The wife and I have decided to take the plunge (eventually) and go full-time in an RV. I am retiring in 4 years, and the plan was to take three years and go to all of the MLB ball parks in an RV. But the plans changed when the grandkids came along, and now we have decided that we will move closer to them, but we will still go to all the ballparks, sandwiched in around 4 years on the road. I have plenty of time to map out our travels, but we would love to hit every state in the Lower 48; the length of the trip seems to lend itself to that kind of optimism! I plan to use forums like this to read about topics that I wouldn't have thought of, and to get ideas for what to do, and what not to do.

Since we have only recently decided this to be the course we want to take, we haven't gotten all that far along as yet. We have narrowed the choice of vehicle to 5th wheel or Class C, with the 5W currently nosing ahead; I expect that another year of testing will shake out a winner. Of course there are advantages and disadvantages to everything, but so far it looks like the 5W will fit our purposes best. We have already started looking at our 'stuff', making preliminary mental lists of what we would sell, keep, or pass along; so far, there aren't a lot of furniture items that we would want to keep, but I suppose that the hard part will be the keepsakes and trinkets that we accumulate throughout our lives that will be the hardest to part with. Each of us was divorced in the past, so that helped... lol

Since we are not planning on doing this indefinitely, I am thinking that it won't make much sense to buy a completely new rig and eat the depreciation that will come with using it for a shorter time, rather than buy a newer used rig that has already seen the worst of the depreciation, hopefully without getting too much use; like boats, I can't imagine that there aren't plenty of folks who go in whole hog, only to find out that it really isn't for them. My plan is to sell the house after we buy the rig, so that we (read: I) can make whatever improvements/changes/updates that we want while I still have my shop, and then sell the house in the spring, during the busy part of the real estate year.

Although there is more research and testing to be done, I am leaning towards a Dodge truck for the puller; I know that there are plenty of folks that are set on one brand or another, but my research indicates that while every brand has it's plusses and minuses, the Dodge seems to have the best motor/tranny combo; their problem is the rest of the truck not having the best fit/finish/durability. I can do some of that, but I can't do motor/tranny work, so... we'll see. I also plan on doing the majority of the maintenance myself; the wife will help and have to know how, just like driving, but that doesn't mean that she necessarily will have to do much of it.  

We plan on taking our Lab, who travels exceedingly well. The back seats will come out of the truck, and a carpet cover put in, along with a safety screen. She is a very friendly non-barker, but I will have to look into which campsites don't allow animals, so that we can plan our trips accordingly. The biggest drawback to her coming along, I think, will be having to give her more baths, so that the back doesn't start to smell too much like dog. I'm sure that she wouldn't mind, but...  lol

We are quite excited about taking the step; my wife thought about it, and she loves the idea, and it is something that I have always wanted to do. My dream was always to travel the entire US using only blue roads (which should say something about how old I am; how many people nowadays even know what those are?); that may not be entirely practical with a 33-36' 5W, but that doesn't mean that we'll be on the interstates all the time either! I learned to love travelling back roads: I don't think that there is a better way to get a feel for the area than going through small towns, finding the out of the way treasures that won't ever show up on the big list of tourist attractions. It can be a bit of a gamble in hidden little restaurants, but for every upset stomach with a door on it, there are more that are so good you wonder why anyone in town even eats at home!

I know it seems like a long way off right now, but one thing I have learned over the years is that time goes by much faster than you thought it would; what you were waiting and waiting for can come up on you before you're actually ready!