I'll introduce myself as well. I'm Jo Ann. As David said, we are about 4 years out from retirement. We did own a Mini Winnie several years ago. Had a great time taking our three children on a couple of big trips in that. They are grown, out of college, and the Mini Winnie bit the dust. Since then we have tent-camped. We enjoy the camping part, but not the tent so much anymore.
We started planning this summer for what we will do in 5, now closer to 41/2, years. We have some goals of travel and are working on our budget to meet those goals. Full-timing appears to be one option, but we don't want to wait the four + years to start to travel. We teach school, so we do have some summer time to get out and go.
Our short-term goal is to get a small trailer that will help us get out of the tent, but will fit into our budget until we can afford the bigger rig.
I've been lurking on RV-Dreams for a couple of months now. love the discussions!
Looking forward to getting to know people here!!!
Terry and Jo said
08:59 AM Nov 5, 2010
Welcome, Jo Ann.
However, now we'll have to keep in mind that you and David have two different usernames. And, considering that I am creeping up (very fast like) on 65, I might not always remember that. With that in mind, if I get things confused in the future, please forgive me.
If you have been around that long, then you already know there is a large number of knowledgeable folks around the RV Dreams forums. We usually encourage new participants to feel free to ask questions and make comments, simply because new other new participants may have not seen the questions and comments before. I think we are all pretty good at answering the same questions again because of that knowledge. Besides, some questions seem to add new perspectives to the topics.
Have fun with your searching for a camper. We'll try to keep you encouraged, even if things look down for a while.
Terry
Linda said
09:23 AM Nov 5, 2010
I understand about not wanting to tent camp any longer. We still do it every now and again but I always have a had time sleeping.
Welcome to the Family!
Wildrose Acres said
04:16 PM Nov 6, 2010
Thanks, Terry, for the welcome. David and I will probably post independently of each other and about different topics. Maybe when he retires we will combine our postings.
I like your name, Jo. Mine is also Jo but I use my middle name as well.
We are glad that we've decided to plan our retirement five years out. Even now the time is going quickly. We have a lot we want to get rid of. Today I took a bag of stuff to our church's bazaar and came home with only food. I am so proud of myself!!!
Jo Ann
(No rig right now, but that will change)
RVKevi said
06:46 PM Nov 6, 2010
Welcome!!
Trabuco said
09:46 PM Nov 6, 2010
Hi Jo Ann,
We are about 1 year out and have started researching big time. The research is taking longer then I thought. For every question I get answered 2 more pop up! But after 6 months I know so much more than when I started. It's an ever evolving process.
2riker2go said
05:28 AM Nov 7, 2010
Welcome Jo Ann! We are also planning a few years out - it is 4 for us, but we started a year ago, so we were on a similar timeline. I am also glad that we started planning early - we are de-cluttering, preparing the house for sale, and getting our financials in order. I can't imagine doing all of this in only a year (or less) like some people do!
Enjoy your research! :)
Wildrose Acres said
09:03 PM Nov 7, 2010
What's funny is that we went to an RV show last month and only concentrated on the 5'ers and some motor homes. We completely ignored the smaller trailers. As we tweak our plans it occurred to us that if we get a smaller "egg" type of trailer now it would make a good trade-in on the bigger rig later. Now we are scheduling visits to area dealers and to one Casita owner to check out what we missed last month. I'm very glad we are starting the planning this far out. I agree that if we had not started this now it would be a very difficult job to do it all in one year. As it is we can pace ourselves and get information as we plan everything.
We are enjoying the journey to the journey!
Waggin Tails said
08:11 PM Nov 8, 2010
Welcome JoAnn and David. You have certainly found a knowledge base here. Our last tent camping experience was on Memorial Day weekend in Munich Germany (1974). We woke up to 3" ice water inside the tent and about 6" snow outside on the ground. My wife told me she would never sleep in a tent again. We will be moving into 5th wheel in about a year. Develop a good plan and stay focused. Don't be discouraged when life throws you a curve ball. Just make adjustment and keep the focus. Hope to meet you guys some day down the road.
Wildrose Acres said
09:55 AM Feb 16, 2011
I am going back to my first post to give an update! We are slooooowly downsizing. I just wanted to report that today we are giving away out second refrigerator. It came with the house, new, 12 years ago. It served us well as a second frig with three kids. A family at our church is in need, and they have four kids! It is slow progress, but I told my daughter that if we have company we now have our MPG to stash extra food and extra people.
