A Freezing Sunny Friday

It was really quite boring and I didn't do a damn thing today. I spent a lot of time online reading, took a mid day nap for three hours, more internet, a dog walk that was too cold and some photos taken in the afternoon ... nice light.








Heidi's skin looks the best it has been in a long time ... she still needs a bath.

Last day for Winston's antibiotics. He doesn't seem to be in any pain after losing two more teeth. He is also not leaving any signs of blood in his drinking water.

You can tell it's winter though. Very dark early in the morning. I sure don't miss driving to work that early but at the time it seemed normal. After the hounds come back inside Stella and Sadie have decided that blanket on the bed I use for a sheet is warm. Since Stella has decided this is her home ... she and Sadie go to the bed after they eat for a nap the rest of the morning on the cold days.

I take off the down comforter every morning in case the hounds decide the bed is the place to sleep. i don't need to come in and find a destroyed down comforter and feathers all over the place.

Heidi takes over the living room chair and Winston heads for the couch.

I am getting more and more emails asking either for "invite" to read the blog or that they miss seeing the hounds and reading about them. Even one reader mentioned she missed reading about "the tropics".

It will be a great thing to look back and read ten years from now or even longer. Much like looking through an old photo album that I have never kept.

Here are some hound photos from this after noon, 38° and felt much colder.

I am seriously considering making the blog public again even if some of the photos are a little gross.

I Saw The Bad Side of the Economy Today

This post fits more into the "Retirement" side of my blog. It would just graze the edge of the "RV" side of the blog.

By helping a friend today, someone I worked with just a few months ago, I saw for the first time the bad side of the economy in the USA. It's the economy that some say has recovered and everything is great and then there is the side where those people cannot see the light at the end of a dark dark tunnel.

In some news media over the past few years you might have read how the majority of working couples are really just a payday away from disaster. This is based on no savings, living payday to payday, a family to support plus a mortgage. Well, this is kinda like one of those stories.

In this case there was no mortgage lost, but a single mother supporting two boys below the age of 7. Due to some recent contract awards while working for the government as a government contractor, her parent company lost the contract after five years of support, when it came due for new bidding. The new contractor chose not to make an offer to her to keep her job. It is common the new company will make an offer when there is a change in government contracts.

In this case a couple of things have played against her. Those are somewhat private and something I will not discuss here, since I do have some ex coworkers that read this blog on occasion.

Without a job offer to her, to keep her job, what it did was move her and her two boys from a very nice large house that was rented, eliminated a very substantial salary to nothing and a situation where the job market is tight enough in the local area that after a month of job searching she has found herself unemployed. She is also out of money and her unemployment does not start until the week of September 21, 2014. That unemployment payment will be less than half of her salary of a month ago. How many of us could afford to take a 60% pay cut or more?

When I heard the news from a mutual friend the other day, I contacted her to see if she was ok and if there was anything I could do to help. Since I have been out of circulation by being retired, I was not aware of job opportunities as I normally would be. So there was nothing I could do there to help her in finding a job except let her know she could use me as a reference.

What she asked for and told me was the most stressful for her right now was a very surprising answer. It was an answer that showed me just how bad this friend was hurting, withdrawing and not asking for help from any of her friends. She had just moved from that large nice rental house to a small 3 room, not 3 bedroom but a 3 room apartment, where the cost of rent was the deciding factor. This was one of those older large houses that was turned into multiple apartments mostly to attract the rental market of college students years ago, but not now. The house was in good shape, a neighborhood that had remodeled older houses for blocks and blocks ... a nice area to live.

Luckily she had a ground floor apartment, with a nice front porch and yard overlooking a part of the college town and a small backyard and patio but not the type of yard where the two boys could play and burn off some energy. The rooms were good size but with the two young boys the rooms had to be reconfigured to fit them. The bedroom and the living room were reversed to give them the bigger room as a bedroom.

Back to her surprising answer and a look at a Catch-22 when things are not going your way in life.

When I asked if there was anything I could do to help her, she paused and then in almost a whisper ... "I need someone to haul my trash away".

I was somewhat confused by that answer. I was expecting to be asked for a loan, maybe buy some groceries, or fill her car up with gas but no. She said her most stressful thing right now was getting the trash hauled away.

The trash in this case were boxes of stuff she had moved but had no room for. It was things she had not sold on Craig's List or eBay. It was really just stuff you throw away. I thought I knew the answer, but asked her why couldn't she just leave it where it was in back for the weekly trash pickup. Of course one was money, she could not afford that kind of expense but the other reason was .... even though she had bagged a lot of it in large heavy duty black trash bags, the city had their own trash system where their containers had to be used. Also those containers were color coded where the trash was separated as if you were recycling. Those containers also cost extra on top of the pickup fee. I had expected the cost being a reason but not the container requirement.

The stack of empty boxes plus some filled with things not worth giving away were covering the small patio right up to the back door of the apartment. Out by the alley was a stack of large moving boxes and the large black heavy duty bags filled with more stuff not worth giving away. Only the stack by the alley had been sitting there for a month and had been in a couple of heavy thunderstorms. It was not a good situation. The boxes were soggy, the bags had puddles of water on them.

Long story short, in two different trips I was able to fill my Toyota FJ and haul everything away. The empty boxes were broken down and taken to recycling. The bagged trash will go out with my weekly pickup and the large boxes full of junk were burned ... the burning process just finished before the thunderstorm that passed through early this evening.

So the economics side of this story is, she is doesn't have a job, doesn't have enough money to last until September 21, with two young sons to feed. She also needs to buy gas to get to job interviews if she she is called. She has interviewed a few times but I'm sure here past salary keeps her from an offer. She has many resume's out for jobs in a market that will be hard to get a job, especially without a college degree.

I know from personal experience twenty years ago, college graduates some with master degrees are willing to work for less money just to stay in the area. Some have a spouse still finishing a degree, some are graduate degrees. It's a tough market to crack when looking for a job and it's even harder without a college degree ... if you expect to make the amount of salary she was making.

