues we can just dump it and get another. This could save thousands over a new rig.

I have joined the "Living the RV Dream" Facebook page and am loving all the posts. Some of the questions will keep you thinking and all the answers really help. I have decided to get CoachNet as our towing service after hearing about some people's problems with Good Sam.

Next week we're off to Sequoia National Park for the Fourth Of July holiday. Friends, family and camping along a river is all I need!

408 weeks remaining....

Well, we're closing in on 400 weeks soon and it's got me thinking. So far I have upped my 401k savings and paid off an additional $10k in debt. At this rate I think I will totally have enough to retire on time. I search the web daily to find an answer to how much money I will need, how long I will live and will I actually be able to pull this off.  I'm getting tired lately and energy is low. What if my health keeps me from living the dream? I will keep that fear on the back burner for now and stay focused on saving the money, because without that the dream will be dead before it starts.

Can't still believe we are on track!!

We're back....

We're back from our trip up the Eastern Sierras and visiting some great places.

First stop was the famous Alabama Hills, a range of hills and rock formations to the east of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the Owens Valley, west of Lone Pine. This place is amazing. Since the 1920s, it has been used for location filming for many, many film and television projects. There is plenty of space and there are lots of scenic boondocking spots. It is BLM land, so camping is free and on a first-come, first-served basis. The wind was blowing so hard when we were there, we had to leave earlier than planned. We were afraid the wind would tip over our rig.

That's us down there!

Next was Mammoth, CA, where we stayed the night, watched some time-traveler TV from the 70s and got a good night's sleep. While there we visited Hot Creek. It was a short but steep walk to the bottom. Signs said the hot pools were closed due to dangerous conditions.

Hot Creek

Next stop was Bridgeport, CA. This is where we camped next to Buckeye Creek, not far from Buckeye Hot Springs. This is a remote area where camping is allowed. One of the most beautiful spots we've ever camped - we could have stayed here for weeks on end. Another post will be on my camping blog later about how to get to this site.

Buckeye Creek

We took a day trip to Bodie State Historic Park, a great place to visit if you're nearby and are interested in ghost towns.  It is very well preserved, its last inhabitants having left in the 1940s.

Old gas pumps in Bodie

After leaving Bridgeport we traveled down the Grant Lake to park the trailer while we visited Yosemite National Park. Beautiful place but too crowded for us.

Then we took off for the Inn at Benton Hot Springs. Now this place is awesome. There are only nine sites, but each one has its own private natural spring hot tub. Clothing optional hot tubbing under the stars! Our employers are lucky we ever came home.... Cait will post about this location on my other blog.

Benton Hot Springs

It was a terrific trip. We tried to make it a little preview of what fulltiming could be like. We did almost all of our own cooking, conserved water and propane, and spent quite a bit of time just reading, going for walks, and taking it easy. We're ready!

Heading to Yosemite National Park

Friday we're off! I can't wait.

First we will start our vacation by visiting a spot that I would like to visit when fulltiming, Alabama Hills. Then we're off to Mono Lake/Bridgeport, California. This will be our base camp for the week in the area. We had planned to kayak in June Lake, Mono Lake and maybe some in Yosemite but it looks like the water will be too cold. That's too bad because I wanted to try out my new Sea Eagle 370 Kayak.  On the way back home we will be stopping for some much needed relaxation from all the vacationing at some hot springs near Mammoth, CA.  I hear there is great boondocking in the area.

Only 2885 days until retirement!

412 Weeks....

Why the heck is this guy blogging????

Today seems like a great day to explain why I’m blogging in the first place. I have been on the search for blogs/people online that can provide advice and inspiration for their journey in the fulltiming lifestyle. So many people are out there living this fabulous life and can provide an enormous amount of information, tips and help for aspiring fulltime RVers seeking more information. Currently I follow about two dozen blogs and try to comment on all of them if I have something to offer (hint hint). So for all of you visiting my blog, I thank you and hope you follow along for the next eight years to see our progress. I have a feeling it will be an amazing journey.

For all of you who currently have blogs, I would love to add you to my blog roll, so please comment on my blog with your blog’s address or drop me an email at bill@spantz.com. If you have words of encouragement please also leave that in the comments. I would love to answer any questions you have.

