Can You Remember Your Emotions When You Went FT

[SoonToBeFT]

Just wondering what emotions folks felt as they embarked on the FT road. It's been a plan of ours for many many years, and then a handful of years ago I questioned if we could really do it.

Anyways, our home of over 20+ years and full of memories is now conditionally sold (until Friday 9pm), inspections, septic, water house all done and appraiser in tomorrow. My emotions feel like they are on a roller coaster right now and stomach is doing back flips. Is this normal under the circumstances or do I just need a two by four across my noodle?

Of course we are excited and we've honestly put no time frame on how long we might do this for but .......

Would love to hear from others how they felt at different stages before that final day came of "there's no turning back now" so to speak.

[twogypsies]

We retired early (or were 'forced' to retire early). We bought a 27' travel trailer and took off for Florida for a couple months. While there we talked to many full-timers and they all seemed so happy. On the way home to Michigan we talked about full-timing and we had never heard of it. By the time we pulled into the driveway we had decided that's what we wanted to do. We were too young to sit at home all the time. We wanted to see the country.

We made the decision in May; sold the 2700 sq ft house on a lake & everything in it. We took off in September and never looked back. We ended our journey in a completely different state which we love.

We wintered in Florida, Alabama, Texas and Arizona and found Arizona the place for us. We love the open scenery and grand vistas. Some seasons we'd stay in only one state and explore nearly every backroad in it. We did two all summer trips to Alaska; traveled across Canada and rafted the Grand Canyon for 10 days. We volunteered and also toured our national parks... many multiple times for long periods of time. Winter season we volunteered in the local schools and hospitals. We surely kept busy and I think that's important.

It was the most wonderful lifestyle for us for 16 years. A couple things that made it great was joining the Escapees RV Club for mail service but also getting involved with the organization and staying at their home parks. Everyone is family with Escapees! We made life-long friends through the organization. In fact, 27 couples wintered in the same park and became good friends. We all left the road around the same time and now live in the same community. We have an instant family with any kind of help needed as we all age. While traveling we'd put out a notice that we'd be at a certain place.
If anyone was in the area ... and 300 mi radius was 'in the area' - we get together for a week or so and boondock. The second thing we did was volunteering for state and national parks and fish hatcheries. We did it around 2-3 months per year. It gave us purpose and we knew it helped out the parks greatly. We lived in some of the most beautiful places in the country.

Our kids were all for our journey and our grandkids grew up with our traveling. They visited us at special places and we were there for all their special occasions including special sport tournaments. They're now young adults and are as adventurous as us. They talk often of our travels with envy.

Much happiness to you! The jitters will go away.

[rk911]

we're off the road these days but spent 35-seasons traveling part-time across the country. met and talked with many full-timers and a ton of wonderful memories. the best advice we received from them was this: if considering going FT then plan just as hard and thoroughly for the day you want or need to leave the road as you did before setting out on it. good luck to you.

[Old-Biscuit]

We both retired at 50......decided we did not want to live in Southern California any longer.
We had always been campers...as kids to adults and started shopping.
Ordered our new truck and new 5th wheel in Aug 2006. Picked up 5th wheel in late Sept 06 and new truck mid Nov 06.
Did our shake down trip over Thanksgiving with family.

Feb 07 we had Estate Sale......Auctioneer Sold everything we had not given to family, friend or already loaded into 5vr
Couple at the auction made an offer on the S&B. End of March 07 escrow closed and we Hit the Road FT

When we began downsizing we were too busy to think about it. Sorting, deciding on this/that etc
When the Auction began we looked at each other, said "We Are REALLY doing this"

After the second lot SOLD.....we giggled and said "YES we are really doing this"
By end of day we were already FTng...house was empty/everything gone and we lived in the 5vr until escrow closed

3 days after escrow closed.......we cranked up the CD player in truck
Willie 'On the Road Again' as we pulled out of our long driveway with GRINS on our faces

No hesitations, no regrets except we only got to do it for 7 yrs
Life threw a curve ball and we had to go back to S&B

GO!...ENJOY!
It is a Lifestyle not a Vacation so take time to smell the roses.

[jrs]

We've been planing on full timing for 18+ yrs. Our 1st RV is below but took the kids tent camping for years. Lots and lots of reading, planning, research, etc prior to finally going. Went to the Hershey RV Show numerous times for the type RV, makes to consider and talk to others about their experiences. Family members questioning our choice.
When we were on our way to pick up the RV, it was exciting but we were questioning if it was foolish to spend so much on the RV.
In a nutshell it's a great way to see North America and it's been a good move for us.