The two unspoken factors will prevent her from being hired in her old department, even though it has been requested she be hired numerous times by different managers, according to her.

Yes, she could have saved more or even some of her salary. The majority of baby boomers nationwide have not saved since life itself does become expensive raising a family, especially as a single parent. She was one of those that never suspected she would ever lose her job, although I mentioned to her last summer about being financially prepared in case the large contract was not renewed. These companies are Fortune 500 companies that work that bid on contracts to support government activities. That environment has naturally changed for everyone with the changes in the last year of worldwide military support and available funding released from D.C.

She was kind of caught in the 'perfect storm' of government work, and now finds herself in a bad situation.

Today was an experience I didn't ever want to witness, especially to a friend with young children.

As far as the RV side of the blog I mentioned, this situation reminded me of some of the blogs I had read over the years where families or even single people had moved into an RV and started the lifestyle due to a loss of job, loss of house due to job loss or storm damages. It also reminded me of just how fragile retirement living is for some based on living on a shoestring budget. Who knows how high the cost of energy, the cost of groceries and medical coverage will be within the next 5 and 10 year periods, let alone gas/diesel prices. Will their retirement incomes keep up with inflation?

I wonder what percent of the millions of RV travelers only do it for economic reasons?

The Momentum Train Comes to a Screeching Halt

All that momentum from my last post a few weeks ago, came to a screeching halt soon after that post. I'm not sure if it slowed as the temperatures dropped to below zero as a daily high ... but the thrill and anticipation is gone!

A few times over the life of this blog I have had these urges to sell everything and hit the road. All those beautiful blog pictures of where people were traveling ... could be me and the hounds.

So what's the problem?  Why did I pull up the For Sale sign numerous times last summer?

At the start of this month I was in the final stages of downsizing. Plans to retire and plans to leave by this spring, full-timing for at least 18 months so I could miss Indiana's winter next year. The thing is, as I moved from room to room, things that were left I did not want to sell or give away. What books I had left, I didn't want to sell or donate to the local library. I didn't want to sell my new "road" bicycle I bought last spring, nor my custom made all campy racing bike of the 80's. Add the music collection, from vinyl records to cd's or the sports memorabilia collection ... I just didn't feel like packing those away to storage while I traveled, sell or donate them.

To find out if I had a 'true' burning desire to travel or was it the blogs I read daily that kept that 'hitch itch' alive .... I moved all of my RV bookmarks from the Google Chrome bookmarks bar back with all the other 1,000 bookmarks. I moved my blog off the bookmarks bar, so I didn't see it, nor the list of blogs I read daily along the left side. I quit reading blogs, rv forums, rvs for sale...anything rv.

I let go of all the thoughts trying to make a decision. Didn't think about it.

My mind changed as fast as my weather changed. Last Saturday I am shoveling snow and ice with a windchill temp of 17 degrees and as I write this it is 64 degrees with a Tornado Watch warning until 10pm tonight.

When I stopped looking in on the RV world my thought process started showing me what a nice house I lived in, how I may not like the area at times but the location was great not only for me but the hounds. They have 10 acres of hay to put their noses to the ground and sniff all they want ... without a leash. It's paid for with a very low tax base. My year round electric bill is $129 per month, adjusted annually in May based on previous year burn rate. I have lakes, woods and camping nearby.

So I decided this house finally would became my base camp.

The time I drove the '94 pickup through the snow drift and went for a ride just for a change, I didn't want to get rid of it. Same with the Mini Cooper. They don't get driven daily but when I want to, they are there when needed. I didn't want to sell either vehicle when I tried to type the for sale ad.

I started finding out that I did not have a burning desire to pack up and travel. I am glad I found that out before I sold out.

I had more of a desire to ride the bicycle when the temps rise and the weather breaks in about a month. I had more of a desire to fix some things that a brutal winter does to a house rather than dumping tanks, taking navy showers and picking up after a bloodhound and two bassets that can lay 'land mines' bigger than I want to pick up in a plastic bag. The urge for solitude was there but I have that opportunity on any spring, summer or fall night in the backyard of my house looking at a sky full of stars.

I realized I didn't have to spend all day in the dusty desert to read a book, I could read here or down by a local lake with few if any people around.

I started thinking about RVing 6 months and living here 6 months. I felt good with that decision. I could trade highs of 7 degrees and snow for 75 degrees and sand, wind and mountains even if it dropped to the 40's at night. I starting thinking maybe of leaving in November and coming back in April. Then if I had the urge to continue, I'd keep driving down the road. If I had the urge to get back to long hot showers, room to stretch out with three hounds and a place that is paid for to hang out ... I could do that.

So that is where I stand as of today or these past 7 days. It's ok if I want to stay where I'm at. It's ok if I want to RV on weekends this spring and summer or take a week trip somewhere. Who knows, those trips might change my plans.

It's good for me and good for my hounds living here. We have our laid back routines. My mind is no longer racing 500 mph anymore. No fighting with myself on what to do. Maybe the blogs and feel good stories of full-timing is/was more of a desire than what was inside me.

Everything is good.

Snow Flies and Plans Moving Forward

The brutal storm in the Midwest is to arrive today. So far its only been rain/snow mix with the temps to drop around 4pm and then the snow will fly and by Monday our high temp is predicted to be MINUS 8. Looks like a lot of snow and ice by tomorrow morning. Borrego Springs comes to mind when I see that temperature forecast.

I have finally moved out of my "winter blahs", hibernating mood and am fully charged and excited to get back on track for my departure in May 2014.  That date will be here before I know it. Thanks to the downsizing I did last summer I am not that far away of being able to pack what little stuff I want to keep for the future when I decide to settle. Sports memorabilia, books and some music that I would rather not sell or give away will be stored somewhere until I decide where the settling spot is.

