I am so happy I found this site. I've been reading and reading pretty much everywhere and can't believe I just found this place the other day.
I am Christina. I've been married 20 years to Scott. We'll be turning 40 within the next year and traveling and living full time is a goal we want to accomplish in the near future.
My husband and I want to full time as soon as we can. Our time table right now is 4-5 years. We have a 16 year old son and by then he will have graduated and *hopefully* be doing something on his own. Right now I work part time out of the home as well as run a transcription business that I hope to expand with additional services. My husband works full time as a security guard and is getting burned out on the hours.
I've always loved to travel. When I was little my mom bought a little pop up camper. We'd go on weekends to a nearby lake just to chill out. We still talk about getting caught in the hurricane in Florida one year. When I saw "Stand By Me" I wanted to go walk down the railroad tracks and see where I'd end up. I really want to see the Grand Canyon and a ton of other places I've only read about. I've talked about living in an RV before but my husband kept saying, "What would I do with my stuff?"
Well, that's not an issue as much anymore because we lost our home last year in a bankruptcy, moved from Georgia to Alabama and we now rent a much smaller home. He discovered he didn't need as much "stuff" as he thought. He saw a Yahoo! news item on the Tumbleweed small home and at first we were thinking of building one, but then we realized that we can never work on a project together, especially one of that magnitude. So now we're looking at starting with a travel trailer or fifth wheel if we can get a good price. Once I agreed to do a trip through Alaska he was all in :)
We want to do this debt free, so we have our baby steps thought out.
Step 1 - Increase my self-employment income to cover at least 3/4 of what we need within 4-5 years. Improve my skills and offer additional services. Raise my prices every 6 months. Investigate other possible ways of making money on the road. Right now the plan is for me to work at my transcription business and Scott will do the workamping stuff.
Step 1a - Continue to read and learn about fulltiming. Attend the 2011 rally :)
Step 2 - Use the increased income to save for a used pickup truck that can haul a travel trailer or fifth wheel. Sell or trade in dh's S-10 for the new truck. Continue to save money towards the trailer and our seed money.
Step 3 - Declutter more. Decide what to do with our furniture, pictures, etc. Find homes for pets.
Step 4 - Research and buy a travel trailer or fifth wheel. Take some trips in it to get used to it and learn how to work everything.
Step 5 - Finish up our seed money (we want to have about a $5K emergency fund to get started) and set a date to head out. Tie up loose ends, arrange for a workamping job at a chosen destination, say our goodbyes :)
So right now we are in step 1. Not sure how long that step will last. I talked to hubby last night and he does have vacation time coming next year so we are going to do our best to attend the rally in April.
Looking forward to learning a lot and glad to meet you all :)
Christina in Alabama
NorCal Dan said
04:36 AM Sep 8, 2010
Welcome Christina. Glad you found the site. Feel free to ask questions, we are a friendly bunch.
I don't know what pets you have, but RV'ers can and do travel with pets.
crouton said
05:37 AM Sep 8, 2010
We have multiple pets, primarily cats, and while we love them I am ready to be pet free for a while. No reason to add pet stuff to the confusion we'll already experience. Would anyone like a kitten? We have three.
janni said
06:04 AM Sep 8, 2010
Welcome and it looks like you have a great plan. After two winters snowbirding without our cat, she is going with us full time. Took her on a short trip to MN this last summer and she did super! It CAN be done and not sure if I could do it without her. Just a thought.... Good luck and welcome to a very friendly and informative board. Janice
RVKevi said
12:10 PM Sep 8, 2010
Welcome, Christina!
2riker2go said
12:15 PM Sep 8, 2010
Welcome Christina! Sounds like your planning is falling into place. We are also in the planning/beginning steps stage. Thanks for the kitten offer, however, I have two of my own. They will be hitting the road with us though. :) That's one of the things I am looking forward to - being able to travel without having to make plans to leave them home!
