Every Day is the Same

{Editor's Note: The trailer in the three photos sold today about two hours after I posted them.}

More and more I am finding each day of the week is basically about the same. As much as I hate to admit it, things are turning into a boring rut again, with very little motivation to make changes. My days are not much more than staying up later, waking up an hour later, reading blogs during my two cups of homemade Starbucks coffee in the morning and then more internet surfing than I intend, the rest of the day.

At times that bothers me.

At times I think of that type of mentality while traveling. What would I do in a location where I would become bored? Would I pack up and get ready to move to a new location? Then spend the time it would take to set up a new site? I sense some of the bloggers I follow are bored based on where they are located, but they never tell you that.

It is said that is one advantage of the RV lifestyle, if you get bored with the scenery, location etc, you just pack up an move somewhere else. That also takes time at both ends of the trip.

Even when I lived in some great areas of the USA, I remember there being times just like these. It's hard to believe you would feel this way living on the beach, Carlsbad Blvd in Carlsbad Calif and feel this way. Or out in the country between Oak Harbor Wa and Coupeville Wa on Whidbey Island, just around the corner from Fort Ebey SP, that I would have feelings of boredom. The few months I lived in Breckenridge Co, was nothing but work and skiing....so there wasn't a lot of boredom.

I have found though, this feeling has increased with aging. I'm not thrilled with it nor am I happy with myself of falling into this daily routine. I know all the standard answers. I know how I have to turn off everything and get started doing something, even anything. I know if I were to start in one room and downsize some more, that would probably get everything in motion again. I could move from room to room. Most of the downsizing has been done, with very little left to downsize. I have become so lazy recently that even the thought of going to buy groceries is an issue.

I have found nothing in my life that is stressful nor anything that is a concern, leading to this feeling. Everything is going smoothly without any problems. So I am not really sure of the lack of activity on my part.

I find it really strange at times, with all I have, all the choices I have and the freedom to do them ... that I would end up feeling this way day after day.

Today I have been looking online at trailers for sale, even the older motorhomes again. I've been reading forums, checking Craig's List and still drying to decide on a couple of trailers I've had my eye on. Still no decisions. I love those big old motorhomes, but I have nowhere to park it when it's not on the road and the fear of it being a money pit.

Trailers are for sale are everywhere. There is not a lot of difference in price compared to location. I have a couple I really like, but still undecided.

I've lost interest in watching MLB baseball, lost that last month or so. I have no interest in the NFL pre-season, even though I consider myself a football fan.

The photographs of people traveling in Washington, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico keep drawing me to traveling. Then I see Winston having trouble getting up two small steps into the house after he gets outside.

Nothing has changed in my RV decisions.

I think I'm going to take a drive in the Mini Cooper, get out of town for a few hours.

Class A's Back in Thoughts

A few weeks ago I started thinking of Class A's and started looking at those again. That was my original RV when I started thinking on what to do. Last summer and fall I took 2 trips to large RV lots just to look at different models to get a feel for what I liked.

I remember and noted in my iPhone notes, that the Class A felt much bigger inside and I liked that. It felt comfortable. Since I am traveling with not only 3 dogs but 1 of those being fairly large (bloodhound), I feel that would be the best option. I could still boondock where I wanted, would have more storage, larger tanks and a larger area to install solar panels. Also I would have more room for the comforts of my life and some addictions ie: large mac monitor, large tv screen for ballgame viewing and room for the hounds to lay on the floor, their normal position most of their days.

I could then possibly tow a 4x4 vehicle and then do some tent camping away from the Class A, which would be my "base camp"....a little backwards from my thinking of driving a 4x4 vehicle and towing a small trailer to get further off the grid.

It may have been watching WheelingIt for the past year and seeing the places they boondock, workcamp etc ... living in a 40'er and towing a 4x4 vehicle.

Yes, if maintenance is needed, I may not be able to stay in the rv while work is being done but many that I read about are able to stay in the lot in their rv. Gas mileage....if I am not towing anything will get about the same mpg as I would if I were driving a SUV towing a trailer and would have less power. Maintenance costs might be higher, but I have some friends that have had zero to little repair work done. Upkeep would be handled by my savings.

Thinking about the Class A option makes me feel better about making a change. It helps to know I would have enough space for me and the hounds, have the ability to stay off the grid a little longer than a small trailer due to the size of tanks and having more than enough storage even if I travel light.

The prices are low right now from what I have seen. I have never stopped looking at Class A's and C's.  I am thinking somewhere between the 32'-35' range in length.

Sitting here in my spare room that has desks, computers, bicycle on a stand, a large inside dog kennel and is not much smaller than the living space of a 17' Casita I keep feeling I need/want something bigger.

I finally feel like I am getting somewhere in the decision making process.

Oh ... the new job?  I can see myself workcamping as an option by next spring or summer....more than staying and working. My days will be nothing more than one meeting after another .... doesn't excite me.