I've been following all the blogs on my blog roll daily this winter but kinda tuned out all the informative forums, RVs for sale sites while I hibernated. After all the information I have read and collected these past two years, I seem to have forgotten some of it so I'll start doing a little review of rving fulltime. During this time I will also start packing the Coachmen and will have a better idea of what to take or get rid of.

As it stands, I'll leave in May 2014. The house will be empty and a realtor will show it for sale. I may tow my H3 Hummer since that can be towed wheels down and is a 4x4. I will sell the old Chevy Pickup and my Mini Cooper. All of these different plans/options have been tossed around for years and every time there is one plan that consistently shows back up ... the one I am going to follow in May.

Things change, places change over time and after 17 years this March I find it is time to move on. I just didn't enjoy living here this past year for various reasons that I will not discuss here but some things can't be changed for the better. It is the longest period of time I have ever lived in one place in my life. All ranging from the beach in Carlsbad CA, to Whidbey Island WA, Breckenridge CO and back to the Midwest, the land of humid muggy summers and freezing winters.

It's time to move.

I have a few places in mind but will find the place during my travels. This traveling itch has never gone away and I know if I don't get out on the road now (May 2014), that traveling thought will linger in the back walls of my mind for the rest of my life and continue to bother me.

So, I have 5 short months to go back through each room and discard or load things into the Class C (no name yet) and 5 short months to prepare the house for showing.

I know time is moving so fast that May will be here before I know it.

I can't wait to hit the road!!

The 2003 Coachmen Freedom 258db Is The Rig I Need

This past week while thinking about future plans, there is always one plan that consistantly shows up the most.  That plan is leaving this spring 2014, with plans of traveling probably until the spring of 2015 at a minimum. In that plan I would keep my house as a base camp, I would sell my H3 Hummer and my Mini Cooper S to reduce the cost of insurance and licenses. I would keep my 1994 Chevy 2500 pickup for local travel during the short times I would be back in Indiana. A few years ago I only had the 1994 Chevy Pickup as my only vehicle and it worked out great.

I also thought of some of the emails I had received and comments posted, after I had blogged about putting the rig up for sale after a month of ownership. I also thought back to the reasons I bought the Coachmen and why it was the perfect rig for me to start traveling in.  Everything I needed was contained, without towing anything. It runs great, has all that I need and seems quite large when comparing to tent camping or towing a smaller trailer.

During that time I wondered "what would you buy if it did sell unexpectedly" ? I had been looking at rigs for almost two years at the time I bought this one. So how would I improve what I already had, and really how much improvement would there be if I were to buy a bigger rig? I had already gone through a million questions over the past two years, and had come close to buying three different trailers and a Class A just in the past eight months. So really I had to ask myself, why am I selling a rig that gives me everything I had looked for?

There is plenty of room for the hounds and I when the weather turns bad. We have spent enough time where it is parked to know there is enough room for all of us after the sun goes down. All three hounds have already picked out their sleeping spots, with plenty of room to walk around.

So, how much better could it get?

I'm trying to simplify things instead of continuing to buy and buy and buy.  It's hard but I am making progress toward that goal.

I can leave sooner than this spring if I sell my H3 Hummer and my Mini Cooper.

The confirmed model year difference, the oil line repair within two weeks after purchase, doesn't change my plans nor my opinion about the rig. There is no damage inside, every thing works and it runs great.

So, the rig that I bought is the one I am keeping.

What Makes a Person Want to Sell Everything They Own?

What makes someone have the urge to sell everything they own and hit the road full-time with only tent camping experience? Is it boredom? A need for change? Curiosity? Adventure?

I don't have the answer but I know the urge has hit me numerous times over the past two years.

Prior to my discovery of Glenn's story in October 2011 and my starting date to even think about RVing, I was planning on retiring in the same time frame (May 2014) but had no plans of selling my house or toys. I was into bicycling, have great areas to ride those bikes, lived near the town where I attended college (IU) that is a great town. I was content and happy. No confusion on what to do, no second thoughts, the path was smooth and on schedule.

2013 Giant Defy II

1984 Custom Made Romic 

Then a boring Friday at work, I tuned into Yahoo Business and there is Glenn on the front page with a sub-headline on how he was living on less than $1,000 per month traveling full-time. Not making less than $1,000 per month in income but living on the road on less than $1,000 per month. While reading the article I flashed back to a summer during college where I rode a bicycle cross country and up the pacific coast, remembering how much I enjoyed that trip. Or the the short time I lived in my VW bus in southern California on the beach while working 2nd shift. I took showers at the gym in the mornings after playing racquetball and then heading for a different beach in San Diego county that night after work. With no rent, electric bills, water bills etc....it was a great way to live.

So the travel and simple lifestyle started to scramble my brain cells. I went home that weekend and read Glenn's blog from the start date to current date. That led me to other blogs of people traveling and living full-time in RVs, trailers, Vans or Truck Campers. I read blogs all weekend late into the night or early morning. I was obsessed.

By the end of the weekend, my plans of a smooth retirement, no thoughts of selling anything and traveling when I wanted ... were gone!! All I could think about was downsizing, selling everything I had and "escaping" this rut called routine life.

What I needed to do and did, was start researching about this RV lifestyle. I never had the urge to even buy one let alone live in one. The only camping I had done in the past was tent camping, some hiking and snowmobiling in the Cascade Mts and plenty of traveling by car cross country at times from the west coast to Indiana. So I had seen a lot of great land, mountains etc but was always on a schedule needing to be somewhere at a certain time.

Still I knew nothing about RVing.

An old friend had just spent 5 years full-timing in a Class A but was back in Indiana with his MH parked. He sent a additional sites and attachments full of information. When I was sitting at home in a freezing snowing month in Indiana, I would picture the people I had read about on my blog roll and all the great places they were at that was much warmer than where I was.

The more I read about RVing, the stronger the urge would be. Then out of nowhere I would have no interest and would prefer to go back to my original plan of staying put with a little traveling when I had the time.

Then the urge to sell everything and hit the road would hit me with such force, that I downsized, listed the house, the cars, the truck for sale ... numerous times, changing my mind each time not to sell.

