RVing – Living a Dream

Some folks plan their retirement activities for years. Sometimes those plans work out and sometimes they don't.  My dad retired right after he turned 62.  He and my mom had big plans to travel and enjoy their retirement together.  It didn't happen as she died just a few days before they were to leave on their first big trip a couple months later.  He enjoyed his retirement and did a good job of keeping himself busy but it wasn't like he had planned it would be.   At that time retirement was just a dream for us in the future.  We wondered if that day would ever come because it seemed so far away … but it did come and it didn’t sneak up on us like it did others we know.

Just some of the RVing gang.  

I have enjoyed reading the dreams of others getting ready to retire. Some folks plan their retirement activities for years.  We didn’t do that.  We were pretty much jetsetters during our working years.  We started marking off countries like others mark off states.  I think we thought we’d probably be doing more of that but things changed and we got tired of that kind of traveling.  It could be pretty stressful.  Terry retired several years before I finally did.  He played at a few odd jobs and then found a nitch he really liked.  That was getting our 5th wheel on the road and going back and forth to a place we used to live … Washington state.  He liked being there so much during the summer that I was the one who went back and forth after a while instead of him. 

Not everyone is there at picture time.  Here's a 2012 partial group.

Camping had always been part of my life even when I was a kid growing up. We camped with our own kids and even our grandkids.  It was in my blood.  Thus, there was no wonder I didn’t start dreaming about doing it all over again … and that’s when the plan for retirement started and the research began.  That’s when camping turned into RVing.

I didn’t realize people actually retired to a home on wheels.  Was I ever surprised to discover it wasn’t just a few.  It was actually a few million!  We weren’t the only ones with a lot of gypsy blood.  I discovered a whole slew of “gypsies” at Escapees.com.  It was probably the best website I discovered for want2be full-timers and even part-timers.  I discovered the forum for “Graduating to Fulltime” and picked the year we were in.  There were many people posting in our same situation … just waiting to get on the road and sharing all kinds of information.  Most groups plan to meet the first January in Quartzsite during the Big Tent event and that’s what we did.  We became instant friends and still look forward to our annual get together right back where we first met.  Our plans have already been set for Quartzsite right after the Big Tent in 2015 about January 24th.  Come join our group!

Here's another shot in 2014 in Quartzite.  

Now I’m not saying you’re best friends with everyone.  That would be silly.  Some you’re just closer to than others for many reasons but you become one big RVing family.  We have a wide variety of personalities, ideas, ages and mindsets in our group and we like it that way.  It's just like in any other family and we're all there to help each other out.  Some folks you just have more in common with than others and others not so much but you still have the RV. The RV is what brings folks together.  It doesn’t matter what you did or what you drive, the bonding takes place.  Our group grew and it continues to grow as more folks join us each year.   Some of the folks coming in are new Escapee members looking to belong, others are fellow bloggers and then there are a few more who join us ... just because.  I’m not sure how our retirement would have ended up had we not had this interaction with like folks. 

I’d love to say the plan unfolded slowly for us but it didn’t.  Within a few months we had downsized and items we didn’t want to sell were put in a storage shed.  We moved into our 5th wheel and the rest is history.

Right now I can’t imagine living in a big house or even in a neighborhood again. . We now live in a different world and I like this world but I’m sure most wouldn't understand.  Our ideas have changed, plans have changed and thought of what is important has been modified.   We've met some amazing people on the road and for the present time we’re doing things we never would have dreamed about .  At the moment this is my dream and I’m living it.  

The part that isn't so fun is being in a campground or RV resort on a holiday weekend.  It's packed.  People are everywhere.  Internet is slow because everyone else is using the internet too.  When Monday rolls around most of them will be heading home and we'll be glad about that.    We don't order rain often but we would have this weekend if we could have.  However, we don't have those connections.

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Anonymous comments are bugging me.  Anyone else getting a ton of "anonymous" comments on their blogs?  I'm getting six and seven a day on the same post.  The good thing is that they end up going into my spam folder.   It is definitely annoying.  I have just changed my comment setting to stop anonymous comments and only allow from registered users.  I'm not sure what difference this will really have but I will probably change it back after a few days.  I doubt these anonymous folks actually read any of the blogs they comment on.

‘Tis life on the road.

I used to like my neighbors ….. until they put a password on their Wi-Fi.