ok .. I know this is a very personal question and people aren't suppose to ask.. but it is the one that keeps me from just getting up and hitting the road...

My husband and I are in our mid 50's.. if we were to just cash everything in and hit the road we have no income ...outside of living off of any money we make from selling our house and personal items...I could get work as a traveling therapist.. but I see not point in trading in one job for another... I know Linda and Howard  appeared to be doing just that and wonder how many others have just hit the road with no income coming in.., not knowing how you would pay  your bills. We have a nice retirement account but I will not touch it until we are 65.. so how do you live off the land so to speak for 10  years....patti

Obviously each person's situation is different...but...living on the road full-time does require money. Howard posts his real financial data on the main rv-dreams page so you can get an idea of how much they budget by the month and year. From that you can make a budget, and if you know how much money you will clear after paying off all debt and purchasing your new home you should be able to determine how long your money will last. Keep in mind there are workamper jobs (as well as other jobs) that you can do while full-timing that can help to extend your budget.

This is probably my #1 concern as we prepare for FTing.  We are in our mid-40's and have always had the intention of working on the road to support ourselves, although we hope that it will be a much different flavor compared to what we're doing today.  Like you we have retirement investments and will have proceeds from the house, none of which we want to touch unless we absolutely have to.  I am hoping that we can piece together enough income-earning opportunities to support us, but in truth I'm worried.  I know most workamping jobs don't pay much, if anything.   Although I can't speak from experience yet, we suspect that we will have to rely on the traditional type (professional) jobs from time to time (via contract/temporary gigs)  in order to make ends meet.  I also struggle with the thought that if I have to fall back to what I'm doing today, have I really changed my life?  I hope the answer to that will be yes, in that we will be controlling our destiny by choosing when to work, where to work and what types of jobs we accept.  Of course, only time will tell.  Every day, I try to envision what it will really be like and whether this is all really feasible, but I always come back to the same answer...you won't know until you try!  Good luck!! 

I've been watching RV forums for a couple of years now and it seems there is a range between $2000 to $3000 per month for total living expenses while living the fulltime lifestyle, barring any major medical or mechanical problems. Most of the folks are comfortable at $2400 per month, this is the figure I see most often when folks share their fulltime living expenses. Like others have done, they sell off everything, get the RV setup they feel comfortable with, invest the remainder and then try to live as simply as possible. Some folks work part time to supplement their investments. Others Workamp to get free or low cost RV spots. The common theme, even with those folks that are still doing work similar to what they did before they start fulltiming, is that the work is more fun or at least not stressful because they know it's easier to leave, go someplace else and find a better job. Even Howard, recently mentioned in his blog, how much he enjoys doing the various camp hosting jobs mostly because it's so different from what he did in the past. Look through the RV-Dreams website and read all of the posts Howard has regarding their decision, financials and workkamping....check out some of the other RV Websites and you'll find more info about the financial aspect of the lifestyle. It's not for everyone..... some folks aren't willing to give up the security of having a sticks and bricks house.