Each time I had doubt about selling everything I took that to mean I should keep what I had and try the different RV lifestyle first. I had the same advice from many that did travel full time or did travel full time and returned back to a house and part time travel. Even a few people that had never been a homeowner but traveled full-time suggested I keep what I had, but have an RV/trailer, travel part time or take a year to travel, then decide.

So over the two years since this RV lifestyle was discovered I have downsized and that is good even if I don't travel a mile. I have only what I need in my house and my music collection and books are probably the most I have of any one thing.

My hounds were a factor in this decision and more than a couple of times they probably kept me from packing up everything and hitting the road on impulse. They like to ride, like my current rv but they still have a great situation here with acres of land behind us for their daily walk and their recon missions when they need to work out their hound noses.

This is a place I have lived for 16-1/2 years after spending time in southern California and NW of Seattle on Whidbey Island. Still I have urges to sell everything I own.

So what makes me have these urges, as recently as this past week, of putting everything up for sale and hitting the road?

Indiana Fall - Nothing Going On

Today would be one of those days we would be camped out inside the rig, it looks like the PNW has arrived in southern Indiana today....dark, light constant rain. The coffee is hot, the hounds are back to sleep wrapped up in sleeping bags and a full schedule of college football is planned.

I feel myself slowly migrating to my own winterizing, by hibernating in the house preparing for a winter that is a month to two months away. Another words nothing is going on to blog about, besides a normal daily life. It's the job during the week, a daily dog walk in the afternoon, some reading at night, time on the internet and then to bed with the windows open in mid 40's temps.

This time of year I find perfect in Indiana. The days are sunny, clear and temps in the mid 70's. Can't feel the humidity if there is any. The leaves are turning colors slowly but this year they are a dull color, nothing vibrant, that makes people drive a lot of miles to observe the bright colors.

Last weekend was out of the ordinary for my schedule as I was helping a friend out that had a family emergency. Still besides the rig repair a few weekends ago I find myself having just enough time to finish the odds and ends around the house. It's those typical weekends when you have a job during the week and are a homeowner. There is always something that has to be done, like errands, recycling runs, dog vet trips, yard work, and maybe some preventive maintenance on the house.

The camping urge has seemed to disappeared. Is it time to winterize the rig?

After backing out of buying the Lil Snoozy trailer in September, I mentioned I had no plans to buy a trailer or any rig until I was getting ready to leave in the spring of 2014. I said and thought that because why would I buy a rig in the fall and then have to park it all winter for lack of use? I can only justify my earlier than planned purchase with a few reasons. The rig condition was the best I had seen in the used rigs I had looked at over the past couple of years. It had everything I needed, plenty of room for the hounds and I. It was local (not planned) so that saved me a lot of money in gas driving it home or shipping charges if I were to have bought it out of state. I was able to look through the rig before purchase and make a decision instead of traveling many miles to see it in person.

Those are some of the reasons that keep me from second guessing an earlier than planned purchase.

I must admit, at times I do wonder if I made the right decision in making the purchase earlier than I had planned. At times I feel like selling it. Then I sit inside the rig and think about my plans for the spring of 2014. I have re-inspected every nook and corner inside and out. It always feels good spending time in the rig. The hounds love being inside it, each of them have their own spots now. It feels good when I picture the rig moving down the back highways heading west. When I think of the places I am going to go, pictures of places of the people I follow on the sidebar and some old places I have been to in previous travels ... It's during the times I spend inside the rig that I know I have made the right decision in making a purchase earlier than I had planned.

The rig is in great shape. More than enough storage for just one person, plenty of room for two or three 40# bags of dog food, good size tanks, a TempurPedic mattress to sleep on and enough windows to enjoy the scenery when having to camp inside like we would be doing today.

Even with conflicting urges of hibernation like usual this time of year in the midwest and a slight urge of "hitch itch" .... all is good.  Patience is required right now and that's always a hard thing for me. Next spring can't get here soon enough.

It's great to see all of the movement from the travelers I follow, each going somewhere different based on their needs/urges. I just need to get out there and join them because I would feel a lot better.

Have a great weekend.

Even Where the RV Sits My Options Increase

I was telling a friend today, this past week I have been having thoughts that I had in October 2011 after reading Glenn's story on Yahoo Business page. Of course if I were paying what he was in rent in the Los Angles area I may have had the same thoughts that Glenn had when he started his downsizing.

With the RV sitting here next to the house, it opens up a lot of options and one option that I had not thought about until my friend that is a fulltime traveler, blogger on the side bar and a reader of my blog, brought up a new option. Load the RV as if you were getting ready to leave, then if you are serious about selling your house again, it is empty, move in ready while I live in my RV right outside using house power and house water (if desired).

While driving home from work (no traffic jams), I was thinking also....I had always wondered if I did get rid of everything except what I was wanting to travel with, would that put me on the road without just "trying it".....just going for it full speed ahead. Like a follower has told me more than a few times in his comments ... if it doesn't work out, you can always go back and start over with what you have left.

It also hit me last Sunday afternoon when I returned home from the hounds's shakedown cruise and I am up on the roof cleaning out the gutters as well as seeing some missing shingles from the last high wind/thunderstorm. I remembered how many times in a year I do this exact same thing, clean gutters and repair the roof from high wind storms. During my walk around house inspection I could see things I need to do to the house in preparation for the winter. I realized once again that I am tired of normal house maintenance and yard work.

My spreadsheet analysis even shows that selling out and fulltime to be the best option. That is even a better option than retiring, keeping the house and not RVing.

Could the answer be that obvious?

I have discussed this many times on whether to sell everything or not via emails, blog comments, phone calls, etc. I know that the right decision is what works for me.

House Trucks & Trailers

Once again I recently tried to put this living on the road for any length of time out of my mind. I still read the blog lists but moved all of my bookmarked RV info out of site. Tried convincing myself that I would work until I drop, make more money than I need and keep buying toys as I had the urge. That would surely make me the happiest.