We will be attending the rally in April 2011. Looking forward to learning lots and meeting people. :)
Remi said
12:24 PM Sep 8, 2010
Welcome... Pets are doable from what everyone has expressed to me. I am considering a dog myself :)
Readytogo said
02:39 PM Sep 8, 2010
Welcome!! We will be taking our 2 dogs with us. They go camping with us now. We also have 2 cats. Not sure if they will be going. They are both physically challenged. The older one does not like the camper. The 1 yr old does ok. We have 2+ years to figure that out.
rwarner22 said
06:02 PM Sep 8, 2010
Welcome Christina!
It looks like you have a great start with your plan. Keep at it and in your research I'd recommend touring some factories if you get the chance, even if you intend to buy a used RV.
What part of Alabama are you from? The factory here in Red Bay gives great access to the factory with daily tours while motor homes are being built. Again - some of the things you will see may not apply if you get a trailer or 5th wheel but then again I would think quite a bit would be useful. -- Just a thought.
Good luck in your efforts!
crouton said
09:15 PM Sep 8, 2010
We live in Opelika, Alabama, near Auburn. An RV factory tour sounds interesting. We'll check that out. Red Bay is about 4 hours away so we'll make it an overnight.
I am on a trip with my mom now. We're in Murfreesboro, TN. Like I said, we like to take our little trips, check out historical places, cemeteries, and other interesting places.
I talked a bit about our plans and she said that she and my dad are looking for a Class A Diesel Pusher. They don't want to full time due to health issues and they like their house, but they are mule people and like to go to the shows and events and stay in a motor home instead of a hotel. they've had a Class C and a Class A and like the Class A better. I thought she would say I was crazy but she thinks it's a good idea if that's what we want to do.
We passed a lot of RV lots on the way here as well as a lot of used RVs that were FSBO.
Thanks for the welcome :) Still reading and learning a lot. And even while on a trip I'm using my mom's laptop to work and my cell phone to connect with clients. So step 1 is underway :)
Christina in AL
Pinon said
12:05 PM Sep 9, 2010
Sounds like you have a great plan! I am also making plans and have a 15 yo son at home. Our time frame is farther out though, as we want to spend a couple years working full-time and saving money once he is out of high school (we have never both worked full-time since having him.) We can work on the road too. Being able to fulltime before we are able to retire is nice - I don't want to wait 24 more years 'til I am 65! Have fun w/ your planning! Pinon
crouton said
11:22 AM Oct 5, 2010
Went looking at an RV dealership yesterday since I've only looked at photos and hubby hasn't looked at anything. We started with Fifth Wheels then moved to the travel trailers. We did decide we wanted a fifth wheel, even though they cost more. We saw a lot that we liked but there was one Durango we really liked. That was pretty much the only model they had in a fifth wheel.
So we know the type of floor plan we both like now. Hubby agrees with me about the rear living room area. We liked the Durango 325CK because of the rear living room and open kitchen with the smaller island. It's about 34', so that's about the length that I wanted.
According to the dealer, we need to get at least an F250 for towing. I would like to go up to a 350, but don't know if I can talk hubby into it.
But we are still looking around. There is supposed to be a big show in B'ham in February, so I want to go to that and look at more models and nail down what we want.
Hubby wants to go ahead and try to do this in about 2 years, even if we have to make payments on the RV, which I didn't want to do, but if we buy new we will have to do that. But the other option we were looking at was buying a mobile home with some land and that is about the same price as the RV and the truck. So now that hubby has seen a few of them he is happy and more certain we can do this.
He wants to do this now in 2 years, as I said. Our son will be 18 and he wants to go to France for a couple of months. So basically, he will graduate, work and save up his money, take his trip and while he's gone we'll probably buy the fifth wheel and move out of our rental house. So by the time he comes back to pick up his dog and cat we'll be in an RV park and ready to hit the road.
