What do full timers do to NOT become bored with the life style? I have lurked here for a couple years and read the Fulltime and RV Life Style posts because it is our goal as we count down the years to full timing.
I realize the time we have left (6 years) before we can start might seem like an eternity. When our time comes I will be 55 and receive a full pension and DW will be 62. Both children will have graduated college 2 years prior to that time.
So as DW and I talk about seeing the USA and spending time at its sites etc this, the question always comes up what else do we do?
So I want to ask that here. What does a full time RV’er do day to day not to become bored and regret the life style change or throw in the towel?
NOTE: from reading on here we know we have to get out of the “vacation mind set” where you run do everything fast then leave. We also have been slowly parting with stuff. But like I said the question always comes up what else do we do?
I read your post a couple times. I guess my response is to ask you a question - If you were to decide to NOT fulltime when you retire, what will you do to not become bored at your house?
We visit friends more than we would if we were still in a house. We have made more friends than we would have if we were still in a house. We spend more time with extended family. We have taken the grandkids to places we would never have been able to if we still had a house to support.
Dave & Kathy
2007 Monaco Knight 40PDQ towing 2003 Odyssey
Fulltime since October 2007
Before you give someone a piece of your mind, make sure you can get by with what will be left.
When my husband and I decided to retire early (mid 50's) and go full time, we started a "prospective journal" of things we would do each day. We set some fitness goals so that we would do brisk morning walks each place we visited, got a bike rack and do bicycling to explore places and, my most fun activity, kayaking. Those go on top of the truck (we have a 5th wheel). My husband has taken up fishing from his kayak - quite an adventure as sometimes they really give him a ride when he hooks one. I built a web page - just for the fun of it and taught myself HTML and CSS.
We spend a good deal of time in Mexico, so we study Spanish via some DVDs and online courses and then go out to the market and practice it.
I made sure to have room for my sewing machine and craft supplies for making cards. When we are in one place for a while, I sew doll clothes for my nieces, activity books for the little ones, and even recover cushions or do some design work. We also both have Kindles and have enjoyed spending time reading all those great books we never had time for before. There are a host of free eBooks you can download so once you make an investment in the Kindle, the ongoing cost is really manageable.
We have not been bored at all - in fact, I wonder how we managed to have time to work.
We didn't want to be sitting in our RV all day watching TV - so we intentionally didn't get one for the first year. Now that we do have a TV, we don't have a satellite or anything because we don't want to become couch potatoes. We watch movies via NetFlix in the evening sometimes - but not very often because we're too busy doing other things.
For someone looking at retiring and going full time, I would highly recommend making a prospective journal ahead of time. When you start packing your RV, whip that out and make sure you have whatever gear or supplies you need to enjoy the things you wrote down in your journal.
You'll have a great time!
P.S. I forgot to mention that we do volunteer work where we can - and that can be really rewarding also.
Read "Don't Retire, Rewire"...it sets you on a path of understanding what "drives" you now and helps you transition into some parallel drivers when no longer in an employment setting....really an excellent read...
The biggest difference between happy and unhappy... bored or not bored...is having a PURPOSE. The reason to get into a full-timers lifestyle is to have more time for your Purpose. Whatever it is or whatever they are.
Sight seeing...
Visiting family...
Being able to volunteer..move and volunteer somewhere else.
If you have never volunteered anywhere... you are missing out...because that's where the 'feeling appreciated' comes in. That's almost as important as having a purpose.
We divide our year between USFS, BLM and Hard Hats for Christ.
I do some prospecting for gold, ride my ATV on trails in Arizona, New Mexico,California,Utah and Eastern Oregon, do a little coyote hunting in some of those states, visit various Rifle and Pistol Ranges, do a little fishing, the list just goes on and on.
Also I boondock most of the time so I am not stuck in an "old folks home with rv's".
Kevin
* This post was
edited 05/07/12 09:42am by Happy Prospector *
Kevin
Retired, Fulltime RV'er
1999.5 F350 4X4 CC Diesel Flatbed
2007 Alpenlite Defender Toyhauler
2007 Yamaha Grizzly 700 (Green-It's your Daddy)
One Tough Kitty Named Bob
Start a bucket list of all your dreams, lists of friends & family, geneological research, join in on rv rallys or volunteer for charity.See that hard pressed young man over there building a home for his burgeoning family? Give a hand, he did not wait for some charity to build it for him. He may have room for you to park while you are at it.
Do whatever does now or has piqued your interest. then go to it without schedule or time clock. You will find new interests along the way.
Transition from the 8-5 career and family home to life on wheels is not for everyone. You have to make it up as you go.
I full time and still work in sales/sales management along the east coast. Move about every week or two supporting regional offices in the east. 1 year, 1 month, and 23 days to go until that "Hallelujha Breakdown" where I can do what I want to do, when I want to do it! But who's counting?
Aside from spending time with family and grand kids, I'm looking forward to revisiting some places I've already been and really see those areas. And of course, there are so many places left to discover.
I have no idea what we do every , that isn't important to us. The first thing you have to realize is that once you are retired, you don't have to live your life by the clock. We get up when we wake up. We have breakfast, maybe sit outside and have coffee and read our email, then we have something we do that day - maybe golf, maybe geocaching, maybe it is grocery day, maybe a museum, maybe it is "utility" day and we need to check the batteries, empty tanks, clean windows, vacumn, etc., maybe it is read a good book and take a nap day, maybe it is something else. Whatever, we always leave an area with things to see when we are in the area again, and a few things lined up to do at the next stop. If it is raining, then maybe we do a museum day, read a book, do the laundry, etc.
If you look upon this as an opportunity to learn about different areas, different people, etc., then you'll never be bored. But you have to decide what it is that your interested in doing - - and they will probably be some of the same things that you would do if you were retired living in a S&B in your current town - just doing them in a different setting.
BTW - reading the blogs of people who post on rv forums is one way of seeing the wide variety of different ways that people fulltime.
Barb
Barb & Dave O'Keeffe - full-timing since 2006 Traveling catpanion Shadow (age 15) Figment II (2002 Alpine 36 MDDS) Mischief (2004 Subaru Forester Toad) FMCA - F337834, SKP #90761 Our Blog
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