The "itch" to leave it all never disappeared as it never did in past attempts to shove it aside in the past 22 months. This time I also realized a couple of new things. I have been buying "toys" for a long time and I have made more money than I need for a while and I have lived in this low cost of living area for 16+ years .... guess what? All of this was just a rut or routine, little true happiness and different periods of deep depression.

My happiest times were when I was younger of course, traveling cross country to San Diego from Indiana and then up the coast highway to Seattle....all with a tent, sleeping bag and traveling riding a bicycle.  The best summer I ever had. Other times I was happy were the times driving cross country from the west coast to Indiana and back or about 6-7 years ago when I was buying old '60s VW buses online, flying to their location and driving them back...keeping some of them and selling others.....it was the traveling cross country where I was the happiest.

I think there are some pretty obvious answers there ... answers that I should follow.

So I made some decisions.....again, but at least I keep catching myself when I am about to make a purchase recently, ask myself "am I going to need this on the road?" ... that stops the purchase.

As far as the house I have decided a different approach. When people call me to ask about it, in the past they would ask what the price is. This time I am going to tell them to make an appointment to look at it and I am considering all offers!!  With it being paid for, I am willing to take less to move it and that puts me on the road sooner.  Yes, the For Sale sign is back in the yard.

The 1994 Chevy 2500 truck is back on Craig's list and will be on eBay by the weekend. My 2006 Mini Cooper is back for sale on Craig's List and will be on eBay or Cars.com by the weekend. In the meantime I am going to keep the H3 Hummer to tow a small trailer unless feedback from the question I ask below, leans towards a larger trailer.

My question is ... being a "rookie" in pulling camping trailers ... which would be better for me, a smaller trailer to tow and learn the RV lifestyle, towed by my H3 ... or trade for a Tundra or F150 so I can tow a trailer around 21' and 6,000lbs.  Would the bigger trailer be a problem for a trailer towing rookie? My only experience in towing a trailer were the times I moved, driving a Uhaul truck, and towing my car.

I've made these decisions to sell in amongst the best weather we have had for a while, very cool nights, low humidity and highs of 70's during the day.  Everything is green. I feel better selling and leave rather than play it safe and stay in the rut/routine that has engulfed me.

My house has peaked out for me personally and all I see when I think of the future is money spent on house maintenance and house repairs ... neither of those two options thrill me at this point in time of my life. I'm 61. I get more excited when I think of starting my day outside with a cup of coffee, with a great view and no plans unless I want to.

House Not For Sale

The longer the For Sale sign stayed in the yard these past 5 days, the more I did not want to sell it. I decided I could not sell it until I had experience on the road traveling in an RV or trailer to see if that was really what I wanted to do. It will be my base camp in the meantime.

So, I pulled the sign up today.

I am still looking at BigFoot Trailers. I am still looking for a full size 4x4 Truck to trade my H3 for, so I can tow more than 4,500 lbs or 3,500 lbs out west in the mountains. Like neighbors before me, I'll probably leave my house late October/early November, travel through the winters in the SW and then return in April just in time to catch up with yard work and any house stuff. If during my travels I see somewhere I would rather live, then I'll put the house on the market and sell it ready to move in, empty.

I've always liked this house for more than a few reasons.  I guess that is one reason I have stayed here longer than any other place I have ever lived ... SoCal, Whidbey Is, Breckenridge. I also noted comments by bloggers I follow that would say they enjoy having a base camp and with my base camp paid for, extremely low property taxes, low water and electric bills, it just makes it easier to keep.

As much as I want to be a full-timer, I will never know if that is a fit for me and my dogs until I am doing it. Until I know for sure that I want to travel full-time after experiencing real time miles on the road, I cannot sell it.

Back to Looking at RVs and Trailers While Working on the Blog

As some of you may see, I've been spending time trying to get my blog back to the way it was before I deactivated it.  I guess some things on Blogger have changed in the past couple of months. It wanted to load my nonexistent Google +1 profile into the blog but just found how to fix that problem a few minutes ago and was able to change my profile back to my Blogger Profile.

When you look to the left you will see I have lost my link to people that follow this blog. I know the 'why', its because my domain name is not active and does not redirect to this blog address now being used -- www.bhounds.blogspot.com

I'm pretty computer literate but after searching all over the internet I cannot find a way to change the settings to "Friends Connect", which was what it was before I left in March 31, 2013.

So I am asking anyone that is reading this, how can I change my URL like it is asking me to do, so the faces and links of my followers are back to showing up on my blog.

While doing this I have been taking time out to look at RVs for sale, trailers for sale, jobs listings on Workcamper and finding new blogs with good information.

Like a friend told me tonight, "its all about whether or not you really want to do it - if not, any excuse works. dogs are easy to rv with, rving itself is no big deal to learn."

I didn't have any doubts when I started this RV research in October 2011 and as time went on I found more and more excuses to keep me from making a decision.

Has anyone else done the same thing when they were deciding to full-time or part-time on the road?

My Mind is a Constant Journey

As you recall sometime in late March, I was a "test drive" away from buying a Class A, great condition, very low mileage and local. The night before I decided I didn't want something that large and was planning on going back to my original plan of a SUV and a Trailer, even with the hounds.

I am really not sure what happened in my mind that is in constant motion and I do mean constant, never slows down. I woke up around March 31 and decided a whole new idea of no RVing, keep the house, keep the job (misery) and travel when I want using this small house that is paid off as my base camp. Yet that traveling and camping would be with an H3 and a tent....no trailer, no rv.

Instead of keeping the blog open and not posting, I decided instead of keeping followers hanging, that I would just delete the blog since I had decided not to rv in any form or fashion. I even had doubts that I would even camp when I traveled. So, I deleted the blog, domain name and got as far away from the thought of rving as possible.

