OUR ROAD TO FULLTIMING
November 1, 1999 - THE BEGINNING
The date that finally put us on the road to our fulltiming adventure is October 30, 1999. We spoke with our "financial advisor" at Solomon-Smith-Barney, and he confirmed what I already knew. Ron needed to see it in black and white plus he needed to hear it from a qualified financial person. The target date for retirement is July 1, 2000, which is Ron's 32 year anniversary date at AlliedSignal (now Honeywell); however, we are NOT holding this as absolute because we know that various obstacles can arise in the process. As the advisor told us, with the stock and another retirement account invested, plus the monthly pension, we can easily have $2500 per month or even $3000 per month that we will need for our adventure on the road.*(See below) Whatever we gain from selling our house, our van, our present truck and trailer, and any other sundry items will go toward the down payment on our "dream" rig---a Travel Supreme fifth wheel and a medium duty truck.
So how did we get to this point? Fulltiming has been my dream for many years, probably from the day that I knew that an RV existed. I've always enjoyed traveling and experiencing new and different places. I guess that I have a severe case of "wanderlust" or maybe just a "gypsy in my soul". Convincing Ron to go fulltiming took a bit of time and persuasion because his biggest concern was not having a home base, which I understood. So, we struck a compromise, of sorts. We knew that we would sell our house because we did not want to stay in So. Cal. We also knew that we would eventually like to have "that special place"---a piece of property, in the country, with a small house. So we agreed to fulltime, exploring this wonderful country, in order to find "that special place".
We then attended the Pomona RV show in October 1998, and once he saw the Travel Supreme, hereafter referred to as TS, he admitted that he could live in one of them. He started asking just a few questions about fulltiming and all the different aspects of the lifesyle. He then consented to joining the Escapees and attending the Spring Escapade in Chico during April 1999. I also kept him informed of fulltiming progress of my email friend, Sue Ann. We met many new friends, both fulltimers and "wannabes", at the Escapade, and I have kept him up-to-date on all their activities. We began talking about "what if's" and "how to do's" and any subjects leading to fulltiming. Before he left for Salinas in July to visit his mother, he challenged me to find out what it would cost to fulltime. That's all I needed!
Right now, our biggest obstacle is the downsizing. For the last couple of years, we've been saying that we need to get rid of all the excess "stuff". However, just talking about it can be so very overwhelming. We have 2318 square foot house with four bedrooms and 3 baths plus a bonus room, not to mention a three-car garage that hasn't seen a car in seven years!
*May 2002---The final figure was substantially lower because of the stock market. We are, however, doing just fine, although we are definitely going to find some type of employment. This might be contract work for Ron or a volunteer position for both of us.
January 25, 2000 THE DOWNSIZING BEGINS February 6, 2000 RECEIPTS AND TAX RETURNS March 12, 2000 THE FIRST "DENT" April 27, 2000 DUMPSTERS, DOCTORS, AND TRUCKS May 24, 2000 OUR TRUCK DECISION July 2, 2000 BITS AND PIECES July 21, 2000 MEDICAL CONCERNS July 27, 2000 STEPS TO A FULLTIMING BUDGET August 8, 2000 OUR TRUCK DELIVERY SAGA September 15, 2000 AN UPDATE ON OUR PROGRESS October 2, 2000 SIX WEEKS TO GO!!! October 15, 2000 MORE HURDLES CONQUERED November 14, 2000 ALMOST THERE!!! December 21, 2000 ELKHART.....FINALLY!!! December 21, 2000 LET THE COMEDY BEGIN!!!