Thought on Self Awareness.

[honda03842]

Yesterday a couple like us who made a decision to full time without ever RVing before. They discovered RVing at an older age by bumping into a couple of full timers. They were surprised to meet some one who gave up job and home and hit the road. They sold their home, bought a 5th wheel, became Escapees and hit the road.

They traveled for 15 years and over the last few years settled into RV Park life, split between FL and CO . They saw our Scamp last year and decided to travel again recognizing the size and cost advantages of traveling small.

They stopped by to understand how we manage to live in 13 feet for extended periods, making a decision and now seeking solution.

I found it interesting how they were able to see new opportunities and make a life changing decision. This is certainly not a trivial decision but we'll considered.

[deryk]

After living on a 27 foot sailboat for 8.5 Years iI know I could live in my ParkLiner.... but an escape 5the wheel would be sweet lol

[David Tilston]

Originally Posted by deryk

After living on a 27 foot sailboat for 8.5 Years iI know I could live in my ParkLiner.... but an escape 5the wheel would be sweet lol

Deryk, Is four footitis setting in?

Gonna need a new TV for that.

[deryk]

Lol...well if I was going tolive in it the idea of a bedroom would be nice...also the larger fridge with freezer would be nice since having had bariatric surgery a meal is about 5oz of food so Iuusually cook and package portions and freeze them for later.

[Darrell in Al]

I jumped in to full-timing from having a 2 bedrooms house with garage and 12×24 shop. Still miss my shop and garage not the bills though. I find that a house is the same as "boat"...Break Out Another Thousand but worse can't move it or fish from it. I wish I never got the house, should have got the RV then. now I have 1/4 the worry and bills.

[honda03842]

I know this may sound foolish to some but to us it barely matters what you escape in, but that you do escape, (live your dreams).

So often we seek the perfect solution for some part of our dream, never achieving it we get no part of our dream.

Could I be happier in something better than our Scamp? Certainly there are things I wish Scamp did differently, however, 10 years from now those deficiencies will be trivial compared to the memories of our travels and the many new friends.

The prize is the travels, not the destination, not the tow vehicle or the RV.

[deryk]

I agree Norm! I could be totally happy doing it in the ParkLiner that I own. Everything else is just icing on the cake!

[David Tilston]

When you are raising five kids, a house is kinda handy. One day, so far off that I can't see it yet, my wife and I will follow some dream. A Trillium may be involved.

[kb1flr]

I agree, Norm. We have a 1995 16 ft Casita and it registers pretty low on the opulence scale. But we always get a rush of excitement when we hitch up to go somewhere because it means exploring new areas and meeting new people. Some of the nicest, most interesting people I have ever met were at RV parks. Talk about a melting pot.

Rick and Jessica

[Byron Kinnaman]

We've always been "explorers". Earlier is was with backpack, we discovered that the destination wasn't the reason for going, it simply the going. It was the travel, backpacking the foot travel and wondering what's around the next bend in the trail. Discovering new vistas, observing a loon and flock of duck on a lake, and on and on and on.
Once we moved into the trailer the travel mode changed, but it's still the travel, even traveling roads well traveled is a new adventure. Things change and the wonder of it all makes the travel special.
Since a lot of our travel in the winter is Snow Birding we head for the South West National Parks, Death Valley, Lake Mead Recreational Area, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. Almost every place we've gone we find full timers and snow birders that are interesting people to talk to. We've come to look at part of the fun is finding friends we haven't met yet.
There's a great lifting of tension and day to day pressures when traveling, at least for us. Is the size of our little 13' a problem? A resounding NO is the answer to that.
I would encourage people to get out as much as you can. Learn how to live with less if only for week or two you'll be amazed at how good it feels.

[Frederick L. Simson]

Originally Posted by honda03842

... it barely matters what you escape in, but that you do escape, (live your dreams).

The prize is the travels, not the destination, not the tow vehicle or the RV.

Very succinctly put.

[honda03842]

Byron, I do agree with "the lifting of pressure". Pressure can become an almost continuous, hence in some measure, invisible part of our lives. The road, particularly for long periods, can lift it all.

The people I spoke about in the first post of this thread are older than Ginny and me. They bought a small trailer two days ago, have it packed and plan to head off on a new adventure in two days. They are both excited like young lovers, you can hear it in their voices and see it on their faces. We are so happy for them and their new adventure.

Like us their children are grown, possibly feel their parents are a little strange but hopefully can imagine their happiness, so they are now free to do as they wish.

Amazingly two days ago they were driving along and saw a 16 foot trailer for sale, stopped and bought it, had their car wired, trailer packed and will be on the road for their first small trailer trip in two days, all happening in less than a week. Very impressive.

Maybe when you're older you need to move faster. 'Your time' really doesn't wait.

[rgrugg]

Life is a trip, not a destination. After we retired, my wife & I travelled every summer and spent 19 winters in warmer parts of the country, mostly winters in AZ. When she passed away in the spring, I didn't know what I was going to do but I'm going back to AZ alone. While there I plan to meet up with 3 friends from home, my elder son is going to fly out for a week, and I'm going to look up a girl I dated when she was age 19. She's 72 now, I'm 77 and will keep going until my body will no longer allow going. Hope it's a long time. As I said in the beginning, life is a trip.....