My Mind is Hopping All Over the Place

Found some new answers on an rv forum, looked at more Class C's and A's. Read all the blogs I follow and then did some strange searching.....strange! For some reason I started checking car lots for possible trades with my Camry. I looked at 4-Runners, FJ Cruisers, Hummers H3, Mini's. Then had a very strong urge to go wheel 'n deal tomorrow and come back home with a new vehicle.

Can anyone tell me why??  During this process of getting rid of everything I own, that I would have the urge to go trade vehicles?

I am really not sure how to take that way of thinking. Maybe it happened when a friend sent me a text saying she swore she saw snow flurries 25 miles away.  When I have snow, it is a huge problem getting up my 100' inclined driveway. Maybe that is why I started looking at SUV's. I use to have a 4-Runner and loved it.

I am finding more and more Class A blogs that are boondocking. It is the type of boondocking I would do, so I am thinking that is probably the way I go....Class A. If I didn't have the hounds, that might have changed to a Class C but they are coming with me, so it keeps looking like a Class A is the way to go. I had asked on the forum if I found an older Class A priced about the same as a '06-''09 model but had more features, was in good shape and comparable condition for the similar amounts of money, which should I buy?  Some of these older models have some great features and floor plans but I am somewhat skeptical of buying an RV that is over 12 years old.

Saw some great pictures today from blogs I follow with people out on the road. From the beaches in Florida to the mountains in Utah.

The discussion came up with a friend of mine today about the cost of maintenance of a RV and how they are "money pits". She and her husband had an older one that she admitted they rarely used it but it was still costing them money as it just sat there.  So I took her estimated figure, plus some annual figures for rv maintenance from different blogs of full-timers and divided them by 12 for a monthly cost.  I then took the last two years of my house maintenance (painting, landscaping, and interior repairs, etc) and divided my actual cost by 24 to get a monthly cost for my last two years.  The monthly figures were very very similar, almost scary, they were so close. My house maintenance totals did NOT include the mortgage, taxes and insurance I had paid for my house. In most blogs and forums I have read, I find the maintenance comparison between an rv and a house to be very similar in my case.

Then the age excuse is always brought up, what if I get sick, what if my dogs need a vet. The results would be the same if i were here in a house or full-timing in an rv. I guess I will always have friends, co-workers, etc try to talk me out of this. A few think it is awesome and can "see you doing this", and there are some that think I am totally out of my mind. They seem to have forgotten that I have never really followed the straight and narrow road that is expected in society. That is one reason I have always had a lot of fun.

Well that is all I have for tonight. I have tomorrow off for Veterans day. I want to thank all the vets out there that read this blog,  for your time of service to this great country....old vets and young vets alike.  A big Thank You to all!

I'm going to back to looking at 30'-32' Class A's and maybe longer.  vbg

THE List

It was a productive day at work. I sat down today and wrote down everything I need to do at home before I can leave. Currently that list stands at 19 items. I then made a list of things I would like to add, change or need to take with me on the RV that I buy, before I hit the road. Currently that list stands at 14 items.  Some are easy to get done, others will take time to complete.

How long will the list take to complete?

I spoke of my plan a few days ago but it listed different options.  This is my plan, not my lists.

1. Rent my house
2. Sell 2 cars and an old truck
3. Either sell, donate, and throw away EVERYTHING I don't need to take with me. (with aircraft carrier experience I know how to travel light)
4. When I am CLOSE to leaving, give my 30 day notice at work, I feel that is more than a fair amount of time for my "will be shocked" employer.
5. Keep what savings I have plus what I get from the sales of my cars for an "emergency fund".
6. Live on my military retirement.
7. Load the hounds and hit the road
8. ASAP

How long with that take?  I am not sure, many things on my lists determine my departure....Still, I am thinking no longer than 1 year and most likely sooner, with a goal as soon as possible.

After I am on the road, I am going to have some fun before I even think about workcamping, work with some online ideas (past experience) or what some call "fake jobs". I want to go spend days in places where you cannot hear anything but nature...no noise but nature. Just like I have done in the past 12 years, I will record every penny I make and every penny I spend in my yearly spreadsheets. I have one financial spreadsheet, with a tab for each year and then a tab where I can compare expenditures of the current year to the prior year. I love excel spreadsheets...for everything.  :)

Then after I have some "on the road" data to work with, I will then decided if I am a workcamper or fully retired, with an eye out for volunteer work.

I am going to look for a Class A, 30-32' long, 1 slide minimum, outdoor shower, just to list a couple of things. I don't need to get out in the boonies, I just need to make it down dirt roads and be self contained.

Well, I would post more....but I need to get started on this list !!!

Did You Think I Was Going to Quit?? ... No Way!!!

I am assuming my followers looked at the title of my post last night and thought "oh, he's going to quit before he even starts".   That thought NEVER crossed my mind. What you don't know about me is my mind has always been going , will be going a 1,000 mph all the time. A friend of mine stopped by my work one day while I was answering an email, while talking on the phone and talking to the person standing at my desk....all at the same time. I'm not sure what you call that, but it probably isn't a good thing. Plus, I analyze....too much.