That's the plan. We'll see how it goes. We are starting a very aggressive savings plan right now.
Waggin Tails said
09:17 PM Oct 6, 2010
Christina, it all starts with a plan. Or maybe a dream and then a plan. Keep the plan in front of you at all times so you can base daily decisions against the plan. I learned that the hard way. Don't be afraid to jump in and ask questions that you may have. This forum is full of experiencial knowledge.
Hope to meet you down the road one day.
jagco said
12:47 PM Oct 7, 2010
It seems like I may have welcomed you in another thread (I'm kinda forgetful). If not, I'm welcoming you now to this wonderful forum.
I totally concur with what Waggin Tails just posted above. This forum is indeed full of experiencial knowledge, and is the friendliest forum that I've found. Don't be afraid to ask any RVing questions. People here will either know the answer, or send you in the right direction.
allenicon said
04:09 AM Oct 15, 2010
Hi all am new to this forum, am so glad that I've joined this site.... ======== Rosie Allen ======== www.plrprivatelabelrights.com
53 Merc said
07:07 AM Oct 15, 2010
crouton wrote:
According to the dealer, we need to get at least an F250 for towing. I would like to go up to a 350, but don't know if I can talk hubby into it.
But we are still looking around. There is supposed to be a big show in B'ham in February, so I want to go to that and look at more models and nail down what we want.
That's the plan. We'll see how it goes. We are starting a very aggressive savings plan right now.
Why is hubby against a 350 series of truck? The length is the same, the cabin is the same, it is as tall as the 250 series, only difference is gearing and suspension. Hubby should look at the specs and go to the sales yard and see if he can pick out one from another at a distance (not looking at the badge beside the door). I would buy the larger towing capacity truck. I have gotten myself into a marginal towing situation, because we bought the truck for a particular trailer, then traded RVs (of course it is larger).
crouton said
01:31 PM Oct 17, 2010
53 Merc wrote:
Why is hubby against a 350 series of truck? The length is the same, the cabin is the same, it is as tall as the 250 series, only difference is gearing and suspension. Hubby should look at the specs and go to the sales yard and see if he can pick out one from another at a distance (not looking at the badge beside the door). I would buy the larger towing capacity truck. I have gotten myself into a marginal towing situation, because we bought the truck for a particular trailer, then traded RVs (of course it is larger).
Because we were both under the impression that the 350 and 450 super duties were duallys. We know now that we can get a 350 SRW and that's what he wants. When we looked at the tow guides put out by Ford we saw that a 350 Super Duty Diesel should work fine for the trailer we saw. Of course, we don't know that we're going to buy that particular one. We have decided on a few things, though.
We both like the plan of having a diesel truck. We both agree we want a Fifth Wheel. For the Fifth Wheel, we both like the rear living room area. It feels more spacious and open. We both like the open type kitchen area with a smaller island. We both like the table and chairs versus a built in dinette type table.
We're going to continue to research trucks and visit a few RV shows. We want to go to the RV show in Birmingham, AL, in February and maybe the big Rally in Perry, GA in 2012. My family lives in Georgia and Perry is a 2 hour drive, so we'd stay there overnight and then travel to Perry. And we are still talking about going to the RV Dreams Rally in April if we can work out the timing.
I am Christina. I've been married 20 years to Scott. We'll be turning 40 within the next year and traveling and living full time is a goal we want to accomplish in the near future.
My husband and I want to full time as soon as we can. Our time table right now is 4-5 years. We have a 16 year old son and by then he will have graduated and *hopefully* be doing something on his own. Right now I work part time out of the home as well as run a transcription business that I hope to expand with additional services. My husband works full time as a security guard and is getting burned out on the hours.
I've always loved to travel. When I was little my mom bought a little pop up camper. We'd go on weekends to a nearby lake just to chill out. We still talk about getting caught in the hurricane in Florida one year. When I saw "Stand By Me" I wanted to go walk down the railroad tracks and see where I'd end up. I really want to see the Grand Canyon and a ton of other places I've only read about. I've talked about living in an RV before but my husband kept saying, "What would I do with my stuff?"