[SoonToBeFT]

As always awesome to read others experiences. From a research point of view we are at the stage of "too much analysis leads to paralysis" so to speak.

Just found my emotions were swinging back and forth from sheer relief to "what if's". Bottom line as hubby says, "if it doesn't work out, we can just anchor back down". My fears are we'd want to settle back near our daughter and our local RE prices have been going through the roof, and on a strong increasing average price for past 5 consecutive months, with historical limited new listings versus higher than a long time on actual sales absorbing everything as fast as it's listed. So we might have to compromise and live further away or move into a condo, the latter is something I'd really not enjoy having no control due to special assessments and increasing condo fees for the most part.

Anyway just saying thanks to those that have responded thus far. Awesome to read others experiences that can recall how their emotions came into play at the final "bite the bullet" time. ie; house finally firmly sold and gone so to speak and ridding of the final personal effects.

[twogypsies]

You're worrying too much before you even begin. Already you're thinking about where you'll live later. Think positive!!

If a condo would be cheaper than a house why worry about extra fees? Taxes increase on a house, also.

Go out and enjoy yourselves!!

[SoonToBeFT]

Originally Posted by twogypsies

You're worrying too much before you even begin. Already you're thinking about where you'll live later. Think positive!!

If a condo would be cheaper than a house why worry about extra fees? Taxes increase on a house, also.

Go out and enjoy yourselves!!

I do appreciate your comments 2G's BUT ...... one of the first things we have heard countless times over the years is "know your exit strategy" or "put as much effort into your exit strategy as you do your planning to go FT".

I personally think it shows responsibility to consider your exit options from FT.

Ironically I am generally a most positive albeit realistic person, but I'd have thought that the vast majority of folks considering such a change in their lifestyle would have some stomach churning at the very least hence this thread.

Good for you happy by flying by the seat of your pants (although I doubt in reality you have!!!), but that's not us and not our nature totally, albeit we like serendipity a lot during our actual travels. If we weren't planners we wouldn't be financially in a position today to do this.

As for your comments regarding condo's versus property taxes I've seen some special assessments total well over $100,000/unit on one project and $92,000/unit on another and it's not been unusual over the years for many of our friends to comment how tired they are of the never ending special assessments of $3,000+ as well that their condo fees have doubled in a very short period of time. So again with all due respect I totally disagree with you particularly from what I've seen in our area! YMMV. Property Taxes generally don't go up anywhere near as much as these special assessments and condo fee hikes, plus you still pay property taxes on condos anyway!

[twogypsies]

Originally Posted by SoonToBeFT

Good for you happy by flying by the seat of your pants (although I doubt in reality you have!!!)

Sorry to have offended you.... didn't mean to do so. Yes, everyone is different. Yes, we fly by the seat of our pants.

We also had an exit strategy and it was to save the money from the sale of our house and not touch it. Then any worry about where we'd end up was erased. We had always paid cash for everything or we didn't buy it so I guess you could call us frugal. We weren't rich by any means.

We made our decision to go full-time in a few weeks time.... sold the house & everything in it in 4m time.

We made the decision to quit full-time after 16 years and bought our very small final home within 1 DAY. It's in a gorgeous area with mountain views. Full-time friends bought in the same area and our future small, 1100 sq ft home went up for sale. Having lived in a RV so long we knew we didn't want a big house with a yard to take care of again. They called and said "if you have any inkling of buying a house look into this one as it won't last long". We drove there that day and made the decision that day. I guess we were ready. We had seen all areas of the country that we wanted.... many places multiple times. Our last big camp spot was at Grand Canyon NP. We had been there before and even hiked down the canyon and took a multi-day raft trip through the canyon. This time was a different feel.... the crowds were larger, the park busier and since we'd been there before and hiked the trails we loved it just didn't give us the same excitement as before. That's when we decided to keep our good memories of all the places we've been and not dilute them with the feeling we had on our last visit to Grand Canyon.

We paid cash from the saved sale of our pre-full timing home. It's in an place that we would have never thought of living at one time but we discovered it in our travels. At the time our kids still lived in our old home town many states away. Since then their jobs have moved them to other states - one to Arizona where we live but 200 miles away.

