I agree with the compromise direction. It's certainly not fair to you to never be able to at least have a chance at your dream. If you're best friends, you should be able to work out some type compromise where both parties are happy.
Best of luck.
I think sometimes we forget that the freedoms we have are freedoms not because of celebrities. The freedoms are because of ordinary people who did extraordinary things, who loved this country more than life itself.
I feel your pain Stacy and I can relate but you have been given some very good and sound advice by many seasoned RV veterans. DW and I (both retired) have discussed FTing many times but the Stick and Brick and "Stuff" is way too difficult for her to give up. She’s all for doing a 3-4 month stint on the road but has made it very clear that there will always be the nest to come home to. I am happy to say that we are about to (leaving March 21st) embark on a 4 month, 6,000 mile coast to coast venture so we’ll see how that goes. I guess my biggest problem is I want out of California so bad I can’t stand it. Anyway, good luck with which ever way you go.
Why not see if your DW will investigate a new location for a nest. There are so many great places throughout the country that you might be able to see an area that would be a great nesting place to return to time and time again while taking trips from there.
Barb
Barb & Dave - full-timing Traveling catpanion Shadow (age 12) Figment II (2002 Alpine 36 MDDS) Mischief (2004 Subaru Forester Toad) FMCA - F337834, SKP #90761 Our Blog
Personally , I do not see any problem. You state you are financially well off , so to speak. Whats wrong with taking a year or so and testing the water. Keep the land, make a decision when you think it is right.
As for homeschooling, we did ours for their entire life, and I sure wish my kids could face these naysayers eyeball to eyeball. The naysayers are the ones that could get an edcuation out of it.
Chipshot, as a former lifelong So Californian, we hit the road and found there are many more places that are wonderful. We settled four months ago in the mountains of ID. Have some fulltimer friends who will be joining us here this summer.
Get her out and about....there is a whole world out here Much better than So Cal
Dianne
Donnelly, ID
DataStorm
HAM WB6N (Terry)
2010 Ford F350, 4x4 SRW, xcab, longbed (will not be pulling the Teton)
2005 Teton 39' Frontier Grand
Life Member Good Sam
Escapees
Geocache..."RVcachers" RV net Blog
Stacy, there remains another potential problem that I haven't seen mentioned yet (if I missed it, I'm sorry). What if you get on the road with DH, in that experimental year others have suggested, and discover full-timing is everything you dreamed of and more but he becomes more convinced than ever that it isn't for him. This happened to me with my ex-husband. He set aside everything he was involved in to go on the road for my sake. It was a very giving thing to do. I was in 7th heaven when I hit the road. It was everything I'd dreamed of and more. The problem was that I didn't want to go back. When he asked me "Are you done yet?", my reaction was like I'd been asked if I was done living my life yet. He accused me of being selfish, a distinct possibility in retrospect, and the marriage ultimately broke up (there were other problems too).
I tried full-timing as a single gal for 3 years. Ultimately, I found it too isolating. Everyone I made friends with, and I made some wonderful friends, ultimately pulled away at some point. I needed love in my life. Eventually I decided to rent a home where I used to live and "hang up the keys", as the saying goes. I met another man that I'm with now and, unfortunately, it looks like RVing isn't for him either. It's been emotionally trying as I miss my full-time adventures and would love to share that lifestyle with someone. I guess God is asking me what is most important. I just wish that if I was going to end up with people that don't enjoy RVing, God wouldn't have put the desire in me to do it.
Don't know if sharing my story helps you but hoping that you might be able to take something from it. If you are so serious about this that you are thinking of going solo, you sound very determined. Just think about what you are more determined about, having something you feel is important to you, or possibly setting that aside to honor what is important to your spouse. Wouldn't want your situation to turn into an either/or but it could, just so you know.
2003 Hitchhiker II LS 26.5 RL
2002 Ford F-350, 7.3 diesel, 4x4, SRW
I really appreciate your feed back… to the point I have DW read them. I’ve read a number of your posts so I know of what you speak. DW agrees that it is time to get out of CA and during our 4 month trip we intend to keep an eye out for possibilities. I must also admit that it is somewhat disconcerting to pull stakes and make the move but the present location is so demanding of a couple of young (me 62, she 66) retirees. We both want to spend time seeing this beautiful country and we have no doubt we won’t get travel burn out but she still needs the security of a home base. I might also add that RVing is very new to both of us but it is something we have talked about often over the last several years and now is the time to do it while we still have our good health. Because we will be on the road for 4 months, I do have a question for you however. MAIL!!! We do all our banking on line and I have everything set up as reoccurring payments (for static bills) and direct withdrawals for the adjustable (utilities and such). My problem is the incredible amount of incidentals like magazines and “Junk Mail”. How do I handle those items? Would appreciate your feed back.
Chipshot wrote: Because we will be on the road for 4 months, I do have a question for you however. MAIL!!! We do all our banking on line and I have everything set up as reoccurring payments (for static bills) and direct withdrawals for the adjustable (utilities and such). My problem is the incredible amount of incidentals like magazines and “Junk Mail”. How do I handle those items? Would appreciate your feed back.
Chipshot
I'll stick my $.02 in here. There are numerous Mail Forwarding Services available. I'm sure Dianne and others will give you info on Alternative Resources etc., as an option. We chose to join the Escapees Club when we went F/T (14 years ago). They offer a great mail forwarding service and we were able to keep a Texas address. In addition to the mail service, we enjoy the club, their magazine and staying at their parks when in the areas.
Should you decide to utilize a mail forwarding company, I would recommend you do NOT turn in a change of address to the Post Office, rather notify each company/person individually that you want mail sent to your new address. We were notified by the Post Office if you DO send them a change of address, they are then allowed to sell/rent your new address and you will get bookoos of unwanted mail. We rarely get junk mail.
Chipshot, regarding mail....we use Alternative Resources out of Sioux Falls, SD. We did all our "moving" thru them. Very easy, including voter registration. There are other companies as well. Our mail is sent every two weeks to the address we request. An advantage to the service is that little to no junk mail gets thru.
We did as 2 Rovers suggested and changed all addresses individually so nothing was forwarded and it cleaned out the junkmail stuff
As far as a home base, there are many places around the country to establish that, if it is what you want to do. We own an RV lot in So Cal which we bought when we hit the road 9 years ago. It is in the community where the Moms and Dads were. Now that most everyone is gone, we don't need it, so it is on the market.
What drew us to this part of Idaho is a buy-in RV resort. We came to check it out and nearly bought, but that day, while talking with my Mom, she announced that she would be willing to move in with us Our plans instantly changed and we ended up buying a house instead.
What I am getting to is...if you get to this part of the country, there are areas that have lots and acreage where you can put in hookups and have a homebase. You do not have to build a house. It might be worth looking into. It is really only one of a few places left in the country where you can legally do it.
Feel free to contact me regarding any of the above.
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Much better than So Cal 
Our plans instantly changed and we ended up buying a house instead.