Well, that's not an issue as much anymore because we lost our home last year in a bankruptcy, moved from Georgia to Alabama and we now rent a much smaller home. He discovered he didn't need as much "stuff" as he thought. He saw a Yahoo! news item on the Tumbleweed small home and at first we were thinking of building one, but then we realized that we can never work on a project together, especially one of that magnitude. So now we're looking at starting with a travel trailer or fifth wheel if we can get a good price. Once I agreed to do a trip through Alaska he was all in :)
We want to do this debt free, so we have our baby steps thought out.
Step 1 - Increase my self-employment income to cover at least 3/4 of what we need within 4-5 years. Improve my skills and offer additional services. Raise my prices every 6 months. Investigate other possible ways of making money on the road. Right now the plan is for me to work at my transcription business and Scott will do the workamping stuff.
Step 1a - Continue to read and learn about fulltiming. Attend the 2011 rally :)
Step 2 - Use the increased income to save for a used pickup truck that can haul a travel trailer or fifth wheel. Sell or trade in dh's S-10 for the new truck. Continue to save money towards the trailer and our seed money.
Step 3 - Declutter more. Decide what to do with our furniture, pictures, etc. Find homes for pets.
Step 4 - Research and buy a travel trailer or fifth wheel. Take some trips in it to get used to it and learn how to work everything.
Step 5 - Finish up our seed money (we want to have about a $5K emergency fund to get started) and set a date to head out. Tie up loose ends, arrange for a workamping job at a chosen destination, say our goodbyes :)
So right now we are in step 1. Not sure how long that step will last. I talked to hubby last night and he does have vacation time coming next year so we are going to do our best to attend the rally in April.
Looking forward to learning a lot and glad to meet you all :)
Christina in Alabama
Good luck and welcome to a very friendly and informative board.
Janice
Welcome!! We will be taking our 2 dogs with us. They go camping with us now. We also have 2 cats. Not sure if they will be going. They are both physically challenged. The older one does not like the camper. The 1 yr old does ok. We have 2+ years to figure that out.
We live in Opelika, Alabama, near Auburn. An RV factory tour sounds interesting. We'll check that out. Red Bay is about 4 hours away so we'll make it an overnight.
I am on a trip with my mom now. We're in Murfreesboro, TN. Like I said, we like to take our little trips, check out historical places, cemeteries, and other interesting places.
I talked a bit about our plans and she said that she and my dad are looking for a Class A Diesel Pusher. They don't want to full time due to health issues and they like their house, but they are mule people and like to go to the shows and events and stay in a motor home instead of a hotel. they've had a Class C and a Class A and like the Class A better. I thought she would say I was crazy but she thinks it's a good idea if that's what we want to do.
We passed a lot of RV lots on the way here as well as a lot of used RVs that were FSBO.
Thanks for the welcome :) Still reading and learning a lot. And even while on a trip I'm using my mom's laptop to work and my cell phone to connect with clients. So step 1 is underway :)
Christina in AL
Have fun w/ your planning!
Pinon
========
Rosie Allen
========
www.plrprivatelabelrights.com
We both like the plan of having a diesel truck.
We both agree we want a Fifth Wheel.
For the Fifth Wheel, we both like the rear living room area. It feels more spacious and open.
We both like the open type kitchen area with a smaller island.
We both like the table and chairs versus a built in dinette type table.
We're going to continue to research trucks and visit a few RV shows. We want to go to the RV show in Birmingham, AL, in February and maybe the big Rally in Perry, GA in 2012. My family lives in Georgia and Perry is a 2 hour drive, so we'd stay there overnight and then travel to Perry. And we are still talking about going to the RV Dreams Rally in April if we can work out the timing.