Getting In And Getting Out

I get a lot of e-mails from people who are just getting into the fulltime RV lifestyle and have questions about everything from which state to chose as their legal domicile to what kind of RV is best for them, to which camping clubs, if any, to join.

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One of the most frequent questions is “What do we do with all of our stuff?” Many people give prized family heirlooms to their kids, then have a series of yard sales to sell off the things they are not taking with them. Whatever is left over gets donated to a charity. Some don’t want all of that hassle and simply call in an estate liquidator to take everything away.

But no matter how they go about it, a lot of people complain that they can’t sell certain things for what they had expected to get for them, and some balk at dropping their price. I also hear that a lot from folks who have their house on the market. They tell me, “I want to get what it’s worth, I’m not giving it away.”

Then you may have it forever. Anything is only as valuable as what somebody is willing to pay for it right now. It may have been worth more last month and maybe it will be again next month, but right now it’s only worth what you can sell it for. The difference between what you want and what you can get is the price of freedom to follow your dream. What’s more important to you, getting your price or saying goodbye to the past and embracing the future?

We’ve also seen a lot of fulltimers getting out of the lifestyle over the years, for one reason or another. Some never planned to fulltime for the rest of their lives and once they achieved their personal goals it was time to move on to whatever was next for them. Others hang up the keys due to the loss of their spouse or health problems, because of aging, or family issues. We’ve known a number of fulltime RVers who got off the road to care for elderly parents. I don’t think I’ve ever known any who stopped because they were bored.

There’s an old joke about a couple who were both 100 years old and had been married 83 years when they filed for divorce. They told the judge that they really wanted the marriage to end after the first 20 years, but they decided to wait until all their kids were dead. In our case, we’d have to keep RVing until all our kinfolk die because we don’t want to settle down where any of them live.

We’re just a few weeks shy of starting our 16th year of fulltiming and still loving it. Every so often Terry or I will ask the other if we’re tired of it and ready to stop, but so far the answer has always been no. We really like Titusville, Florida and last winter we looked at a lot in a 55+ park there with the idea that we could spend part of our winters there and travel the rest of the year, and when the time comes to hang up the keys, we’d live in our motorhome or put a park model on it. But we both say that would be the first string that ties us down, and we’re not ready for that yet.

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It’s Thursday, so it’s time to kick off a new Free Drawing. This week’s prize is an audiobook of Rift in the Races , the second book in my friend John Daulton’s Galactic Mage series. To enter, all you have to do is click on this Free Drawing link or the tab at the top of this page and enter your name in the comments section at the bottom of that page (not this one). Only one entry per person per drawing please, and you must enter with your real name. To prevent spam or multiple entries, the names of cartoon or movie characters are not allowed. The winner will be drawn Sunday evening.