We did it. We are full timers. Left yesterday and traveled 120 minutes from Tuscaloosa, AL to Collinsville, MS (10 miles north of Meridian). Feels absolutely wonderful!!!! Took us 16 months from day 1 to arrival at our dream.
I think several months ago there was a discussion about "wonna bees" and "gonna bees". I did a post and told everyone that we were definitely "gonna bees". Guesswhat, we are.
Judy & Bob
NorCal Dan said
10:32 AM Mar 22, 2011
Congratulations on your change in status. It's a great feeling to be free of the rat race...
Jim01 said
11:05 AM Mar 22, 2011
Welcome to the lifestyle!!
Hope you enjoy it as much as we have. Take your time, smell the roses, explore the areas that you pass through or stay at, and above all, HAVE FUN!!!!!
Jim
jb said
11:39 AM Mar 22, 2011
Congratulations!
Linda said
01:18 PM Mar 22, 2011
That is terrific!!!! We are so happy for you!!!
RickandJanice said
02:34 PM Mar 22, 2011
Congratulations!! What a great feeling that must be. Looks like you are starting off as you right and just taking your time. That will also be our challenge after years of "destination" vacations and weekends. We were part of that discussion and are still "gonna bees" but cannot wait to join you on the road. Hopefully class of 2012 or 2013 (depends on sale of S&B). Best wishes and happy travels!
Bill Adams said
03:45 PM Mar 22, 2011
When Janet and I started full-timing (we didn't know that this was what we were doing at the time. We thought we were on a 6 to 12 month vacation) we wanted to do it all and not miss anything. We planned some dates that we felt we needed to be at a specific location at a specific time and then we planned what stops we wanted to make along the way. We planned this very, very badly and we ended up running rather than walking around this great Country of ours. Hopefully, you will have started off on a better foot than we did and you have plans to make as few plans as possible. We made some really serious rookie mistakes (looking back) and they were wonderful!! If you don't pile the RV into a tree and kill yourselves then everything else is just an adventure. You are going to make mistakes and some won't be as fun as others but let them all be adventures. I promise that you will look back at them all (some take longer than others) and just laugh at what you got yourself into. This is a great life and it's not always rosy (but then what is?) but it's a damn sight better than sitting at home or at work and watching the paint dry. Our first big stop was Yellowstone. We planned this for early May. Spring, right? Not so much in Yellowstone. We pulled up to the East entrance and told the Ranger we were headed for the Flying Bridge campground. She said that it did not open for another week or so, they were predicting snow very shortly, there was a 9,000 ft pass we had to cross to get to anywhere a campground was and the roads were a bit slick and icy. Have a nice stay! Well it started snowing before we got to the top of the pass but we made it through OK. The pass was closed at 2pm due to heavy snow. We spent one of the best weeks of our life there. We went back in Aug. of that same year and just hated it. Too many people, too hot, no animals, no fun. Spring or Fall (while the kids are in school) turns out to be the best time to visit. We were completely oblivious but thank goodness as we might have missed this if someone had told us what we might run into.
Enjoy! Have fun! Discover! Do stuff you never have before or even thought you had an interest in. Search the internet for events where you are traveling. (Sorry to ramble) Two examples of the last...We are passing through IL by way of Aurora. It turns out the the Fermi Labs are located here where they are splitting atoms trying to discover what they can including the beginnings of the universe (searching for the "God Particle"). Turns out that there was the annual event where they shut down the facility and give scientist lead tours. I was completely lost at the beginning but at least understanding what they were doing by the time it was over. The other was while we were in NM. It turns out that the VLA radio telescope antenna (Very Large Array) is South of Albuquerque and again 2 times per year they shut it down for tours. It was great and I actually understood quite a bit more about what they are doing then I had on the tour in Aurora. We are always looking to find special events outside our comfort zone and while we have not always hit a home run we were always glad we gave them a try.
karen948 said
04:26 PM Mar 22, 2011
Congratulations! I'm jealous we have 3 more years to go. Enjoy your travels! Karen
RVRon said
06:23 PM Mar 22, 2011
Congratulations Judy & Bob! You should be proud of yourselves for seeing your plan through and making it to the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow! We are SO jealous... we have about 18 months or so until our day of freedom comes!
Ckerr said
08:30 PM Mar 22, 2011
That's great! Enjoy the journey. Hope to see you on the road soon!
505ers said
08:48 PM Mar 22, 2011
CONGRATULATIONS JUDY & BOB!!!!
It is one thing to talk and plan, but finally getting there is a great accomplishment. You beat Sherri and I by two weeks. We leave for the rally two weeks from tomorrow and we will be full-timers
Gypsy Turtle 2 said
09:26 PM Mar 22, 2011
Congratulations! We have been on the road for 2.5 months now. It's a wonderful life!
janni said
05:09 AM Mar 23, 2011
Congratulations on your dream and Welcome to the road!
heyduke said
08:31 AM Mar 23, 2011
congrats - we are three weeker's :) and enjoying every moment...
Sherry said
02:24 PM Mar 23, 2011
Good for you! That was a fast trip from wannabe to gonnabe to got there. Now you can slow down and really enjoy. Congratulations!
I think several months ago there was a discussion about "wonna bees" and "gonna bees". I did a post and told everyone that we were definitely "gonna bees". Guesswhat, we are.
Judy & Bob
Hope you enjoy it as much as we have. Take your time, smell the roses, explore the areas that you pass through or stay at, and above all, HAVE FUN!!!!!
Jim
Karen
It is one thing to talk and plan, but finally getting there is a great accomplishment.
You beat Sherri and I by two weeks. We leave for the rally two weeks from tomorrow and we will be full-timers