Raleigh, NC
I absolutely cannot believe it has been one year today that we officially became RV full-timers (we left our sticks & bricks home in NJ on June 5th, but were in a state of limbo for the next 20 days while the closing experienced a few obstacles. We closed on June 23rd, and the money was in the bank on the 25th so that we could make the purchase and put our new home on wheels in our name).Naturally, this is a time to be reflective. Do we like this lifestyle? What have we learned?
There are a number of things we love and things we don't love about the lifestyle. The bottom line is that, so far, it seems like a perfect fit for us and we plan to continue. Yes, I would say we're loving it, despite some of the setbacks we've had.
Things we like about the lifestyle:
- A smaller space to clean, no mowing or shoveling snow
- No mortgage, property taxes or utility bills
- The flexibility and freedom to be wherever we want, with a new change of scenery (I like being able to sit outside near a lake or other scenic area with my laptop to work)
- Meeting new friends wherever we go
- Evening campfires and beautiful sunsets
- Not being tied down to location or climates
- Experiencing different cultures, hearing different accents, learning about local history
- Seeing different trees and birds local to each region
- Packing up, driving, parking, unpacking
- Repairs and maintenance
- Campgrounds with tight spaces
- Harder for Mitch to find IT gigs
- Not always easy to find a synagogue to go to
- Bugs
- I have learned to become a lot more flexible, discovering that most plans are made in bubbles. I no longer get totally freaked out when things don't go according to plan.
- There's a lot of stuff we don't know we don't know, so we have to learn as we go.
- We not alone in making "newbie" mistakes. Everyone has been in our shoes at one time or another, although we try to read as much as we can so we don't make the same mistakes.
- This lifestyle is not a full time vacation but it's very important to take some time off to get out to explore the area, even if only for 1/2 a day once a week. There are so many great things to do and see, and it defeats the lifestyle if we just sit at our desks and work full time.
Cheryl's list:
The good stuff:
- St. Augustine
- Myrtle Beach
- Visiting family & friends (Fred & Twila, Mindy, Sharon, Lisa)
- Fishing
- I love living in this castle on wheels; it's a perfect floorplan for us
- Accident when we got stuck in a tight space, requiring fixing the roof and side
- Stuck in Arcadia for almost 2 months while waiting for parts & repair of king pin
- Staying in hotels & Jessica's house for almost 2 months waiting for slide repair
The good stuff:
- Myrtle Beach
- Pecans
- Guy from FAA and his flying machines
- Being in tight quarters with me
- Getting the mail late
- All the repairs
- Missing the family
With all the things you have been thru over the past few months it is good to see you continue to embrace the life style.
ReplyDeleteWith your recent problems it reminds all of us that our rigs are continuously subjected to more shaking than a relatively high magnitude earthquake applies to a S&B house for just a few seconds usually once every few years, if at all.
Happy Anniversary! Each day brings something new and different. Glad you're going to continue and still enjoying your time! Our 1 Year is June 28. Also still love it!!
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