Sunday, September 10, 2017

Things I've Learned During our First Three Months Fulltiming - Pro's and Con's

You've heard the adage, "Time flies when you are having fun." The nice thing about full time living in an RV is that you are truly free to have fun. The only restriction we have is financial.

Pro's

1. The freedom to roam. We can stay in a place as long as we like or, move every day.
2. If your neighbors suck you can move your RV to another site or another state.
3. You have the flexibility to make a reservation for an RV site based on location and activities.
4. Once in awhile you can connect with people that are in the campground. This provides a sense of "community" for me.
5. Monday through Thursdays in a campground is very peaceful.
6. Sightseeing plans can be made to accommodate your personal schedules. We go to bed late and sleep late. Early for us is 8:00 am so, we plan our activities in the afternoons and evening.
7. I can take my time with RV modifications and non-critical repairs because the only people we need to impress is ourselves.
8. If you have things to tick off your bucket list you can stay in an area for as long as it takes to see and experience the things you want to do.
9. Our house travels well. We can pull over to make lunch or use the bathroom and we have a stocked refrigerator and kitchen cabinets.
10. The beauty of nature is overwhelming sometimes.
11. You can go see the National Parks during the off season when there are fewer people.
12. Local festivals and activities can be a lot of fun.
13. Making new friends.
14. I'm learning to relax more.
15. We don't have to pack a bag to travel

Con's

1. Staying in one place as long as you like is a relative term. When you are camping at a State or National park you are normally restricted to fourteen days in any one RV site.
2. Doing all the things you want to do costs more money than my retirement can provide.
3. Getting to know people in the campground can be a mixed bag. Some people you meet are like minded and others you meet you want to keep at a distance.
4. Weekends at campgrounds (especially State and National; Parks) are busy and filled with noise.
5. Sometimes rainy days can make you feel trapped. Our tiny house is just under four hundred and fifty square feet. Put two people and a dog in that space and you tend to trip on one another a bit.
6. Stuff breaks and I need to fix those things.
7. Things that break require parts that I never have on hand. There is little commonality in RV systems requiring that I have lots of little parts on hand. (IE: nuts, bolts, screws, caulking, etc.
8. Our house requires lubrication, filters and oil changes.
9. Seeing the beauty of nature along with throngs of people. Places like our national parks are always crowded with people except during the off season.
10. Missing family and friends.
11. Throngs of people packed into a campground.
12. Dated State and National campground amenities due to lack of infrastructure and budget short falls.
13. Having to use public shower and toilet facilities when boondocking (aka: camping without electric, water and or sewer hook ups).
14. Friday through Sunday in a campground is like a zoo. People come to let their hair down and enjoy life but once in a while they are too much into the "enjoy life" part.
15. Learning to relax is hard.
16. Having too much stuff with us. 

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