This is a tough one. I can understand your wanting to pick up and go. But if your Lady needs the security of a house, she will never be happy on the road. Only you can decide on the best way to discuss it with her. This life is not for everyone and unfortunately in some situations there really is no compromise. Good luck for you.

I don't think you are going to be able to take a big leap but rather take some small steps and see what happens. Suggest taking a 2-3-4 week trip. If that goes well suggest a 2-4 month trip (gotta see those grandkids, National Parks, Mountains, Seashores.....pick one or 2). You are going to have to break the home bond. If you can't and she just whines that she misses her house you are either in really big trouble or you have a lot more work in front of you. The more time you can get in the RV with her the better chance you have. Considering that there are over 300,000,000 people and only 1,000,000 fulltimers (if that's accurate which I suspect it is not) then you only have a 1 in 300 chance of getting this to work.

Michael,

First of all, welcome to the RV Dreams forums.  You will find the "family" here to be helpful, friendly, and knowledgeable.  I can't say that I know of any "regular" participants who would wish anything other than the best for you.

That said, all the above is good advice, even if it isn't really what you want to hear.  As much as one would like our spouses to be "really in tune" with our own desires, it isn't always to be.  None of us would want to take your wife aside and tell her just how great the full-time life would be, only to see her STILL be unhappy after committing herself to such a life.

I agree with Bill in that if you have any hopes at all, it would be to get her to agree to extended travel for say 3 to 6 months at a time.  However, if your house would have to be sold to finance the full time experience, even on a limited time basis, you would still be facing an uphill struggle.

As with the others, I wish you good fortune regardless of the outcome of the full-time RV life.

Terry

Perhaps you could do what we are doing. We are selling the sticks and bricks and renting a 2 bedroom apartment. That way you wouldn't have so much maintenance,repairs, grass cutting, snow shovelling and less money spent on the sticks and bricks and more for travel and fun and she would still have her security of a permanent residence to fall back on if either of you have health issues down the road.

Then you would also be free of property taxes, utilities etc. and all the stuff you have collected over the years that you really won't need. Have garage sales, advertise on the internet, donate to a local charity or give it away to relatives and friends. It truly is liberating but also very much filled with anxiety but once you get past all that the freedom to roam is a terrific reward.

See if she would be willing to do this; given your ages there really isn't much time; so this plan would have to be put in the works ASAP. We are struggling to sell, move and upgrade our 5th wheel so that we can enjoy whatever part of life we still have together by doing what we love, travelling and seeing as many different things and as many new experiences as we can; but we will still have the security of our apartment to come back to.

Good luck on your endeavor, keep talking to her about how you feel and that you care very much about how she feels and perhaps she will be able to meet you half way.

Hope to see you down the road.

Kathy & Rick Rousseau
Windsor, Ontario Canada

Mike,

Just to give you a perspective, let me describe our experience.  I am less than three weeks from being 65.  Four years ago, we sold a 2300 sq ft house on 5 acres with a 30X50 metal building.  While it is doubtful that I had as much stuff as you have, I had enough for Jo to suggest that we sell everything and then buy back what we needed, but buy it new.

Now, I nixed that idea really quick.  No way was I going to sell all my stuff at used prices only to replace a lot of it at new prices.  So, we moved it all to our current house, 2250 sq ft on 3/4 of an acre.

When she approached with the idea of selling the house, most all of the contents, and then buying an RV so we could full time and travel after we retired, I immediately bought into the idea.  Thus began the process of getting rid of "stuff."  In reality, like someone else said, it is liberating to be rid of it.

Prior to actually starting to get rid of stuff, I walked out into the garage and started looking at all my "toys."  I can tell you that there was very little in there that I could say that I had used very much in the last year, or even 2 or 3 years.  So, I suggest you go through your stuff and apply a critical eye to what you have and whether you really use it much.

A lot of people other than RV'ers will advise that if you haven't used something in the last year, get rid of it.  The hard thing will be photos and other memories of family.  The "stuff" is just so much clutter.

Terry

Ginamar wrote:

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Terry,

I understand about all the pictures and things. Have you thought about putting all of that in digital form? I am going to start that soon and I have already started getting rid of stuff, hoping to convience my husband we do not need all of this. We have just started thinking about a simpler life and downsizing. We are both in our early 50's and not ready to retire but I love the idea of getting rid of the house and stuff.

Just an idea on the pictures and things.

Margina

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 Margina,

You are where we are. Early 50's, youngest leaving for college in August. Time to start thinking seriously about retirement years. I am seriously researching RV living, my hubby is listening to me talk and read blogs to him. He just smiles. No response one way or the other. 

I will keep working on him. Figure I will do baby steps with him. Pushing to get house ready to sell. Buy a condo. Big change from th elarge house and stuff. Hopefully, a lot cheaper too. Buy an RV and start camping before retirnement. He is "grunting" a little softer at this plan. 

Tracy

First welcome to the dream.

When I first suggested this lifestyle my DH was against it. No way was he selling the house and moving into an RV. We started our fulltime adventure on 1 June this year. I did it in baby steps. Short trips and worked it up from there. One day he surprised me by suggesting we sell all and go full time. It worked for us. It took about 2 years total.

Vicky and Ira

Race Guy thanks for the word. We are now taking short trips and a vacation of a week this year that she loved and was not ready to come home. We are now in the planning stage of a vacation of two weeks next year to Mesa Verde and up into Colorado and she is helping me pick places to stay and see.
Michal, take it slow and easy and she will come around you may not get to f/t but you will get to travel with your buddy. The TT we now have she picked it out and we love it, it's just the right size for us and a small dog, oh and two or three grand kids on a camping trip.
The full timing bug has never gone away as a matter of fact it is stronger than ever but I elected to keep my buddy of 44 years and glad I did.
There is a lot more to the story like sell the TT before we bought another one together, now our friends have TT's and love to travel in them with us there is a lot more that help change her mind that I wont go into now.
Just take it slow and maybe she will come around you have a lot more time than you think. By the way the Lord put the friends in our path it was amazing how that happened.

I agree with Penny and Paul. If you can make the rally you will learn so much and it will be a good chance for your wife to talk with other wives. She will have a chance to have her fears addressed. At the very worst.......you will make some new friends.

Vicky and Ira