It's days like these that make me think of RVing full-time. It's just not the weather, currently 24 with a high today of 28 degrees. Being in southern Indiana I will miss most of the storm predicted for the Great Lakes region, still when I think of 28 or 80 as a high temperature for the day.....my mind goes into the wonder mode.
Besides the weather, it is time off from work that makes me start thinking full-time RVing is right for me. I am starting my 3rd day off from work before returning to work tomorrow on the 3rd. I have to admit I have been pretty bored actually and that feeling is about the same with each long weekend I get off work for a holiday. The hounds and I have a walk or two per day, even later today in the snow a walk will take place. I've read some of the new books I bought recently, watched football games yesterday and will today. I also attended a great college basketball game New Year's Eve with IU upsetting #2 Ohio State.
Still I woke up on the 1st with that old 'itch' to hit the road....maybe it is the weather or the new blogs I have found that have me thinking again about the benefits of full-time RVing compared to being retired and staying here full-time. Here the pace is slow, the scenery is nice but there is that 'itch' to take off. If I were retired and living here I am not sure there is enough things to keep me occupied day after day. Traveling will definitely be a part of the plan no matter where I am living.
One of my readers said it best and it has been an idea I have played with back and forth since October. Keep the house, take some trips and see if RVing works with me and my hounds. If I decided that I love RVing and wanted to do it full-time, then rent out my house and it is still here when I decide to come back off the road.
Also something I have always thought of with that plan, from my travels I might find somewhere I would like to live after I stop RVing better than the place I live now.
Last night when looking a new blogs I saw a blogger with the same Toyota 4Runner that I have pulling a 17' Casita. They have traveled up through Canada and up to Alaska. That is a huge difference than buying a 35' Class A diesel pusher isn't it? I like some of the advantages of the Casita set up and every since I bought the 4Runner this past November I have thought of the small trailer - truck combo.
Well enjoy the warm weather. As I set here watching the big snow flurries outside my window, I am going to have another cup of coffee, read some new blogs, look at some RV's - Casita's - Buses for sale as I prepare to watch college football for the rest of the day starting at 1pm.
Life in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana, the high desert of the southwest and back to 'the tropics' with the hounds and dogs.
January 02, 2012
December 31, 2011
Time Flies and So Do My Thoughts
Nothing major to report for the past few weeks. I haven't been doing much of anything but downsizing, throwing out stuff, giving things to goodwill and marking things off my list of to do's before leaving. I can't believe it has been a couple of weeks since my last post.
I am afraid to admit that I have gone back to my "I don't know" mode of thinking. The urge to leave as soon as possible has seemed to have decreased. Maybe that is because I am comfortable in the house I live in, the place I live and all the sports I am enjoying in the area right now. That decrease in my urge to leave and also I am no longer 'obsessed" with constantly looking at blogs and RV's for sale, made me start thinking that maybe my original retirement plans were correct to begin with.
Before this RV idea, my original retirement plans were to keep my house as a 'base camp', it would be paid for, and travel the country for as long as I wanted and when I wanted. I was going to do that in an older VW Camper or now using my Toyota 4Runner in someway. (Tent or Trailer Camping).
Maybe if I did that, sometime during that first year or after a year I would know for sure if I should sell everything and hit the road or just keep the house and be a part-timer in my RV travels.
I am finding as I downsize my possessions I have a resistance to selling my house and hitting the road full-time.
As you may remember, my plan was to boondock as much as possible and using solar was the plan.
The eye opener I guess, I was reading more and more RVer's having maintenance problems to fix. It seemed like every blog I was reading or a forum, people were doing constant maintenance. I started thinking how I never cared to work on my cars even if it was easy stuff, during my times of collecting old VW campers, or my old Chevy pickup truck. The Z and the 4Runner have not had any problems to fix but are new enough that I would take them to the dealership to fix.