Back to cleaning out more of my stuff, list things on eBay, Craig's List and donate a lot of it to the local goodwill in this small town.

Snow is still around outside but at least today the vision of full-timing is much much clearer.

Class A it will be.

I want to leave now - but I can't

As bad as I want to leave now, the financial numbers and the "to do" list prevent my impulsive, exciting departure.  A HUGE blow to the left side of my brain....HUGE!  On top of this, I haven't bought my RV yet!  Throughout the day at work today I was ready to pack and go. Job stress was not causing this thinking because there isn't any job stress in my life. It was just the continuous thought of living in the pictures I am seeing in the different blogs that I follow. When I make my 12 mile commute every morning through farm lands, trees, hills etc, with the sun coming up I can relate to my past experiences driving down the highway at that time of day while on a trip of some kind and YOU driving your RV or just getting outside at your campground with a cup of coffee as the sun is coming up. I have always loved driving long distance.

So my day started by answering a the few emails I had in my inbox, did about an hour of work, then got online and started looking at different kinds of RV's. Read a few blogs, checked the forums for new posts, then back to looking at RV's. I looked at different National and State Parks I like and know of (ie: San Clemente State Park) and checked for maximum length.  At San Clemente, it was 30ft. Others I checked up through the Pacific Northwest, near Whidbey Island was set up for any length.

Now the day starts getting interesting. A co-worker of mine that kind of lit my RVing flame last spring was at work today. I had not seen him for a few months. I figured he was traveling. We start talking and catching up on our interests when I told him my "new addiction" is RVing.  He asked if I was going to buy one, a 5th wheel or a motorhome. I answer motorhome, probably a Class C, around 30' max so I can get into some of the state parks. He mentioned that he wished he would have known that limit before he spent money on his 40' 5th wheel last spring. He said he did do a lot of research on what manufacturer to buy from but not much more than that.  He is 59 can retire anytime from his previous employer retirement plan but has been waiting for his wife to retire from work in 2 1/2 years. Last spring, they sold their house with plans of living in their 5th wheel until she retires. Which they have been doing. Plus they spent some time this summer traveling and finding out somethings they didn't expect or didn't know about.

He said "there were just a lot of places I wanted to go but couldn't get into because of the length of my 5th wheel.  He has bought space at an RV park in Florida and is thinking of just leaving his 5th wheel down there and live in a smaller RV up here until his wife retires.  (Indiana winters???).  Anyway, the "bomb" hit suddenly in his conversation.

The wife wants to buy a house and stay in the area permanently and RV part time.  Last April it was full-time after selling their "dream home".  I just listened but was surprised. He would prefer to RV full-time. We then started talking about retiring from our work positions instead of waiting. That got me thinking that I needed to take another look at my analysis I have on an Excel spreadsheet and make sure the numbers are good.

So when I got home, finished the daily walk through a 15 acre hay field with my 3 hounds, I sat down and went through my numbers again.  I then made a "no holes barred" pros and cons list.  The list surprised me! I guess I found out that I have a lot of likes living where I do, that I really hadn't paid attention to. This then led me to wonder if I should ever sell the house? When I looked at the numbers....I CAN'T quit today, unless I pay my mortgage off or sell the house. I do have some people interested in buying this house and I believe I could price it right for a quick sell and good profit. That list put a little bug of confusion if I should sell everything or not.

My financial analysis showed it would be best for me to work another 2-1/2 years, instead of retiring now and yes that is a valid option.

So it feels almost like it did the first time I started this RV thinking.....like what to do?  That is somewhat disappointing after the emotional high I spoke of last night. So, I guess it is back to my original plan of taking this next couple of years of downsizing (selling my cars, my house), then picking out an RV. Still, with the economy the way it is, it seems to me it would be a great time to buy the RV now. Then take it out on weekend trips (I rarely take vacations from work) for the next couple of years to "sharpen my RV skills".

My plan LAST YEAR was to keep this house as my base camp and spend most of my time traveling and camping in an old, mint condition, VW camper. With 3 dogs that would change from VW CAMPer to VW CRAMPed.  So that vehicle is a dead issue.

This whole thing is like mental torcher.

So an interesting day.....the RVing co-worker story, my pros and cons list, my number analysis and possibly a dab of doubt wondering if I am making the right choice.

I saw that google visited my blog today, which was kind of cool. It usually takes google 3-5 weeks to show up to "crawl" your blog or site and it took less than a week to pay me a visit. For those that don't understand what I am saying, anytime you have a blog or website, google "spiders" will crawl your space automatically gathering keywords so you can be found in their google search engines when other people type in keywords that can lead them to your site. This is advantageous for those here with an adsense account and make some money with their google advertising on their blog or if they were selling something on a website like I use to do.

After the day I had, I still thought it was pretty nice that google showed up.

Now.....back to looking at of those RV's for sale online !!  (laughing as I open my sales site)