Yes... Homeless
It's almost hard to believe... but we have been homeless for twenty years... living in our vehicle. No permanent location... Always on the move. And to the amazement of most, we planned it this way.
No property taxes, no state income taxes, no personal property taxes, no high utility bills, no lawns to cut, and no house maintenance. No same old same old routine. No 9-5 jobs.
A Life on the Road...
The biggest adjustment is not knowing where things are at every new location... But that's the adventure of discovering new places, new things, new people, new restaurants, new places of interest, and a never ending variety of nature... everything from beaches to the mountains... historic places to wonders of nature... and different cultural differences from one area to another. We have lived more in the past twenty years than the first 50 years. Stress free, relaxing, all the joys of life.
How it started. In 1983 we bought a Class C motorhome for vacation and weekend getaway travels. Meeting others that were full time rving, hearing the stories of their adventures... well, it wasn't hard to catch the travel bug.
Why this lifestyle? The obvious reasons of travel & adventures, but the alternative was to work until I was 65, in that same job for 45 years. A financial slave to the house... All is expenses and maintenance... All the time, all the work, all the years passing by doing the same old same old. Plus, I had watched so many people that worked all their lives to reach 65 retirement. Some don't make it that far... And most that made it to 65 were all physically used up. And the sad part... most barely live to 5 years after retirement. So little time to do anything, and physically limited. That didn't sound so appealing... plus, retiring at 49 years old (30 years of employment) the next 16 years from 49 to 65 were going to be the the best years physically, for the rest of my life. Everyone but myself that I worked with, remained in the traditional life. Job, house, and work until they were 65. Some had good reasons with family ties. Most asked me how could I afford to retire at 49. I took the 30 year pension early at a reduced rate... And for 16 years collected my reduced pension of 30 years verses waiting until I was 65, when I could have gotten more pension per month. The upside... I got that early 16 years worth of pension that especially in the early years had more purchasing power than they would compared to the higher pension at 65 (56 yesrs of service)... inflation being as it would. But not even counting inflation, what I lost per month in reduced pension verses the extra income at 65... well, the point where I would overall start to go into the negative was age 86. Plus, given the fact that more then half those that retire at 65 don't live to collect their pension more than 5-10 years.
Then there's the better quality of life from 49-65 verses the quality of life working another 16 years. And the quality of life from 65 on... given the extra 16 years of work. Doing the math, both in financial terms and good health quality of life the decision to retired at 49 was clearly the best choice.
So... How to afford to retire at 49? Full time rving was the best choice. The freedom to go where you want, do what you want, and have the best adventures of you life... Everyday... it was all on the positive side. So after planning our escape for 5 years, we sold the house, bought the RV of our dreams, and drove off into the sunset, taking us to new adventures along the way.
We occasionally worked part time 16 hours a week ( if you want to call it work at all) in RV resorts 3-4 months of the year and travelled and played the rest of the year. Some of the most fun times was working at Disney World as seasonal cast members. 12-16 hours a week. The pay wasn't much... But it got us into all the parks for free anytime, plus 52 free admission passes a year for family and friends.
No property taxes, no state income taxes, no personal property taxes, no high utility bills, no lawns to cut, and no house maintenance. No same old same old routine. No 9-5 jobs.
A Life on the Road...
The biggest adjustment is not knowing where things are at every new location... But that's the adventure of discovering new places, new things, new people, new restaurants, new places of interest, and a never ending variety of nature... everything from beaches to the mountains... historic places to wonders of nature... and different cultural differences from one area to another. We have lived more in the past twenty years than the first 50 years. Stress free, relaxing, all the joys of life.
How it started. In 1983 we bought a Class C motorhome for vacation and weekend getaway travels. Meeting others that were full time rving, hearing the stories of their adventures... well, it wasn't hard to catch the travel bug.
Why this lifestyle? The obvious reasons of travel & adventures, but the alternative was to work until I was 65, in that same job for 45 years. A financial slave to the house... All is expenses and maintenance... All the time, all the work, all the years passing by doing the same old same old. Plus, I had watched so many people that worked all their lives to reach 65 retirement. Some don't make it that far... And most that made it to 65 were all physically used up. And the sad part... most barely live to 5 years after retirement. So little time to do anything, and physically limited. That didn't sound so appealing... plus, retiring at 49 years old (30 years of employment) the next 16 years from 49 to 65 were going to be the the best years physically, for the rest of my life. Everyone but myself that I worked with, remained in the traditional life. Job, house, and work until they were 65. Some had good reasons with family ties. Most asked me how could I afford to retire at 49. I took the 30 year pension early at a reduced rate... And for 16 years collected my reduced pension of 30 years verses waiting until I was 65, when I could have gotten more pension per month. The upside... I got that early 16 years worth of pension that especially in the early years had more purchasing power than they would compared to the higher pension at 65 (56 yesrs of service)... inflation being as it would. But not even counting inflation, what I lost per month in reduced pension verses the extra income at 65... well, the point where I would overall start to go into the negative was age 86. Plus, given the fact that more then half those that retire at 65 don't live to collect their pension more than 5-10 years.
Then there's the better quality of life from 49-65 verses the quality of life working another 16 years. And the quality of life from 65 on... given the extra 16 years of work. Doing the math, both in financial terms and good health quality of life the decision to retired at 49 was clearly the best choice.
So... How to afford to retire at 49? Full time rving was the best choice. The freedom to go where you want, do what you want, and have the best adventures of you life... Everyday... it was all on the positive side. So after planning our escape for 5 years, we sold the house, bought the RV of our dreams, and drove off into the sunset, taking us to new adventures along the way.
We occasionally worked part time 16 hours a week ( if you want to call it work at all) in RV resorts 3-4 months of the year and travelled and played the rest of the year. Some of the most fun times was working at Disney World as seasonal cast members. 12-16 hours a week. The pay wasn't much... But it got us into all the parks for free anytime, plus 52 free admission passes a year for family and friends.
Unfortunately those days at Disney are long gone. They once had 55,000 cast members of which 12,000 were seasonal. Disney basically pushed out nearly all the seasonal cast members in favor of foreign exchange students, H1B foreign visa workers, and a ramped up college program. But it was nice while it lasted. 8 years of being seasonal cast members ... 3-4 months of the year, 12-16 hours a week, gave his us unlimited access to the Disney parks all year long. It was a great time to enjoy Disney.
Full time rving... The best times of our lives. Looking back at all the fun and adventures we had for the 16 years (49-65) verses the alternative of working the 16 years 48 hours a week with most of the income going into the house expenses... The decision was a no brainer. The best decision ever!
Full time rving... The best times of our lives. Looking back at all the fun and adventures we had for the 16 years (49-65) verses the alternative of working the 16 years 48 hours a week with most of the income going into the house expenses... The decision was a no brainer. The best decision ever!
But today... all things considered... rving has changed. We were fortunate to be in the sweet spot for full time rving. We don't travel in the rv as before. We are still homeless... still living in our vehicle... in the rv of our dreams.