Yet, reading about problems with generators, solar wiring, electrical steps, black water tanks, electrical problems etc...made me wonder.
Yes I realize that is part of RVing. I don't know if I want that to be a constant problem in my life full-time.
I'll stop my rambling but here are my current thoughts.
I really don't know what I will decide until I rent a Class C (local) for a weekend camping trip to the State Park nearby. I doubt that will happen until the 2nd week in April. Why then? My college basketball addiction is not over until "March Madness" is over. For those that are basketball fans, they know what I mean. I will also be attending tonight the sold out Assembly Hall (17,900 seats) in Bloomington for the IU vs #2 Ohio State game tonight. Sure, I could see those games on tv in an RV anywhere in the country but one of the reasons I moved back to Indiana from the PNW was to do just what I am doing tonight....going to IU games.
So far in the past few weeks the main thought that keeps coming back is to keep my house, travel when and where I want after I retire in May 2014. Still nothing firm between a Class A or a Class C.
Then other times through all my thoughts, I think of how nice it would be to full-time RV right now.
I am afraid to admit that I have gone back to my "I don't know" mode of thinking. The urge to leave as soon as possible has seemed to have decreased. Maybe that is because I am comfortable in the house I live in, the place I live and all the sports I am enjoying in the area right now. That decrease in my urge to leave and also I am no longer 'obsessed" with constantly looking at blogs and RV's for sale, made me start thinking that maybe my original retirement plans were correct to begin with.
Before this RV idea, my original retirement plans were to keep my house as a 'base camp', it would be paid for, and travel the country for as long as I wanted and when I wanted. I was going to do that in an older VW Camper or now using my Toyota 4Runner in someway. (Tent or Trailer Camping).
Maybe if I did that, sometime during that first year or after a year I would know for sure if I should sell everything and hit the road or just keep the house and be a part-timer in my RV travels.
I am finding as I downsize my possessions I have a resistance to selling my house and hitting the road full-time.
As you may remember, my plan was to boondock as much as possible and using solar was the plan.
The eye opener I guess, I was reading more and more RVer's having maintenance problems to fix. It seemed like every blog I was reading or a forum, people were doing constant maintenance. I started thinking how I never cared to work on my cars even if it was easy stuff, during my times of collecting old VW campers, or my old Chevy pickup truck. The Z and the 4Runner have not had any problems to fix but are new enough that I would take them to the dealership to fix.
Yet, reading about problems with generators, solar wiring, electrical steps, black water tanks, electrical problems etc...made me wonder.
Yes I realize that is part of RVing. I don't know if I want that to be a constant problem in my life full-time.
I'll stop my rambling but here are my current thoughts.
I really don't know what I will decide until I rent a Class C (local) for a weekend camping trip to the State Park nearby. I doubt that will happen until the 2nd week in April. Why then? My college basketball addiction is not over until "March Madness" is over. For those that are basketball fans, they know what I mean. I will also be attending tonight the sold out Assembly Hall (17,900 seats) in Bloomington for the IU vs #2 Ohio State game tonight. Sure, I could see those games on tv in an RV anywhere in the country but one of the reasons I moved back to Indiana from the PNW was to do just what I am doing tonight....going to IU games.
So far in the past few weeks the main thought that keeps coming back is to keep my house, travel when and where I want after I retire in May 2014. Still nothing firm between a Class A or a Class C.
Then other times through all my thoughts, I think of how nice it would be to full-time RV right now.
December 16, 2011
A Slow But Nice Week
I thought I'd drop in and at least write something. Nothing going on to report as far as RV developments. I have decided it is too much trouble to sell some of my stuff online, so I have decided to give to goodwill or some local charities as I downsize my possessions. I do this annually anyway so there is really not that much to do.
My biggest job is converting important paper files to PDF's to store on my computer and external hard drives, along with converting my music to digital from a "zillion" cds and cassettes.