[PJStough]

We fulltimed for five months before we knew we were fulltimers.

We had gone south for the winter for three years, and the fourth year we had decided to rent our house to my wife's daughter and her significant other for the winter, as they were between places and we thought it would be nice to have someone in the house for the winter rather than leave it empty as we had done the first three years. However, when we got home, we decided that we liked living in the motorhome full time, and having the kids in the house was working out well, so we leased a seasonal spot at a local campground for a homebase and did so for the next seven years.

After seven years my wife decided that we need more room for the grand kids when we had them over other than in the motorhome, even though the grandkids loved it. Also, we decided we needed more room when we had friends and family over, so we purchased a townhome within a few miles of the grand kids and other relatives.

We still snowbird in the winter with the motorhome, but do enjoy the townhome and the larger room we now have.

[2004Horizon]

OP: Don't wait, ask the doctor to prescribe Lexipro, 5mg (aka Escitalopram). This not medical advice. It's a recommendation from someone like you who just cashed-out, traveled all over for 2 months in Europe, took 3 cruises, and returned last month to take the old RV out of storage and hit the road again, only this time, my RV is my only home until I come up with a new plan that looks something like this:

4 months in Montana, 4 months in Hawaii, and 4 months traveling the USA and visiting family. Then just leave the RV near an airport and pick it up next season when I do it all over again. ...It's the "until death do us part" ...part that I am still trying to get used to.

Escitaplopram 5mg is prescribed to adults experiencing anxiety, and it will take off the edges you are wrestling with now. I only needed it for about 4 days, and boy I'm glad I asked the doctor for assistance dealing will all the emotions and strains I was under. I was also on the stress diet and lost 20 lbs, but some might consider this a benefit, and it is, but if you are losing weight now it's a symptom.

===

All the comments and advice I read above does covers many of the emotions I experienced over the last 30 years and 4 RV I have owned, but you will have to experience the road and full timing for yourself, as so many have expressed above.

===

I personally hate RV parks and avoid them 90% of the time. However, I'm traveling solo. I'm just saying you don't have to do what 90% of the RV out there do. I.e., I advise you to look for and find your zone! Just be "smart" and "cautious" as much as you feel is necessary.

===

When **** happens, you will figure it out. Just remember men and women, for the most part are wired differently. And don't be surprise if DW shows you up here and there.

My advice: Don't carry all the load yourself. Share it with your partner and ask her/him to share their joys, pains, and concerns with you. Likewise, you do the same... and I feel young again!!! ...Only one difference. ...You got money in the bank this time!!! ...And you can't take it with you!!!

===

Learn to listen better than you already do. Learn to share small spaces like you have never done before. Cry and laugh every chance you get!!! Both are healthly.

===

Note: I prefer 40' Class A RVs over 5th Wheels, because I like to travel the USA and don't stay in anyone place for very long -- except Montana for 2 months every summer -- and Rocky Point/Puerto Penasco, Mexico for a month in April-May and Sept-Oct.

Then I'm driving a Class-A , sitting up high, looking over the traffic -- with a residential refrigerator and bathroom just down the hall. I.e., there is no way I want to get out and walk outside to a 5th wheel bathroom in some of the places I like to spend the night, never mind some of these rest stops, in some states which give me the Willies.

Revel in moments that only come around once in a lifetime on the road. "Live to drive. Drive to live!" (...which is a spin on the Harley moto, you will surely get the hang of soon! It's a good feeling! You will see!)

Enjoy America and know what your are about to do can't be done in any other country, like you can do in the USA!

===

Learn how to DIY everything on your RV you can so you never have to take cold showers!!!

...Ever heard of the Sunscreen Song? I recommend you listen to it, and change certain parts to your advantage when and how it suits you:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWuu...merMusicVideos

Good luck!

[oatmeal]

Originally Posted by SoonToBeFT

one of the first things we have heard countless times over the years is "know your exit strategy" or "put as much effort into your exit strategy as you do your planning to go FT".

I personally think it shows responsibility to consider your exit options from FT.

I just realized that I don't really know what an exit strategy is.

We've never discussed it. I assume we'll at some point decide not to live in the RV any more and decide where we want to live and find a house or apartment to live in. What's to plan?

Or, maybe if you've spent your last dime on your RV and are living from social security check to social security check, if you decide one day not to travel fulltime any more you'll have to come up with a deposit or down payment or the like for non-RV housing, and it would be better if you know where that's coming from. Is that what it is?

