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Full-Timing
Our definition of a full-timer is people that live in some type of RV
and they do not have a house or apartment (stick house).
The RV is our home. There are full-timers living all different types of
lifestyles. Some people live in a RV and work their jobs just as a
person that owns a house. They may not move the RV for extended
periods of time. There are people that work jobs that may take them
to different locations for months at a time and they move wherever the
work is. Several examples or nurses, construction workers, contract
programmers and people that have found they can do their jobs from
anywhere as long as they have access to the internet. Then there are
people like us. We quit work and wander around enjoying the sites
that are out of our windows. The big attraction is that our backyard
view changes whenever we want it to change. We are nomads in
the true sense. I would say gypsy but that has some bad connotations
to it. For a couple to be full-timers they have to reeeaaaallllly LIKE
each other. We are together over 95% of the time. What we have
learned is how to be together but also have our own space. If you
talk to any full-timer you will find that each couple has their own ways
to be apart. Since we are both computer freaks we have found that we
can work on the computer and be 2 ft. from each other but be worlds apart
at the same time. We do quite a bit of walking and enjoying
nature. One of the things we had to learn is that we are not
on vacation. We have learned to have a very general schedule.
We decide where we want to go and when we get there is normally determined
by when do we want to leave where we are. Many times we have planned
to be in an area for a short period of time and stayed for weeks. We
have gotten to an area and been told of a place that may be in a
completely different direction from where we were going and decided to go
there also. Since we don't have a schedule the route we
take will vary every time we start the engine. Where do we stay?
There are many different types of places to stay with prices ranging from
free to over $50 a night. We stay in a mixture of places. We
have mostly stayed in campgrounds but, we have camped in a
National Forest, City Parks and State Parks. Several of the
campgrounds will have fire rings for building campfires. A lot of
people may overnight in a Walmart parking lot or in a rest area. We
have not done that. What we have discovered is we do not need the
places that have the pools and hot tubs. We really don't need the
playgrounds. We like to be in the places that have trees and water
associated with them. It doesn't mean we don't stay in the other
types of parks, we just don't use those facilities. Remember we try
to stay where the weather is cooler than Houston so, the pool water is too
cool for us anyway. We have been in a few of the hot tubs though.
We very seldom make reservations. The only time is on major
summer holidays. We have always found a place to stay with no
problem. We
have gotten into the habit of staying at least 1 week in an area and
exploring around a hundred miles of that spot. If there are a lot of
things to do we will stay longer. Normally, wherever we stay, there
is at least a week of exploring to do. How far do we travel in a
day? We normally drive 2-4 hours when we change camps. There
is no reason to go further. Sometimes we see something on the way
and may stop and see the sites. We did that when we left Billings,
MT. Along our route was the Custer Battle Ground and National
Cemetery. We decided to stop. We were there a little over an
hour and continued on our journey. We have stopped along mountain
streams to just enjoy the serenity of the water. There are normal
things you have to do while living this lifestyle. We have to clean, wash clothes
and do maintenance on the car and RV. Since you're in the outdoors and
traveling all the time things get dirtier faster than a house does.
Keeping things picked up is mandatory in an RV. If you don't you
will trip over something and break your neck. Either that or the
LADY of the house will be unhappy. You know what they say about
that. The one thing you don't have is yard work. Family
and Friends! This is what we miss the most. We keep in contact
via phone and email but, we look forward to going back to Houston and
Dallas and visiting everyone. We meet a lot of people in the
parks. It is very common to meet people in a campground and within a
few days have a friend that you will call and email for a long time. Mail!
Mail is handled through mail forward services or family. In our case
it is both since our daughter owns a shipping store. We have our
packages sent to her and she forwards them to us when we call her and give
her an address. Help is always close by. If you have any
type of problem there is more people that want to help than you can
imagine. It is said, "If you want to meet new friends, raise
you hood on the RV or car. You will have every man in the area
giving you advise.". There is no Class Structure, it seems, among
RV people. You may have a $20,000 RV and be sitting around having
coffee with people that are traveling in a $2,500,000 RV. We all
have the common bond of traveling around with our home. If you are
not the friendly type, don't worry, it won't be long before we will make
you one. The government does not track how many people live this
lifestyle. It is said by the RV industry that probably over 1
million people live this lifestyle. Comments |