Have I decided exactly what I want to buy? No, I haven't. I have almost ruled out a trailer being towed by my 4Runner. So it's between an A and a C. It would be easy to buy a Class A and tow the 4Runner but there are enough things that I like about a Class C to keep me from making a decision at this time.
It's great weather here in the "tropics" of Southern Indiana, cold at night nice (45's) during the day. I am in the mode of preparing for the holidays, College Football Bowl games along with all of the college basketball games they are now showing on tv.
Reading some of my followers, I see that Don is traveling through the south now and headed for Arizona. Glen is back on the road and found a great place it seems in the panhandle of Florida. Shoeless Joe is battling rain and cool temps at his winter spot in Texas. I haven't seen anything from "4 Windows & a View" since she traded in the 24' Class C for the 40' Class C. I'm interested in how that change in RV's works out for her. Sue and the hounds are boondocking in Arizona in the Casita, she seems to be really enjoying those solar panels she had put on a few weeks ago. "Me and My Dog" is enjoying the winter spot in Quartzsite. I love her pictures and the stories of Katie traveling.
Wandrin' just made an interesting decision about his phone upgrade. I just did that last weekend but unlike him, I could not resist upgrading to an iPhone4. I went from an iPhone 3GS to a 4. Yes, a 4...thought I was getting a 4S, wasn't paying attention and realized it a few days later. I have 2 weeks to return the iPhone if I don't like it but after reading about the difference between the 4 and 4S and what I use mine for, I decided to keep the 4. It's not a big deal and probably more than I need anyway since I have an iPad. The iPhone 4 still has a great camera at 5 pixels.
There are a lot more blogs I read than I talk about in the previous paragraph but those are from the top of my head. I read all of these blogs and love hearing about all of the travels, the pictures and even some of the maintenance problems. I can only learn from that type of information.
For those on the road, I enjoy reading about your experiences and seeing your pictures. As always, be safe out there.
My biggest job is converting important paper files to PDF's to store on my computer and external hard drives, along with converting my music to digital from a "zillion" cds and cassettes.
Have I decided exactly what I want to buy? No, I haven't. I have almost ruled out a trailer being towed by my 4Runner. So it's between an A and a C. It would be easy to buy a Class A and tow the 4Runner but there are enough things that I like about a Class C to keep me from making a decision at this time.
It's great weather here in the "tropics" of Southern Indiana, cold at night nice (45's) during the day. I am in the mode of preparing for the holidays, College Football Bowl games along with all of the college basketball games they are now showing on tv.
Reading some of my followers, I see that Don is traveling through the south now and headed for Arizona. Glen is back on the road and found a great place it seems in the panhandle of Florida. Shoeless Joe is battling rain and cool temps at his winter spot in Texas. I haven't seen anything from "4 Windows & a View" since she traded in the 24' Class C for the 40' Class C. I'm interested in how that change in RV's works out for her. Sue and the hounds are boondocking in Arizona in the Casita, she seems to be really enjoying those solar panels she had put on a few weeks ago. "Me and My Dog" is enjoying the winter spot in Quartzsite. I love her pictures and the stories of Katie traveling.
Wandrin' just made an interesting decision about his phone upgrade. I just did that last weekend but unlike him, I could not resist upgrading to an iPhone4. I went from an iPhone 3GS to a 4. Yes, a 4...thought I was getting a 4S, wasn't paying attention and realized it a few days later. I have 2 weeks to return the iPhone if I don't like it but after reading about the difference between the 4 and 4S and what I use mine for, I decided to keep the 4. It's not a big deal and probably more than I need anyway since I have an iPad. The iPhone 4 still has a great camera at 5 pixels.
There are a lot more blogs I read than I talk about in the previous paragraph but those are from the top of my head. I read all of these blogs and love hearing about all of the travels, the pictures and even some of the maintenance problems. I can only learn from that type of information.
For those on the road, I enjoy reading about your experiences and seeing your pictures. As always, be safe out there.
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