How can you just sell everything and hit the road?

If you sit down and weigh the pros and cons, it is a no brainer. We have lived in the same location all our lives. Sure we have achieved the ultimate dream. We have a house that is paid off, good jobs, two wonderful daughters that are married. We have a nice motorhome and nice cars. We also have the best Grandson one could ask for. On the other hand, we have a yard to keep up, utility bills, property taxes, Jobs we have to be at, Places to be, things to do, yada yada yada. On the road, there are fewer bills, no yard work, no property taxes, no where to be. You can choose your neighbors, climate, and views, and best of all NO JOB to be at. All the things we have are just material things. We can sell them and later when we decide to come off the road we can buy them all back again. The things that are not replaceable are our lives and memories. I don't want to be sitting 10 to 20 years from now saying, "I wish I had...". I would rather be saying, "Remember when...".

What will you do for money?

I have always been good with finances. I have never been hopelessly in debt. I have only one credit card and keep it paid off. The house was paid off 10 years early. And I have always contributed to retirement plans, 401Ks, and savings plans offered by my employers. I think the one best thing that I did was to buy a house in Southern California while the prices were low and sold while the prices were outrageous. I have worked out a budget where I think (hope) $100,000 will see us through the better part of five years on the road. This will no doubt involve some Work Camping and Camp Hosting to pull it off, but this not a problem for us. The rest of the money will be invested for our future life when we leave the road. I figure at my age, after five years if we decide to call it quits, I can still go back to work if I have to.

Choosing the right RV. 5th wheel or motorhome?

They both make excellent fulltime RVs. 5th wheels might be a bit more hassle if you plan to travel frequently. They generally take more to setup and to prepare for travel than a motorhome does. Also in my opinion, it is easier to drive big and tow small then to drive small and tow big. Recently while at a campground we had a little difficulty getting our Aerbus into a very narrow site. Later that weekend I saw a poor sole trying to get his 5th wheel trailer into one of the sites. Made me realize why I bought a motorhome. Another thing to consider is what you would rather drive while touring and running around towns.

Another big thing to remember. Buy the RV that you will be comfortable in and happy with for many years. It is very difficult to purchase a new unit on limited to no income and you can pretty much forget getting a loan with no job. This holds true for the tow or towed vehicles also.

What about Health coverage?

If I had it to do again, I would have chosen a profession that offered health coverage after retirement. But I didn't so we will be on our own for health care. We will be purchasing what is known as a Major Medical Health Plan. These generally have a high deductible and do not cover routine heath care. They are still quite expensive but I would not even consider this without a health plan. It is just one of those expenses that we will have to Grin and Bare.

What about mail?

There are a number of mail forwarding services around the country. These services will forward your mail on a weekly or monthly bases or upon request. You can have it sent to the campground where you are staying, or sent to general delivery at the post office in the town you plan to be in at the time. We chose to have our mail go to Susan’s parents house. When they get quite a load or if they spot something important, we have it sent to us.

How will you keep in touch with friends and family?

This is an easy one. With all the modern technology in communications keeping in touch is not a problem. We will get a cell phone plan that offers free nights and weekends. Also free roaming and long distance. This is necessary because cell phone providers share their towers. They also charge for the use of these towers. With free roaming and long distance, you are not responsible for paying to use other providers towers. Our phone service will also have free network calling. This means our daughters and parents will use the same provider as us and therefore we can call anytime and talk as long as we want with no charge. I will get a cable to hook my cell phone to my computer and an aircard that gives me access to Email and the internet. I also have a wireless card known as Wi-Fi for my computer that I can access Email and the Internet when a Wi-Fi signal is available. A lot of RV parks have phone lines available for you to use your modem. And in extremely rare cases when all else fails, there is always a pay phone.

Don't you need an address for vehicle registration and such?

Yes. You need to reside somewhere. A residence is required for vehicle registration, Drivers License, Federal Taxes, and the like. Most mail forwarding services can help you with setting up a residency and you can use your mail forwarding address for this purpose.

What will you do if no campsites are available?

We will travel on the weekdays, Monday through Thursday, Not Fridays and Saturdays. This gives a jump on the weekend campers. We will arrive when the parks are near empty and have our pick of sites. If the park does not take reservations we don't have to worry about being ousted for the weekend because all sites are reserved. If however we can not find an open site, there are a number of choices. Since we plan to be done traveling by 2:00p we will have plenty of time to look for a spot. There are always the Wal-Mart and Camping World parking lots. There are a large number of public lands where one can stay for free. Some city parks provide free overnight parking for a limited amount of time. Contacting the Chamber of Commerce will usually result in a couple of nights free parking, usually in their own parking lot. There are hotels, restaurants, shopping malls, and a number of other places one could park for a night or more. We are members of the Family Motor Coach Association (FMCA) and they have a list of members that allow overnight parking on there land for fellow members. With all these options there will be very rare cases that we will not find a place to stay. If so, we will merely travel on until we do.

Will you make reservations?

We will not make reservations unless we know we are going to be in a specific place at a specific time and know it will be tough to find a site. National Parks during peak seasons will most likely require reservations. Otherwise we will just wing it.

What about health problems on the road.

There is not much difference between needing medical attention on the road as there is living in a home on a foundation. Actually, you have your pick of the finest health facilities in the country. For instance, You can travel to the Mayo Clinic for attention. We will have all our medical records with us and our primary physician for the last many years is only a phone call away. We plan to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas with family. This is where our family doctor and dentist are so we will schedule our checkups for then.

Where will you stay if the Motorhome is in the shop?

Most RV repair facilities know there are fulltimers out there. They are very accommodating and will usually provide water and electricity and let you stay in your RV on there lot for as long as it takes to get you back on the road.