HELP! I need some advice, please
quote:Originally posted by slabman
We got the motorhome and are ready to set out full-time. But after working all these years, I have second thoughts on how I will like this. The wife is firmly committed, but I'm gettin' the cold feet. When we vacation overseas for an extended period, I get anxious to get home and back on the job after only a month. So how does one transition into a full time lifestyle? Maybe sell the house and get an apartment, set up some of the belongings in there, store some and sell/trash all the other stuff we've been hauling from house-to-house all these years. I could then work part-time and travel the rest, evaluating my appetite for this. When (or if) the time comes when I'm fully ready to go, we can then ditch the apt., sell/store/ditch more stuff and commit to it full time. Or is there a better way?
Comments, please?
Slabman,
I am 37 years old and have been a full-timer since April of 2003. I, too, was battling second thoughts as well. I was totally nervous and oozed with apprehension, and I was someone who had ½-timed each winter for a couple of the coldest months since the winter of 1997-1998.
The biggest hurdle really, at least for me, was acclamating to the fact that I no longer had a "home" to return to. At first, I referred to myself as "homeless person RVing" and not feeling as if and treating my RV like "home". My folks have a basement full of things I "could not bear to part with" when my "home" was sold. It was the only way I could pack up the trailer and go.
We've had two accidents in those three years. We've gone through two destroyed trailers (a Nomad and an Airstream) and one truck (flipped the long wheel-base `87 Chevy Suburban) in that time. We learned our lesson about "the good hands" coverage the hard way. Luckily, no one else was involved and we had no more than scratches and bruises, our dogs and each other when all was said and done. We stayed in motels, tents, the truck while looking for our new "home".
Now, I realize my home is where "my love" is...my husband, my dogs. At any time, I could go back to Chicago and stay with either family or friends. I choose this. This is the way to live...for me, my husband and my three dogs.
My recommendation (a.k.a. my comments) is DON'T get an apartment. Why sign a lease and pay rent in a place you may never live in? Get a lease on a big storage locker (which is much cheaper than a residency). Make sure it is secured with security and insurance. (Our storage locker from the first accident on Easter Sunday of 2003 was broken into and pretty much all was stolen.) Put everything in there that you "can't bear to part with" and might "want/need" someday. If you like being "on the road" you won't need to furnish an apartment. If you haven't touched the stuff in 1½ years and can barely remember what you've left behind, sell it or give it away to someone who needs it.
A storage locker is just a security blanket that means you don't have to start from scratch if you can't make it (meaning: being happy) as a full-timer.
Hope this helps,
Bhoozhah