TerryG said
10:54 AM Feb 16, 2011
Hi JoAnn & David
Welcome. My wife and I love to dream, its fun and keeps us young. It seems in our whole 42 years of marriage we have always had some kind of plan to change our lives. Its been fun and interesting.
We started deaming and planning to fulltime around 2 years ago. Since then we have changed our mind a few times and at present we are planning to half-time. However, after watching a fulltiming video while walking on the threadmill last night, we now are thinking of fulltiming now and selling our home. It doesn't take much to change our minds.
A year ago I gave away a ton of fishing equipment to a couple of long time friends. We live on a river, so I have accumulated a lot of fishing stuff. I just kept what I intended to take in my MH while travelling. Later, I had a moment when I wish I had not given all that stuff away, as we thought of just half-timing. Then later I was glad I gave it all away once again. Yes, I do seem confused, but my wife and I are committed to CHANGE. Its just sometimes difficult to agree to sell our beloved home and be committed to the decision. However, its fun and this always gives us something to talk about and laugh over. ANTICIPATION is what keeps us young. (We're in our sixties)
Just enjoy the ride as you plan, be flexable, and if it looks good eat it. (Andrew)
Good luck!
tlmr0dg said
11:18 AM Feb 16, 2011
Hi JoAnn,
Bruce and I are also four years away from full-timing. Not wanting to wish our life away, we also are using this time to plan and prepare. It's fun meeting other RV-Dreamers and networking. I'm beginning to see that a big part of this life style is networking with everyone while on the road. We RV'ers are usually like minded people which makes it easy to establish friendships.
We started planning this summer for what we will do in 5, now closer to 41/2, years. We have some goals of travel and are working on our budget to meet those goals. Full-timing appears to be one option, but we don't want to wait the four + years to start to travel. We teach school, so we do have some summer time to get out and go.
Our short-term goal is to get a small trailer that will help us get out of the tent, but will fit into our budget until we can afford the bigger rig.
I've been lurking on RV-Dreams for a couple of months now. love the discussions!
Looking forward to getting to know people here!!!
However, now we'll have to keep in mind that you and David have two different usernames. And, considering that I am creeping up (very fast like) on 65, I might not always remember that. With that in mind, if I get things confused in the future, please forgive me.
If you have been around that long, then you already know there is a large number of knowledgeable folks around the RV Dreams forums. We usually encourage new participants to feel free to ask questions and make comments, simply because new other new participants may have not seen the questions and comments before. I think we are all pretty good at answering the same questions again because of that knowledge. Besides, some questions seem to add new perspectives to the topics.
Have fun with your searching for a camper. We'll try to keep you encouraged, even if things look down for a while.
Terry
Welcome to the Family!
Our last tent camping experience was on Memorial Day weekend in Munich Germany (1974). We woke up to 3" ice water inside the tent and about 6" snow outside on the ground. My wife told me she would never sleep in a tent again.
We will be moving into 5th wheel in about a year. Develop a good plan and stay focused. Don't be discouraged when life throws you a curve ball. Just make adjustment and keep the focus.
Hope to meet you guys some day down the road.
Welcome. My wife and I love to dream, its fun and keeps us young. It seems in our whole 42 years of marriage we have always had some kind of plan to change our lives. Its been fun and interesting.
We started deaming and planning to fulltime around 2 years ago. Since then we have changed our mind a few times and at present we are planning to half-time. However, after watching a fulltiming video while walking on the threadmill last night, we now are thinking of fulltiming now and selling our home. It doesn't take much to change our minds.
A year ago I gave away a ton of fishing equipment to a couple of long time friends. We live on a river, so I have accumulated a lot of fishing stuff. I just kept what I intended to take in my MH while travelling. Later, I had a moment when I wish I had not given all that stuff away, as we thought of just half-timing. Then later I was glad I gave it all away once again. Yes, I do seem confused, but my wife and I are committed to CHANGE. Its just sometimes difficult to agree to sell our beloved home and be committed to the decision. However, its fun and this always gives us something to talk about and laugh over. ANTICIPATION is what keeps us young.
(We're in our sixties)
Just enjoy the ride as you plan, be flexable, and if it looks good eat it. (Andrew)
Good luck!
Bruce and I are also four years away from full-timing. Not wanting to wish our life away, we also are using this time to plan and prepare. It's fun meeting other RV-Dreamers and networking. I'm beginning to see that a big part of this life style is networking with everyone while on the road. We RV'ers are usually like minded people which makes it easy to establish friendships.
Welcome!
Laura Raber