Hi Everyone. Well, after 15 years the RV-Dreams Community Forum is coming to an end. Since it began in August 2005, we've had 58 Million page views, 124,000 posts, and we've spent about $15,000 to keep this valuable resource for RVers free and open. But since we are now off the road and have settled down for the next chapter of our lives, we are taking the Forum down effective June 30, 2021. It has been a tough decision, but it is now time.
We want to thank all of our members for their participation and input over the years, and we want to especially thank those that have acted as Moderators for us during our amazing journey living and traveling in our RV and growing the RV-Dreams Family. We will be forever proud to have been founders of this Forum and to have been supported by such a wonderful community. Thank you all!!
Husband and I are going to make the jump, hopefully this summer. House goes on market in next couple weeks once the work and decluttering is done!! Feeling overwhelmed, I am still working so things get done on weekends and nights, go to bed exhausted. I think this is more work than I had anticipated, someone reassure me that this is normal!!! lol No fear of going full time, just getting everything done correctly is biggest worry. Looking forward to getting some good advice from everyone! Holding my breath that the house will sell quickly.
We "seriously" started sorting, deleting, throwing, donating majorly in January (got hit by nasty flu so out of commission for about 2 weeks), and we've only just completed Upper and Main Floors (3000sq ft) all repainted baseboards, doors/trims and walls, and staircase down to basement. So it's taken us 3 months to just get this far but "everything on two levels" has been totally gutted, painted and thoroughly cleaned in preparation.
Finally started on the basement Furnace/Storage room yesterday = looks like a bomb gone off down there with dragging stuff out and working through untold boxes of stored for too many years client files initially.
Tired = absolutely. Drained = moreso than anything. Frustrated = on how long this whole process is taking Worried = about everything initially but not any more.
it's all a process, that everyone goes through just over different time frames of acceptance. We just can't wait to get this albatross off our backs so to speak, and personally, whilst everything related to Real Estate built our net worth and retirement = buying and selling homes/land, building many properties, renovating businesses, developing, construction etc, "right now" we feel very strongly we never want to own any fixed Real Estate ever again.
So for sure Cindy you are not alone in your feelings, but the sense of achievement after each floor got completed was wonderful in-between. Once I got over the emotional side of relocating "stuff" that were heirlooms, memories of my childhood, parents, grandparents etc, it's got much easier. At the end of the day it truly is all just "stuff". Nonetheless it was "my" stuff LOL.
OK enough time here, gotta get back to the boxes upon boxes in the basement ..........
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Breathtaking Alberta. Her Mountains Draw You But Her People Bring You Back
Wecome to the forum Cindy. You have come to the right place, great people here always willing to help with little judgement.
We are about 1 year ahead of you.
We hit the road full time last May. Boy the 6-12 months before that was a real ride, the anxiety and second guessing was all there and went by in a flash.
The Purge was the hardest, but we got though it and now almost 10 months later we really miss nothing and in fact felt a big load come off our back as all the day to day house stuff went away.
We always keep in mind that this is just a new adventure and we have been good at just going with the flow.
Any time we get nervous about something we just come back to the forum and get support from all these wonderful people who have already gone though all of this.
Keep in mind everybody does this fulltime thing different, you just need to work through what will work for you.
Good luck and try to relax and enjoy the journey
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Bob C
The fulltime Dream begins, class of 2016
2016 Dodge Ram 5500 HD Classy Chassis hauler bed/air ride
Thank you Someday and Bob C for the advice and encouragement! I don't want to wish my life away but I sure wish I was through this and sitting in my MH in the sunshine right now! Lol I will press on and take it one day at a time and one day I hope to be a resource to someone else going through this!
Feeling reassured 😊
Husband and I are going to make the jump, hopefully this summer. House goes on market in next couple weeks once the work and decluttering is done!! Feeling overwhelmed, I am still working so things get done on weekends and nights, go to bed exhausted. I think this is more work than I had anticipated, someone reassure me that this is normal!!! lol No fear of going full time, just getting everything done correctly is biggest worry. Looking forward to getting some good advice from everyone! Holding my breath that the house will sell quickly.
For what it's worth this is totally normal. I had loads of anxiety, especially near the end when everything was moving really fast. Some people sell in three days, others (like us) take months. Either way can be challenging. The quick sell requires a flurry of activity. A longer sell means more time to prepare, but the waiting is brutal. For me, looking back, this time period was the absolute worst part and was absolutely full of emotion. No matter how much you want to full-time there is loss in uprooting your life. Simple things like you favorite hair dresser or favorite Chinese place can be a real bummer and that doesn't even come close to saying goodbye to family and friends.
Like any major life change, there is stress. It's also somewhat messy and I guarantee you there will be some things that slip through the cracks. That's totally ok, but as a planner I did find making a checklist was super helpful.
Good luck to you and from those of us who have been there we feel your pain :)
I would just echo what has been said so far. It is EXHAUSTING both physically and emotionally, but it is completely doable. Take comfort that many others have done it before you and if they can do it, so can you. One step at a time ... it'll happen. Good Luck. Stay strong!
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Ron and Janice
2016 Ford F350, King Ranch, DRW, 4x4, CC, 6.7 PS Diesel, remote control air lift system
2017 Durango Gold 381REF, Lambright furniture, MCD shades, morRYDE IS, 8K Disc brakes, GY G114 LR H Tires, 27,320 lbs CGVW
We just went through the transition of selling our condo and moving into our fifth wheel full-time. I can say that it was exhausting and at times sent me on an emotional roller coaster. We are adjusting to our cozy home on wheels, with many more decisions swirling through our heads about our future. It is exciting to dream about where the road may take us, adventures we will have, and new friends we will encounter along the way. Hang in there, there will be light at the end of the tunnel and I have faith the best is yet to come! It will happen for you, stay focused on the goal.
"Feeling overwhelmed, I am still working so things get done on weekends and nights, go to bed exhausted. I think this is more work than I had anticipated,"
Slow down. Relax. Enjoy this transition.
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Winnebago TT 2101DS & 2020 Silverado LTZ Z71. 300 watts WindyNation solar w/MPPT, 2 Trojan T-125s. TALL flag pole. Prefer USFS, COE, BLM, USF&WS, NPS, TVA, state/county camps. 14 year Army vet-11B40 then 11A - old MOS 1542 & 1560.
I picked up on your line, "just getting everything done correctly is biggest worry." Rest assured there is no correct - or incorrect - way to prepare for this transition and ensuing life on the road. Each step will present itself as you move along. We started planning 18 months ago; it took six months (that felt like six years) to sell our house for way less than we'd hoped, in a depressed market, but in the end we had to decide what was more important: hanging on to an idea we had of how things SHOULD go, or accepting what life threw our way so we could get started living the life of which we'd been dreaming for over a year.
Which brings us to today: few belongings (which will need to be pared down further yet), a trailer just brought him from storage, and 2.5 months left in our jobs before we can say 'Hello summer, and goodbye old way of life!' We plan to hit the road late fall this year, just over two years after coming up with this crazy, wonderful scheme in the first place.
Long way of saying, hang in there, stay true to your dreams, and all will come to pass before you can believe it! Hope to meet you on the road someday :)