It may have been the weather, maybe information I was reading from blogs I followed, but it seemed that more and more people on the road were moving back into sticks and bricks, or downsizing their rigs and/or not traveling at all. The funny thing is I started to figure out and dwell on the amount of water I would have to carry with me for me and my hounds drinking water. It seemed to be an astronomical amount of water, where I would probably have to go to town more often to get water for all of us more frequently than going to town to get food for myself.

So, I proceeded to push the thoughts of rving full-time, part-time, anytime out of my mind. I didn't look at rvs, trailers, etc. I DID keep reading the blogs I follow and I did think back to the reasons I had when I started to research about traveling and living full-time on the road. As these two months away moved forward and myself being in a "normal" routine, through 5 days at home due to the government sequestration and government contractors, plus the recent 3 day weekend .... I realized I still did not want what I have nor live where I live. I could look at my routine while home away from work and realized there was no way I could do that day after day being retired.

I realized with my mind constantly changing, what could be more perfect than a situation where I could pack things up and move to a different location every two weeks or every month or whenever. That was one of my original reasons to research about living full-time on the road.

Yes, I could keep this house as a base camp but at the same time to keep the house and yard maintained that is additional expense. To rent it out and pay to store my personal stuff, that is added expense. If I were traveling I don't believe I would want to keep the house in the back of my mind, wondering if it was ok, no storm damages, no theft, etc.

I started thinking of selling everything I own, house included and leave at the time of the sale closing. I have nothing holding me to having to live in this area.

My spreadsheet analysis has 4 different options, each listing expenses and income....of the 4 options, the one with the largest net income per month is selling the house and rving full-time.

Do the numbers and my gut feeling add up to the correct decision?

Nothing New Except the Morning Temps

As you see on the left side of this post, I follow a few blogs of others either snow-birding, RVing fulltime and a few that camp when they can get time. I follow more than what is listed to the left in Google Reader, so I do have a wide range of travelers and a wide range of ideas and thoughts.

Still, I remember to remember that each of us has their own situation in doing what we do.

Over the past month I have had time to think of what a typical day in retirement would look like if I chose to stay here in this house on a fulltime basis. A couple of days off during the week plus weekends gave me a glance into the future and one that turned out quite boring. I had thoughts asking myself "is this what you really want to do?" when I decide to retire and stay in this location? When imagining doing what the people do that I read daily about I asked myself the same question "is this what you really want to do?" I saw more positive images and thought "yes" to that question about traveling.

That thought process led me to take a look at the way I am always changing my mind more than I like in making this decision. Add in the comments on this blog, the stories of others in their blogs, the few private emails I receive about what to do and it keeps me in the mode of not making a decision.

I realized over the past 13 months since this urge of RVing fulltime hit me, my mind consistently changed with the change of seasons, situations at work and/or when I was just plain bored. Tired of the same routine that I and others in the workforce follow.

So really the answer is in all of this analysis I have been going through, I will not know until I just do it. Seems simple.

I have decided instead of jumping in 100% feet first by selling everything and hitting the road with my hounds and just the bare necessities and figuring it out as I go ... That I will keep my house, continue to downsize, buy a trailer and hit the road.

The date to hit the road is still undetermined but the search for a travel trailer is on as well as buying the things I will need to be off the grid in my travels.

I do know that the temps (20's) I wake up to and drive to work in makes it so tempting to buy something soon and leave but I don't feel like I am fully prepared to make that move yet.

Through my reading I am seeing more pulling off the road and staying in one spot longer. Are the fuel prices this past summer a factor? I know that fuel cost are very flexible and can be controlled by the amount of movement from one camp site to another. I have no doubt that I will be more of a boondocker than a traveling tourist.

In my case when comparing the 2 options of keeping the house and traveling or selling the house and traveling, my NET monthly expenditures are within $200-$300 of each other. Not a big difference. In either case I already have my tow vehicle.

As one friend told me "you only need shelter".

At This Point in Time

I survived my grueling hours of watching college football yesterday. My favorite team lost as usual but they made it exciting after coming back from being down 27-0. During all of this viewing, the thought of "bordem" floated through and I wondered if I watch that many hours because there is nothing else to do in the area I live, and what would I be doing if I were in a different location....like on the road.

In today's tv land, and I am not a big time tv watcher, I could (can) watch a ballgame live anywhere I have an internet connection on my iPhone or iPad or iMac. That opens up a lot of possibilities. Yet, I remember a few years back when the NFL was on strike and games were not being played, I spent every Sunday (weather permitting) outside doing something. I did not miss the games as much as I thought I would.

So maybe the massive amounts of time I spend watching ballgames is more about my location, being bored at times, except when my favorite team is playing.

How does all of this rambling tie in with RVing full-time?

I found out yesterday (again) while watching too many hours of football, that I would rather be parked out in the "boonies" somewhere, outside enjoying the environment around me rather than being inside vegging out on the couch watching football. The thought of sitting in the dark night around a campfire, in a jacket for cooler temps, sounds much more enjoyable than sitting inside a house bored.

So as the title of my post says today ... At This Point in Time ... I prefer the Truck/SUV and a small trailer combination. Right now, and I know it could change in the future, but right now I need to get as far off the grid as possible and for as long as possible. I can do that best with a 4x4 and small trailer.

That desire of being off the grid and the blogs/pictures I read/see on a daily basis, keeps my desire strong for selling all I have an hit the road full-time.

Back To The Original Plan

Back in October 2011 when I read an article on Yahoo Business page about Glen living full-time in his van, that led me to blogs of people doing this full-time in all different kinds of vehicles. I have followed a lot of those blogs since that time, learning a ton of information about the RV lifestyle on the road.

After my blog post last night, thoughts started literally bombarding my mind. Clear thoughts, a lot of thoughts....to the point I wondered if I should go back and delete that post because of all the indecision I had written about. A couple of things struck me as quite clear.

1.  What was my original plan back in October 2011?
2.  What caused all my excitement to the point of an obsession?
3.  WHY ... yes, why was I wanting to do this?

When I answered those three questions, I had my clear plan once again and my "to do list" was out visibly so I could check the items off and get closer to a departure date. Like anything else, when you stray from a plan, confusion, indecision and 2nd guessing come into play.

