Live in an Rv ? … all the time? … don’t have a house? You betcha! We are currently staying in an unusual part of the campground… we are in the cabin section… no Rv’s… just cabins. So all the people that we meet near the Rv are not “Campers or Rvers”. Since they have never been exposed to Rv’s other than to see them going down the road or seeing them on the campground… it all seems unusual to them to know that we live in our Rv… fulltime, year round, all the time. When we tell them how we retired, sold the house, got the Rv of our dreams, and travel where ever we care to go… where ever the wind blows us… they are first amazed… and then see how happy we are enjoying our freedom. Guess there’s just something inherent about total freedom to travel. Our several months of “vacation” each year peaks their interest too. But Rving fulltime isn’t the same as vacationing. Vacation is a time to generally let loose of the purse strings, eat out 3 times a day… everyday, spend lots of money doing fun things, buy lots of souvenirs, and after a week or two, return to home and work… and take the next 50 weeks to pay for the two week adventure. Fulltime Rving is more like any other day to day life except that we can move around, follow the good weather, live places for extended times that others can only visit for a week or two, go to new places, meet new people, do new things. Speaking of moving around, it’s also nice to following the weather… it’s so nice to have a winter home in the south, a summer home in the mountains, a resort home at the beach, a vacation home at Disney, a get a way place near the lake, and all the joys and freedom of travel while taking everything with you without packing or unpacking! Just about everyone we meet goes… wow… what a great lifestyle… wish we could do that! I retired at 49½… or at least semi retired. We still usually work about 6 months a year, sometime full time, sometime part time… and usually play the other 6 months. When we do work we have two main jobs. One - doing activities in campgrounds and Rv Resorts… where we plan and play with the big kids and the little one’s… mostly play. It’s kinda like the song… “money for nothing and my kick’s for fee”. Okay… I know, it’s “chicks” for free… but I have to say “kicks” … married! And it’s not all completely play, a lot of time and effort goes into planning and doing all those fun things! Oh… and Two – we usually spend part of our working year as Seasonal Cast Members at Disney World in Florida. That’s when people usually go… “Oh My God”… all this and work at Disney too… can you adopt me? I wanta go with you! The constraints of a “normal” life… same house, same job, same place, same routine, day after day, week after week, year after year… well, its security, but it’s not freedom. I basically saw the job, house, and all the related work and house expenses of both as more or less boring, routine, and being somewhat of a slave to the whole thing. 70% of my income and 70% of my time went to support the house, utilities, and taxes, and the expenses of working. Everything has a price… give up some freedoms to have the security of a same job, same place to live, same people… the same routine day after day… well, it’s the “norm”… we choose to exchange some of that security for a bit more freedom… and go where ever we choose… whenever we choose. 30 years of the conventional work and house routine, well… it was enough for me. Rving gives us freedom. Most jobs are generally not good paying, but then again, expenses are greatly reduced too. While working in campgrounds doing activities we get a free place to stay, plus free electric, water, internet, cable tv, laundry, perks and discounts while still getting paid for the hours we work. When we stay near Disney, we have 2 membership campgrounds there… pay the yearly dues, stay as much as we like between the two resorts, and this past winter, our seven months stay averaged out to less than $30 a week for rv site, utilities, and use of amenities. $120 a month to stay in the vacation capital of the world. So freedom can be less than you thought. So there’s a bit of insight for those not having been exposed to the Rv lifestyle. Not that there is anything wrong with the “normal” job and house…it just wasn’t for me anymore… found a better way to live. And… No… we aren’t planning to adopt anyone so don’t get your hopes up. Our 40 foot Fifth Wheel Coach only sleeps two! … and maybe a grand daughter when we can. So if you have a dream of something different… see it, plan it, and go for it. It may not be perfect, but it certainly better than what we left behind. Wagons Hoh! Maybe we’ll catch you around the next bend in the road. Happy Trails!