So last nights post was nothing more than me putting some of my mind travel down on paper (blog) for all to see, when I am usually having this discussion with my dogs and expecting them to give me answers.  :)

About the time I think I have it down what I want, I read a new blog, look at their rig, read their story and then start looking at A's or C's again. Today it was a "C" day. Yet, there is just something about putting those sides out and having room in an A. I know C's have slides but still, a lot of room in those A's.  Sadie (bloodhound) would probably enjoy that as would I. The basset's??? They don't really care about much...they are totally laidback, just a good soft blanket, bed or couch, some food, a daily walk and they are good to go. Today Winston (basset) and I took the old pickup to the local "Feed Store' to pick up some dog food. He was a happy camper when I told him he was going to go in the truck, couldn't stop that deep basset barking.

Anyway, back to the subject at hand.

New blogs, new ideas, new rigs, new thoughts, my house, my cars (1  Z4), etc, etc, etc.  You get the picture. My mind going that 1,000 mph, ALL the time. Knowing what I would like to do but not knowing if I should take a gigantic leap or go as planned. (2yrs, 7mos). Local suggestion is to keep the house, keep the Z4, sell the other car, work until May 2014, then hit the road. She says my left side of my brain is running wild right now.

I've looked at the start of blogs that I follow, to see how long it took different people to hit the road full-time after they first had the thought. (I think I'm right on schedule and all of this is normal thinking). How long did they take to by their RV? What was their financial situation, how many repairs have they had on the road, were they shut down, what type of work do they do on the road if any at all. Boondocking, or national forests, rv parks etc.

Yes, same questions I have had the past 3 weeks, but they keep re-appearing. I even fight with myself between a C and an A class RV. Will the A be able to boondock like some people say it will? Will it be more handier for me to have a C even thought it might be smaller inside with 3 hounds?

I know these questions have been asked on this blog before and many have answered either by commenting or by email and I thank you for those comments and suggested links.  They really have been a great help.  In fact all of the info has made me want to full time even more than when I started this blog a few weeks ago.

So, if all of this is not boring to you, hang around and see what happens. Comment when you want and enjoy the humor. I will laugh about these times around a campfire some day, asking myself and others...."What took me so long" ??

A Lot of Thinking

Another normal day of reading RV information, in some cases read for a 2nd and 3rd time. Looked at A's, than back at C's. Ran a lot of numbers through my head, whether to pay cash or finance. Currently my mortgage balance is so low that I am unable to write off what little interest I pay every month. While walking the hounds through the field behind my house, I wondered if it was really fair for the 3 of them to be RVing or keeping their life the way it is. Here is a picture of that field. You can slightly see the path I make while they walk 25' out on retractable leashes.

I did look at C's while I was at work today. I saw some different and good ideas how people used that space above the cab for their large tv's, and computer equipment. I am going to need to arrange for my 46" HD tv, as a sports junkie that would be hard to give up. Computers I use right now is an iPad and an iMac with a large 27" monitor that I think I can make arrangements with some slight modifications (office desk) to keep that monitor. Here is my current set up:

I am pretty set on a A's 30'- 32', and only started looking at C's after reading a blog where a couple had spent 4 years full-time RVing and running their computer business on the road. I really don't think I would use the overhead bunk if I had a C, so any ideas about large tv's and computers are welcomed. On a A I already have some pictures of fitting large screen and my computer set up.

I also thought about this blog. I've gained a lot of good information from comments, emails, suggested links but at the same time it is kind of different for me to go public with my thoughts. Yet, I got this idea to start a blog now and not waiting until I started on my RV trip because most of the blogs I started reading a few weeks ago and currently, all started the same way. I guess in a few years it will be nice to go back and look into these earlier blogs and recall just how many different directions my mind was going.

To all the A owners out there on the road that boondock, what is the smallest road you ever traveled on to get to a great camping spot? To all the C owners out there, how many of you wondered if you should have bought a C after you lived in an A for a while and why?

Why do I ask that? The example is the picture of my computer set up. I spent months researching which iMac to buy or a MacPro or a MacAir. When I decided on a iMac, then it was either the 27" or the 21.5" iMac. Even the day I went to the store to make the purchase I looked at each side by side for over an hour and walked out with the 21.5 Then months later I kept thinking about the 27" I passed up. Instead of selling my 21.5 iMac and boxing it up and shipping it to someone that would have bought it outside of my location, I decided to buy the 27' monitor and plugging it into the iMac as a 2nd monitor. I love having two monitors.

So if I bought a C and was happy with it, would I always be wondering about an A????

This picture was taken last August when the temps were really hot but the hounds were wanting to walk.

The Three Amigos

A Plan Coming Together

After the initial rush of thinking about resigning from my job, buy a RV, pack up and leave ...  a plan is finally starting to develop mentally. This is after 3 solid weeks of reading for hours and hours, asking a lot of questions here and on forums and looking at RV's from a Class C to a Class A. I have not test driven one yet.

#1  What I would like to do, is buy an RV soon, pack up just what I need and take off. That would mean resigning from a job, leaving my house full of my stuff without downsizing. Then come back within the year to downsize my assets, put the house on the market if I decided that full timing was for me. (no doubt it will be). I could live on my savings during this time and I wouldn't mind workcamping part-time.