All of the answers to those 3 questions were applicable 10 months later.

So, with it being a cool sunny morning here in the "tropics" of Southern Indiana, I am having one more cup of coffee then hitting my list of things to do and back to my downsizing expedition.

The Snowball is Starting to Pick Up Speed

Amazing how after a period of time of indecision, things start falling into place or different bits of information are found and different opportunities / ideas start revealing themselves.

In the past couple of days I have been able to release some things mentally that have been holding me up/back from rv'ing full time. It's been only 9 months since I read about the guy on Yahoo business page living in a Chinook. Then finding more and more blogs to follow and finding out just how many people of all ages are living full time on the road. Thus this urge to RV fulltime for the first time in my life practically took over my life in October 2011 and I was spending every waking moment to learn how and what it took to RV full time.

I tried a couple of times to "push it away" by ignoring my feelings, justifying how I liked my job, house and soon to be mortgage free. Then trying to not even think about it....but after a few weeks the feeling of RVing would come back and I'd start reading my blog list, looking at RV's etc and the urge was just as strong as it was in October 2011 when it was an obsession.

Now that I have "cleared" those mental blocks I have had, that prevented me of moving forward I can feel a ton of action by me is right around the corner. I have a few thing I want to do before I put my house on the market, nothing that 2 or 3 weekends won't take care of. I've been downsizing a little here and there and there is note much left to do in that department.

I have decided I am going to buy an older RV for cash, one that is top of the line for the features yet within my budget and cut my expenses bare (have already did that in my current living situation). I know what type of boondocking I want to do and which RV will be too big and which rv will be the right vehicle.

So that search for the right rv is on 100% right now.

The house will be painted inside and a couple minor wood repairs will be fixed, so the For Sale sign will be in the front yard within the next 4 weeks if not sooner.

I will give my 2-3 week notice at the time my house sells. (I think it will sell quick).  If there is a longer time to sell, like I said before I will leave and rent the place out  while its sitting for sale. I do have a person wanting to rent it by September if it doesn't sell.

This blog post really got me thinking hard this morning after spending most of the week at work thinking and wondering about the same stuff.

I'm outta here!!

Took a Break and I'm Back

Has it been 6 weeks since my last post?  Hard to believe and just shows me how fast time is moving.

First of all, nothing exciting to report as far as RVing purchase or traveling, yet. I did have some progress though in the form of plans and a couple of answers to lingering questions.

I don't think my absence was intentional but about the time I started to ride my bicycle again to get in shape plus I missed an old hobby of mine, was about the same time I stopped not only posting on this blog but also stopped reading my blog list or any information about RVing.

A couple of weekends in June were used to help my dad out. We drove 3 hours to pick up a car he had bought off of eBay. He's 83, so I thought it might be an adventure with the trip back in his "new" car. We made the 3-1/2 hour trip home with no problems, other than he making it home on fumes because he was reading the wrong gauge for the fuel. Close call....LOL

The third weekend in June we both headed back up to the town I grew up in and the school my dad taught and coached at for the annual "basketball" reunion. These men played high school basketball from 1961 - 1969, myself included and many interesting stories were traded that afternoon. My close friend in high school has a 36' Winnebago Southwind that he full timed in for 3-5 years mostly in the SW. He has been telling me about the Workcamper News and sending me listings that he thinks might interest me.

After talking that afternoon a little about RVing, I could tell on the drive home, the "feeling" to full-time was coming back and also showing me a way I could tie in my bicycling (road bike) with RVing full time. Still I spent a few weeks staying away from any RV news/info.

I've always wondered since October of 2011 if this RV itch is real with me or just another one of my ideas that come and go. I left the subject some last spring and the itch didn't go  away.

July 4th weekend I drove over to a local state park to meet up with an old friend of mine and his wife in their 36' Monaco. They were returning to their home in Florida after visiting his parents in Indiana. It gave me a chance not only for a great visit, good food and some cold beer in that 104 degree heat that day ... but also talk RV's. Through the years as his family grew, this couple had experienced RVing from a pop-top camper, to a Class C, a trailer and now their 2nd Class A. He had a real good idea what they liked, what worked and what didn't for what I am wanting to do.

That day also proved to me that I MUST be able to follow the weather. This heat in the Midwest is not fun in any type of homes, SB's or RV's.

Before I left that day, we made plans for me to fly down to their house in Tampa and go to Lazy Days to look at RV's and possibly make the purchase. He recommended buying from there, no matter where I live...that their program was great for a RV "rookie". So it will be in the Feb/Mar time frame, when he thought prices would be the best and there is a large RV show in the area during that time period.

I saw a lot advantages of the Class A, that day. It was a 2008 model, in great shape and had a lot of things I would want in an RV.

Still, even today I can still see myself in something smaller, even with the 3 hounds. The indecision NEVER STOPS!!! when it comes to what type to buy.

I have also found out these last 6 weeks that my house will be easy to rent if I want to keep it for a while to see if RVing is for me and may be just as easy to sell, if I chose to go that route. I have someone wanting to rent my house now, her lease is up in September. I am leaning more to the selling side rather than the renting side. I believe that once I got back out west, where I lived for over 25 years, I would not want to live where I do presently even with no mortgage.

So that's it....still progressing toward my future RV plans.

Did any of the fires give you problems for those readers that are RVing out west?

I'm headed over to my blog list and spend the rest of the day catching up with what all of you have been doing.

Thanks for reading!

I Could be Boondocking on BLM Land

Instead of boondocking, I slept later than normal today in my house and then started washing my car soon after getting up, with no other plans. Car washing was NOT on any list of things to do today. With the temps in the 60's, a slight breeze and some sun ... washing the car led to waxing the car, which led to cleaning the inside of the car which was already clean. Go figure.

