New to Full-Time

[kingair02]

Yes, when I said I was retired, that was mainly true, but I'm still teaching math for a local university for the summer. I started that BEFORE we bought the motorhome and I'm beginning to realize how that commitment really gets in the way. We can't go anywhere until after the summer semester is over. One thing I'm starting to understand about full timing is the importance of having your $$ income in place before you commit to this. If you're tied to a job, that means you can't travel and if you can't travel, you might as well keep your home for the convenience of having 2000 sq ft instead of 400 sq feet and do the RVing thing on the weekends. Finally, we have a lot of commitments at church which we're able to meet for the time being, but when we begin traveling, we won't be able to hold callings and we'll miss that very much.

So, what have I learned (so far) about full time ....? It has its DISadvantages as well as its advantages - kinda like so many OTHER things in life, eh?

[sdennislee]

Hi and

[Groovy]

It sounds like you have a great attitude -- there are always both advantages and disadvantages to everything. Starting a new traveling lifestyle can be really unsettling, especially after you have honed and perfected you workaday lifestyle in a stick-built home for your whole adult life.

We've been on the road for over 6 years, and there are definitely things we miss (bicycling with our friends, regular workouts at the gym, tending a garden), but we have learned and grown and seen so much that it is ultimately totally worth it.

After full-timing for 2.5 years, we got the wacky idea to buy a sailboat and give cruising a try. It was awesome but had its huge disadvantages too, and after 3.5 years of alternating between sailboat and RV, we're selling the boat and going back to full-time RVing.

What all this taught us is that it is only after you begin actually LIVING YOUR DREAM that you can find out if you dream is truly dreamy or needs to be adjusted.

You may find you need to tweak things a bit -- modifying the rig, or replacing with another, getting involved in other churches on the road somehow, or combining traveling with returning to your beloved church community.

The thing is, this is your dream, and you can put it together any way you want!!

Have fun with it!!!

[kingair02]

Thanks, Mark and Emily for your response! I love the sailboat idea - have always wanted to try that - but I'd better stick to one adjustment at a time!

[Groovy]

Definitely do one step at a time... lots of little steps will add up to a big adventure. Good luck!