Things I would like to hear from you are:

       1. How much does it really cost to fulltime?

       2. How much savings do I really need for five years of fulltiming?

       3. How has your life improved since you have been on the road?

       4. Would you do it all over again?

       5. How much earlier would you have set out on your adventure?

I really hope this post will generate tons of conversation...

-Bill

414 weeks remaining...

What a great start of the week. I just added 2% a week to my 401k. That's a lot of loot. Besides that everything is on track. We are in the final countdown to our spring vacation to Yosemite via the back route up 395 from Los Angeles. I bought an inflatable kayak that I saw another blogger post and it should be here in the nick of time. Cait and I are excited to try it out.

The countdown to retirement is 414 weeks or 2900 days from now. 

Saving money for a rainy day has always been hard for me, but lately I have been thinking about the goal of retirement and everything seems to have changed. I have started to examine what I spend on and not spend if I don't "need" it. I waited about 5 weeks before purchasing the kayak and only bought it after I got my annual bonus at work to cover it. The rest of the money will go into savings for our October trip to a friend’s wedding up north with a weeklong trip following the California coast back home. Should be awesome. That's enough for now, stay on the edge of your seats for next week’s blog... :-)

How do I get rid of all this stuff?!

The thought of paring down our possessions for life on the road has been overwhelming.  I figured I'd start in the guest room and work my way through that first.  But every time I walk into the room and take a look around, my eyes roll back in my head and I just walk right back out.  It's going to be a lot of work.

In trying to mentally prepare, I've been doing some reading and have found several bright, interesting people out there who are devoted to minimalism and living a simple, meaningful life.  And they’ve given me some terrific ideas.

For sentimental items that I can’t keep with me, I can take a picture to remember it, then sell it or give it away.  Genius!  And luckily for me, my husband is a very talented photographer.

I’ll be attempting to sell my collections of snow domes, salt and pepper shakers and other souvenirs.  It will be painful to give up these beloved little things, but the joy of them really just resides in my mind.  The things themselves are ready to go to a new home.

A good place for books to go is the local jail or prison.  Who knows?  It could mean the difference between a human life staying stuck in misery, and actually breaking good.  I have a friend who is a social worker at a large county jail.  Their library cart used to contain one spider and one Spanish-English dictionary.  She and I can help change that.  The Prison Library Project in Claremont, California is doing admirable work in the area of literacy.  And just down the street Gloria Killian is doing imaginative, beautiful work on behalf of women prisoners and their children.  Check out her Greeting Card Project – it’s incredible.  Also, the kids could use toys for Christmas.  No time like the present to start filling up Gloria’s garage….

For the rest of the books that I’ll never read (or re-read), Bookcrossings is fun a way to set them free.  The website generates a unique identifying number for each book, you jot it down on the book along with simple instructions, then leave it at a coffee shop, bus bench, anywhere.  It could even be part of a geocache.  Then you get to watch the book’s progress as it moves around the world, being read and released, over and over!

I’ll give a lot of stuff to the Out of the Closet thrift stores, which raise funds for the AIDS Healthcare Foundation.  My local rescue mission also accepts donations both directly and at their own thrift store.

If I can get excited about where my stuff is going, it helps motivate me to start the process.  Come on, fists.  Unclench….  You can do it!

I'll let you know how it goes.   -Cait

415 weeks remaining....

Well Cait and I spent Sunday afternoon walking around an RV dealer looking at Class A RVs. Boy are they nice, and the price tag reflects it. I do like the option to setup without getting out of the rig.  We have decided to make a final decision on what rig we will get when the time comes to buy. If we can get a super duper class A for cheap then we might just jump on it.

Soon we will be on a “full time” practice run, visiting the Alabama Hills in California and then heading to Lee Vining to see Yosemite and Mono Lake. I am very excited and will fully document the location on my other blog “The Massey Family – On the road again”.

On the financial front, we are way ahead of plan right now. The savings is getting larger and the 401k was upped to 6% and will go up to 7.5% in 2 weeks (I hope). The housing market in California is starting to boom again and I hope we will be in the $600k range in 4 years or less. This will put us in the prime position to sell and make some money.

I really appreciate bloggers who outline their budgets and how much they spend. It gives me a better idea of how much I need to have before I retire. I am calculating $30k per year. Let’s hope health care costs are lower by then.