The car looks great ... still, I could have spent the day, kicking back in the silence of BLM land out west with no one around except the 3 hounds, clear blue skies and nice sunshine. Maybe hiking the local area. Then with enough solar power stored to run my TV satellite dish I could watch a baseball game tonight if I wanted or I could just spend more time sitting outside with a fire enjoying the evening.

As it stands now, that is all wishful thinking because I have a house to "unclutter" tomorrow, a corner of my gutter to clean to keep the rain going down the spout instead of over the side of the gutter and a refrigerator to defrost in hopes of fixing the current minor problem it has.

A day of house related maintenance. Not my favorite thing to spend time on.

As I read all the blogs on my list, people I keep up with and their travels, my mind wanders even more than normal today. All had great pictures of places they are, most are finished with any RV maintenance I have read about the past few months. The ONE thought that keeps me thinking .... ALL of them that are RVing full or part-time, can wake up in the morning, change their scenery and by sundown have a different view entirely when they are looking outside their window or sitting by a fire.

Where I will wake up Monday morning like all my Monday mornings dragging myself back to work.

My spreadsheet analysis of my monthly revenue and expenditures tell the real story. It looks like I really only work to earn income just to preform house maintenance, yard maintenance, pay for my house and car insurance, buy dog food, some clothes and a very little entertainment. My biggest expense?  Gas going to and from work, only a 25 mile round trip commute.

On the road I know I would end up doing something online to generate income, or maybe workcamp if I found a job in a great location because that is just the way I am "wired'. I have to be doing something. Maybe not all 12 months but at least part of the year. I have worked full-time online before but the niche I was in changed drastically after 4 years, so I went back to work instead of finding something else to do online to generate income. So online income is always a possibility if needed.

I guess what I am trying to say is, my spreadsheet of monthly expenses shows me that I have enough monthly pension right now to live on full-time RVing ... without a job...without this house.

I read something tonight on someone else blog, where it was stated on a forum something to the effect ... even if your house is paid for there is always money spent for upkeep, maintenance, unexpected repairs, insurance, yard maintenance.

So is that what I am really working for right now?  Just to pay my house off (I'm very close) ... just so I can put more money into it in the future to keep it in good shape ... instead of waking up tomorrow and changing my scenery because I feel the need to move somewhere else or see the next great mountain or canyon while I am boondocking out west on BLM land "enjoying the good life" as John says.

Hot and Muggy in the Midwest

I survived this past weekend of extremely hot temps and a little humidity here in the midwest. Most of the time during the heat, my mind wandered to the BLM land of mountains, sunshine and cool temps of the western states. 

From the last post, I did finish the small landscaping job of redoing my flower beds and upgrading a couple of others. Took me a weekend and a couple days after work, so that was completed before the weekend. Not what I could call enjoyable but looks nice.

I have a couple of new people interested in buying my house, but they are not sure about my small town. Basically all I have to do is let them know it's for sale. For me, that seems like a hard trigger to pull. I'm not sure why because I have sold my Z4 sports car, my Toyota 4Runner, gave away a lot of clothes and appliances that I no longer used or wanted. I am basically down to just the bare essentials and even some of that can be either stored or sold when I decide to leave.

Maintaining a home is more work now, whereas years ago it was fun ... something I enjoyed. That is a sure sign to me that I need to sell and change location. I don't mind the hot weather but not a fan of the humidity. I know I would enjoy living back out west, warm in the winter and up in the mountains or northern states in the summer. I have lived in Washington, Colorado, California in the past and have traveled through most of the states by car, bicycle or train. Really have no desire to go east of Indiana nor south.

I am meeting up with a friend and his wife July  4th weekend that has a 36' Class A Monaco. It will be a short visit but an informative one. Steve and I went grew up together. They have a couple of years before he retires and they RV full-time, but they do a lot of traveling in their Monaco and through the years have used every type of camper/motorhome there is as far as types and classes.

Needless to say, we have discussed a lot of RV information over the phone. 

That is about all I can update.  I read my blog list daily, have learned a lot from them, enjoy your great pictures of where you have been or where you are at. Yes, I have the urge to leave.

Even the RV maintenance stories from the blogs I read are quite interesting. Yet, I have two maintenance things possibly on the horizon ... a fridge is acting weird and central air conditioning screaming for a new unit.

So ... "it's a money pit" seems appropriate for both homes on land or on wheels.

After A Day of Yard Work

I did some things yesterday that I would put under "house maintenance", that I would not be doing if I were RVing full-time. I am sitting here, almost 9am, feeling the heat building from the outside ... wondering if I can spend another day working on my latest yard project.

Through a suggestion of a friend a few years ago, I laid River Rock in the flower beds in front of my house, with no border. Yesterday I bought what border was left at the local landscaping biz and had enough to do one section in front of my house.  Wasn't bad, dug out only dirt, inserted the brick borders and covered with Cypress mulch around my Yews I put in last fall.

Now the work begins. I have 25' x 4' of River Rock bed to take out and move to the back side of the house. Then dig out to put in the brick border, level them and dig out dirt from the bed and level that. Put the black material for preventing weeds  (does the stuff ever work) and then cover with more Cypress mulch.

It's going to be 90 today and yesterday 86-88 felt like the end of the world while I worked outside.

At different times of taking breaks, drinking lots of water and even after a 2 hour mid-day nap ... I kept thinking what it would be like if I were boondocking in my Class A RV (not bought yet) and sitting outside with the hounds in a nice mid 70's atmosphere with little humidity. Wondering where I would be this time of year.

Also wondering what I would do when I become bored while RVing.

What do you full-timers do when boredom hits  you while you are on the road?

When I am bored here, I usually hit the local college town (25 miles away), for bookstores, camping stores and my favorite watering hole for the 12" Stromboli sandwich and then cruise back home to the spot outside of a small town, with 15 acres of hay behind me.

What would I do if I were bored while RVing full-time?  Let me know what you do while traveling and boredom hits.

Well, its shade on the west side (front) of the house, so off I go to start my day of more landscaping.

I wouldn't be doing this if I were full-timing already .... would I?   (laughing)