I can tell you that when we started fulltiming, we had no idea how long we'd keep at it. And if we'd planned based on an approximate exit date, I can guarantee it wouldn't have been 20 years, but here we are.

Originally Posted by SoonToBeFT

Ironically I am generally a most positive albeit realistic person, but I'd have thought that the vast majority of folks considering such a change in their lifestyle would have some stomach churning at the very least hence this thread.

The 40-foot motorhome we bought to fulltime in was the first RV for either of us, and we flew across the country to pick it up. I remember after we took possession of it we were standing in the living room of this enormous thing and said, "Oh my god what have we done?"

Then we went about putting both our houses on the market (we didn't even live together at the time) and getting rid of our meager possessions (neither of us has ever been acquisitive). Maybe that kept us busy, but I don't recall another "what in the world have we done" moment. We knew it was what we wanted to do.

However, that was in 2003, before the internet was awash in people pimping fulltiming. We came up with the idea to travel fulltime ourselves, while watching an RV show on TV--the type where they go to Hershey or whatever and tour a bunch of RVs. We'd never heard of fulltiming. But we didn't like how big Austin was getting (little did we know!) but didn't know any place we'd rather live, and saw this as a solution--travel around until we found somewhere we wanted to live.

It really didn't seem much more stressful than if we'd decided to move to a different town. And actually, it was probably less stressful because our stay in any new town didn't have any indicia of permanence, like an apartment lease or buying a house.

And maybe I should point out we were young--I was 46 and my boyfriend was 36, and neither of us have kids. But we were both very attached to Austin, having lived there since the mid-1970s, and leaving wasn't something we wanted to do. So it's not like we were without roots.

Originally Posted by SoonToBeFT

My fears are we'd want to settle back near our daughter and our local RE prices have been going through the roof, and on a strong increasing average price for past 5 consecutive months, with historical limited new listings versus higher than a long time on actual sales absorbing everything as fast as it's listed. So we might have to compromise and live further away or move into a condo,

Or house prices could plummet at the very time you're wanting to quit traveling and you can buy your old house back for half of what you sold it for, making you look very shrewd. Or your daughter might move. Or you might find somewhere else you want to live. Or you might end up stopping traveling only because both of you die simultaneously, peacefully in your sleep the day after updating your wills and eating your favorite meal.

You can't predict what's going to happen, and you really can't predict what's going to happen at a particular point in time. Even the usual "buying a house is a sound investment" is subject to rebuttal.

If you do ever decide to stop traveling you'll be finding housing wherever it is you want to live. As with everything, there will be compromises. It might be that you want to live near your daughter and you can't afford anything but a condo. Oh well. If it's not one thing it's ten others. In the meantime, however, you got to do what you'd planned for "many many years" to do.

[SoonToBeFT]

Again some awesome considerate thoughts and observations and admittance to at least at one stage in the RVing phase there was a "OMG" type moment.

Absolutely everything you've said makes total sense. We feel blessed have an incredible opportunity ahead of us and financially the freedom to "enjoy the highlight of our twilight". For sure none of us can predict the future and as my lawyer once said when we were doing our first wills in the late 90's "you can't reach from beyond the grave" LOL.

We are just trying to keep it real and thought it would make good reading to hear maybe any emotions others might have had during the various phases of prepping to hit the road FT. For sure we've all got different personalities I'd be more classified as the "worry wart" and my husband is more "it'll be what it'll be let's just roll with the punches". We've kept each other grounded for several decades and feel blessed to be where we are now in many aspects of our lives.

Again thanks to all for the considerate, kind feedbacks. I'm sure others have enjoyed that are about or thinking of embarking on the FT journey also.

Happy and Safe Travels to all

[Jack Parker]

I really enjoyed reading everyone's experience in this. Parts of my path to RV living are different from most people's but the end result will be very similar. That's comforting.

My RV life has been five years in the making. I started out planning for van life and a van conversion. Given world events and timing challenges, I had to pivot to RV life. When I go (should be within a month), I will be retired at 57.

How will I feel? I'm not sure. Once it hits me that I'm 100% free of the constraints, expectations, and demands from an employer, as well as the ridiculous drama of the people in my apartment building, I'm sure I'm due for a good decompression cry. Let's just hope it doesn't hit me in the middle of breakfast at Cracker Barrel!