416 weeks remaining....

This week I have been focused on two things: how to make money after we go on the road and downsizing all our stuff in the house. I was able to sell some tools and lawn care items this weekend and the garage is clearing out nicely. Cait is going through old boxes, figuring out what to keep, sell, give away, etc.

Working on the road is not that necessary but I think it will be a good way to transition into retirement and also a good way to delay taking social security. I found a few good blogs that spoke about the sugar beet harvest, oil field gate guarding and working at Amazon. All three of these sound like really hard work. That definitely is not what I was looking for. I also have found camp hosting jobs along with other interesting jobs volunteering. Being of service is what I would like to do.

I need to look more into LED lighting and LED TV and energy consumption using solar on the rig.

A few words from The Wife

Eight years and counting till the old man and I hit the open road.  We want to do it Blue Highways style, really taking our time and exploring America close up, having little adventures along the way.  No interstates and no chain restaurants.

We made the decision to start fulltiming as it slowly dawned on us that we were chained to soul-depleting office jobs that we had to do to pay for a house, car, and a pile of material possessions that we didn't really want or need.  In the spirit of Helen and Scott Nearing's "The Good Life," we wanted to reduce our cost of living, work less, and have more freedom.

I hope we'll be able to strike a good balance between living simply and still having some security, being smart about the future and living for today.  Who knows how long any of us has left on this earth?  I have some fears about finances, but frankly the future is uncertain whether we're living in an rv or a stick-and-brick house.  And I'm confident in my honey's ability to make a living wherever we are, whatever we're doing.

I think Honey and I are ideally suited to life on the road together.  We started our relationship in a studio apartment so small you could almost touch opposite walls at the same time.  And we love nothing better than a road trip.  We have camped in a teardrop trailer in rain, snow and glitzing heat.  I have bathed outdoors in a swimsuit, while Honey poured water on me.  When we have differences, we work them out pretty quickly.  We are perfectly matched travel and life partners.

I'm really excited about doing lots of different kinds of workcamping.  I can totally see us traveling around, doing all kinds of weird stuff.  Babysitting a salmon hatchery, hosting a campground in the middle of nowhere, giving tours of a lighthouse, scooping ice cream in Yellowstone.  Working crazy hard for three months, then sitting silently in a forest for three months, then moving on again.  Eventually I would love to have set foot in 49 of the 50 states (sorry, Hawaii).  And I want to see every giant ball of twine, miniature horse, strange tourist attraction, local festival and fruit stand along the way.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

422 weeks remaining....

This weekend I was out at Calico Ghost Town and spoke to a gentleman who is part timing. I asked why he chose his 5th wheel. He didn't have a really good reason, except he thought it had more room. I mentioned that I was interested in a Montana 5er with the front living room and he got really excited to talk about it. Well, 40 minutes later I parted with a good feeling about Full Timing and the choice of the Montana 5er.

I now have two subscribers to this blog and hope to find more.
Sandi has some great info and I appreciate her comments. She mentioned the importance of having an exit plan -- that is one thing that I need to ponder more. My thoughts are to find a place close to the kids because by then I hope to have a gaggle of grandkids. Can't wait to take them on the road with us in the summer time.

Solar is still a big unknown for me. For example, I'm confused about whether the stored power from the batteries that have been charged by the sun could run a TV during the night after the sun goes down.  Exactly how much power is stored that can be converted to 110v?

If you stumble upon this blog please post your experiences in Full timing in your RV and why you choose the one you did and your perceived benefits over the other types available. Excited to see what's next.

423 weeks remaining....

This week I have been looking at the long term feasibility of fulltime RVing. I have been reading countless blogs over the last 2 weeks and I noticed that a few of those blogs haven't been updated in a few years. What happened to those people? Did they quit, go back home or die??? I will be 53 when the time comes for us to retire to a full timing lifestyle and have decided to work camp for at least 10 years part time before I really cut loose and full time without working at all. By then I will be getting social security if it is still around. Healthcare is really the only thing I worry about now. What will become of the ACA (ObamaCare)?  What happens if I get too old or too weak to travel? I won't be able to return to California due to the high price of housing. I think by then I will have grand kids and want to be close to them.