#2  The best plan is to wait 2 years 7 months until my retire date. During this time downsize all of my assets, buy an RV after test driving with some weekend trips. A training period for me and my hounds. Also the real estate market here is slow but my house could be a fast seller for those wanting to downsize or a starter home. It's priced right and a good location.

#3  Start the action plan NOW with plans to start the journey as soon as my house sells. Start downsizing immediately, furniture, cars, an old truck. Place the house on the market now and then give my 30 day resignation letter at the time my house sells. With May 2014 as being the date I leave even if the house is not sold.

#4  Do the same thing I am doing now, until May 2014. Read, study, enjoy my "virtual" RV trip through the different blogs I read and wish I was doing that right now. Look and look at RV's, take weekend trips with them by renting or make a purchase.

Decisions, decisions....at least to put this plan in motion I think I will start listing things on eBay and Craig's List and start to see some movement. Put a plan with dates together and start checking things off as I go.  I want to turn my important files from paper to pdf files, my cd's to digital, my books to ebooks and my movies to electronic media.  Looks like I have a lot to get started on.

Enjoy your day on the road, it's a beautiful day here in the "tropics" of southern Indiana.

Normal House Maintenance has Hit Me

Wrapping up my coffee, caught up on emails and blogs ... so now its to some of those stiks and bricks things that take time and money. Ill have a good view but not good as some of the RV pics I see on other blogs.  What is it I am doing this morning before my college football addiction starts at noon?  Hanging a new storm door. Oh fun fun. Of course it's Saturday for the hounds and they are already back to sleep for the day.

My Bloodhound Makes Me Wonder about RV's

Guilty

First of all the title does not mean I am thinking about giving up my bloodhound nor my plans of RVing fulltime. All it means Sadie is having "one of those days". Our daily routine is getting home from work, letting them outside (today was beautiful), by the time they are finished dumping their tanks they are use to having their food and water poured and ready for them to eat. They come back in, eat while I check my email. Then about 30 minutes later we take our daily walk through the hayfield and back, usually about 30 minutes. Today must have been heavy rabbit scent because all three went crazy with their noses to the ground pulling me as I held their two retractable leashes. If I would have had been on skis they would have been pulling me across the grass at a pretty good speed. Winston is leashless here but will no problem using a "dually" on one leash with the other basset.

Well today, Sadie the bloodhound seems to have a little cabin fever, she wants out, then wants in. A little obnoxious. Anything from checking to see what's on the counter to eat, trying to get the bassets to play with her and giving every place in the house an inspection with that nose of hers. She is a smaller size bloodhound due to poor breeding I think, yet is she 73lbs and does not know how strong she is. Winston can hold his own, standing 13" high and packing 57lbs. Heidi is just content to hang out on her pile of mexican blankets next to my desk while I am on the computer.

Today was one of those day's that Sadie felt she didn't get enough to eat .... or the food is so good she can't get enough of it.  Not 10 feet away from me while Im on my computer, she is trying to get the lid off the container I keep the dog food in. She HAS BEEN successful before at this and ate so much one night when I didn't know it, I was concerned she was going to bloat. She has been known to slide open closet doors to get to my spare food that is in bags, chew open the bag and make it her own disposable dog dish. So to say the least, she still has a lot of puppy in her at the age of 3.

An hour later both Winston and Sadie find a place to sleep. It is that hour of being obnoxious when I wonder about a Bloodhound / RV mix.  Are they made for one another or will it be a problem? It is usually just that first hour or two after I get home from work where she is pretty active and excited. On weekends when I am around, she is a little different. Based on all three hound's daily schedule, I have no doubt they will work in an RV. The majority of their days, 7 days per week, they love to sleep. The times I am home during the week, they sleep all day, a little food in the afternoon, a walk and they are good to go. Of course it might be different for her since I will not be gone 9 hours per day once I make the transition to the RV.

It's days like these if an RV will be right for the bloodhound. 22 hours per day, laidback and a couch potato, but at times 1 - 2 hours can make you wonder.

There is a good discussion going on about the difference of Class A and C's on the RV Forum, linked to the left side of my blog.  A lot of good information in there from people that have been on the road a long time to the newbie such as myself.

I'm still "feelin" a small Class A (30'-32').

I am planning on next Friday driving up to the Indy area to look at different RVs and hopefully test drive some.

I was thinking today....RVing and Workcamping as an option if I didn't want to wait the 2.6 yrs to go fulltime.  I will spend some time this weekend reading about workcamping. In the meantime I have a bunch of new websites/blogs to read in a few minutes that I find from reading other blogs or ebooks. I have made folders within my "RV Info" folder, to keep any ebooks I like, or blogs or websites that have good reference material.

I think it might be time to start downsizing and just for fun try selling somethings on ebay or Craigs list.  I am familiar with eBay but have never tried Craigs list. I thought Craig's list might be better for selling some desks, chest of drawers, bookcases, mowers, tools .... things I was wanting to get rid of anyway even if I stayed here.

Have a great Friday night where ever you might be.