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.
Our 8 year journey to fulltiming in our RV. Follow our progress as we get ready to leave it all behind.
Thursday, March 20, 2014
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.
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.
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.
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
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.
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.
Thursday, February 20, 2014
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.
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
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..
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..
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
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..
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..
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