424 weeks remaining....

This week was filled with research on whether to get a full-fledged motorhome or stick with the 5th wheel.  I'm still leaning towards the 5th wheel, but like the idea of not having to get out and unhook in bad weather.

I really like the front living room and the high ceilings in the Montana 5th wheels. I have also been reading reviews and boy there are a lot of opinionated people out there. I'm looking forward to the next RV show in the LA area. I would like to discuss all the options with the salesmen.

I'm also stuck on reading blogs of fulltimers like http://www.rv-dreams.com, http://www.technomadia.com/ and especially http://www.wheelingit.us. There is so much info on these blogs that get me so excited and wanting to quit my job today and go on the road with our current travel trailer. But patience is a virtue. Right?

Now on to planning our next vacation to Yosemite National Park. So much to do in that area and I would really like to test out full timing for the week we will be out there..

425 weeks remaining....

We set out this past weekend to discover new territory for boondocking and found 2 places of interest. Please see my other blog for all the details.

On the financial side things are feeling really good. Savings are growing and the credit card is being paid down. No hurdles in the near future. We did visit a RV dealership a couple of weeks ago and checked out some class A RVs. I really believe the 5th wheel will be better for us. The ceiling height in the 5er is much taller and makes the space much roomier. Plus I really like having the bedroom far apart from the living room like the Montana model I have already chosen. The one thing I really like about the class A is the basement storage. We could really use it.

Another thing I have been looking into is high speed internet access while on the road. Seems like the setup cost is a lot, upwards of $5,000, then
$130 a month. We could also use Verizon Wireless but that might not be available in areas we might want to boondock. So I might still need more research.

Have a good week..

426 weeks remaining....

Hello all! Another great week planning our life. The wife got 2 tubs unpacked and only 2 more in the living room for her to go through. Eight years is a long time to plan, but the way I see it we have the opportunity to fully think things through. Savings is a big issue right now; how much will we need? There really is no answer, except to have enough, how however much that is. I think we will have enough saved if the housing market doesn't flop again.

This weekend we have planned a trip to boondock in the high desert near Joshua Tree. I'm hoping to get to see Giant Rock near Landers. But I will be happy just relaxing and testing out the full timing life for the weekend.

Maybe I will read a book or just relax outside soaking in the rays.
I made a decision not to post how much we are saving, due to not wanting to get robbed or killed for the few dollars we have :). I think we are on track for the departure in 2022! YAY!

Doesn't seem as if too many people have found my retirement blog yet, but I am thinking it will be a good read for me in 8 years. So if you read this, chime in and comment below.

427 weeks remaining....

The first of the really great news is here. We have paid off all the credit cards except one. We are in the best financial shape in nearly 8 years. Back to basics is the motto of the day. I can finally see the end of 8 hour days slaving for the man!

Had a great weekend trip to a yellow post site in Idyllwild, up Morris Ranch Road. See details about this spot here. This is a location I could see myself at for 2 weeks at a time.

Current savings is $1000.00. This number will be increasing every month going forward. 

Stay tuned.

428 weeks remaining....

So the wife and I took a short weekend trip to one of our favorite places, "Sam's Family Spa." A great time was had swimming and soaking in the hot pools before heading off to the Spotlight 29 casino to see a great comedian, Kathleen Madigan.  What a great show.

We met a friendly couple at the campground, Rita and Duncan from Canada. I riddled them with questions on fulltiming and they took it in stride. They had a lot of good suggestions and had an interesting perspective on changing our mindset for fulltiming. They suggested that instead of viewing our journey like a vacation or trip with an itinerary and a timetable, to just view it as exploring wherever we are, with all the time in the world to see and experience everything there is around us.

They recommended a book called "The Mile Post."

The MILEPOST(r): Legendary Alaska trip planner and Alaska travel guide to the highways, roads, ferries, lodgings, recreation, sightseeing attractions and services along the Alaska Highway to and within Alaska, including Alberta, British Columbia, Northwest Territories and the Yukon.

Good news on the money front. We received the checks from the refinance and have scheduled payments for most of the bills. This will leave us with only our current travel trailer payment until we receive the overpayment of our original first mortgage.

Current savings is $500.00. This number will be increasing every month going forward. Stay tuned.