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SAFE TRAVELS

Plan for full time RV travel

What's your Plan for Full time RV travel

What's your plan once you get on the road. OK, Let's say all of your planning is done and you are somewhat satisfied with your budget and plans. Are you retired and going to live off your social security and savings? If yes, Do you plan on traveling the country and seeing the sights or will you settle down (to a certain degree) and stay in one area for an extended amount of time and really see the sites. Will you set an agenda of say visiting every national park in the country. Are you ready to give back and do some volunteering for your site. All very good options.

If you are like me and still have six years before retirement you'll need to work to make your plan feasible. Barb will retire next year so that will help us some. We will both need to work as close to full time as we can to live the style of life we want. Will it be easy? No. Is it doable? Yes it is. Will we have to make sacrifices? Of course we will. We've already started making sacrifices.

We have been having garage sales all summer long and will continue to have more when spring comes back around. This all means we are downsizing just about everything we have to get to the lifestyle we want. We plan to work the next six years doing whatever to make a living. 

I've researched possible jobs for RV folks. Some jobs are seasonal like working for Amazon during the Christmas season, typically working from October til about December 23^rd. The pay is a lot better than working at a campground but it is work so don't go in thinking this is going to be easy. Plan on working 4 10's every week. At least til they start with overtime. You might try the sugar beet harvest. This is a short term job usually only about 2-3 weeks but again the pay is better than minimum wage. The big drawback is the work is at night and the weather is cold. But the common thinking is, I can do just about anything for a few weeks or a few months.

Where will we work? Ideally wherever we want to go. Practically, wherever we find work. Looking at the different resources on the internet that shouldn’t be a big problem. 

Sure working someplace with a beautiful mountain range, or lake shore out the window would be great and yes we will look for those places. But that's not a deal breaker for us.

Getting on the road next year is not our end game. No its just the beginning. We want to travel the country to see and experience the wonders that are out there. Yes we will still be part of the rat race but hopefully a much smaller part, we hope. We are even looking at the possibility of Gate Guarding out in Texas. Gate Guarding is kind of misleading, you don't actually guard a gate. You are there to log oil workers in and out of the project so there is an accurate accounting of who is coming and going in case of an emergency.

The pay is so much more than minimum wage but the drawbacks are so much more. The gate must be watched 24 hours a day, so while one of you is sleeping the other is working. 7 days a week. No days off. But remember I said getting on the road was not our end game. If you can do this for a couple of years, you've saved up a nice little chunk of change. You have no campground fee, the company supplies you with a generator, 500 gallon water tank and pump out service as needed. I forgot to mention some of these oil field sites can be close to the Mexican border so illegals roaming around can be a problem at times.

There are amusement parks around the country that hire seasonal workers

(aka Workampers). You could also try some of the national parks. Some of the concessionaires rely heavily on workampers at national parks. A couple being Yosemite and The Grand Canyon.

So no matter what your plan for fulltime RV travel is there should be a plan for everybody out there to work and enjoy themselves along the way. Hope to see ya down the highway.

Stages

10 Stages To Getting On The Road

When Planning any BIG endeavor you need stages along the way as you go. This goes for anything weather building a car or getting ready to live the full time RV lifestyle. So lets take a look at what I believe the stages are and see if you are any closer to getting on the road.

1. I have a Hunch. The light bulb goes on over your head. Hey, I think I can do that. In other words, ACT ON IT.

2.Talk about it. Tell your family, friends, community. Yes you might have to explain quite a bit to some of them and some will still not understand. Try to involve
them as much as you can, it will make them feel better. They will be your support system.

3.The Sponge. Learn everything you can. Read all you can, watch you tube videos, ask   
questions on forums, join Facebook groups. Sponge up ideas.                                            

4.Build. Build your idea. Read, Write, Collect information. All you can. Visit RV dealers and ask lots of questions. (its best if you know most of the answers before you ask) That way you'll know if the salesperson knows what he's talking about.

5.Confusion. Dread, Heart of Darkness, Doubt, Fear. Think you’re confused now, wait till you start working on a budget. That's where you want to pull your hair out. Trust me. I know. But not to worry, as my Mom always said “This too shall pass”You will have fear and doubt, that's natural. You can work through it.

6.Take a Breather. Step away and take a break. Stop thinking about what you are doing. It may seem like a monumental task. Just remember the saying, How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Clear your head for a few days and then go back to work.

7.The Love Sandwich. Get constructive feedback from family, friends. Go back and look at #2. Those people. Again ask them questions. They will think of things you haven’t. Don't think they are trying to squash your dreams, they may be playing devil's advocate. Listen to what they have to say, and then go find out the answers. 

8.The Breakthrough. You will have many many false breakthroughs. Celebrate these little breakthroughs. All these little ones will ultimately lead to the Big breakthrough.

9.Revisit your notes. Go through your notes from time to time, try to find what you might have missed. Compare your figures to other full timers. Are your numbers close to theirs? If not see what may be different and why. You will always find a clue that brings it all together.

10. Know when you are done. Enjoy the Ride.

Work Till You Drop

Work Till You Drop, It Might be Healthy For You

Economists are saying we may have to work till the day we die. This could actually be good for you. I keep preaching you need to have a goal in life instead of going with the flow. You know, graduate, get a job, get married, have kids. The American Dream. I say you must have a purpose in life, AKA a Goal.

You also need to interact with other people in your work and have a social life. Weather you get paid for working or volunteer your time a person needs to stay busy. Put another way,

USE IT OR LOSE IT. Staying active keeps the blood flowing and the mind working. If you don't stay active all kinds of ailments can set in leading to even death.

Brigham Young University did a study showing health effects of social isolation the same as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Jeanne a Target cashier recently retired at the age of 95 might not be such a rarity any more. She said “If you don't use it you lose it”, she enjoyed every minute of using it.

Anybody working a strenuous job nearing retirement age should probably start thinking about what they might want to do after retirement. White collar workers can always cut back on their hours or of course volunteer their time usually at a slower pace.

A recent survey of 1000 middle class people indicates 37% will work till they are too sick or die.

A study of former workers found that those that retired at 55 died younger. I'm 55 and hope this is no longer true. But I know I will be working for a very long time, so I'm not to worried about that. Retirement should not be confused with being idle. So how can fulltime RV'er combat these risks.

Workamping comes to mind. Workampers usually work at campgrounds or state or national parks and do just about any job that needs to be done. From checking in campers to cleaning campsites or maintenance. Still others will find work at amusement parks, Amazon, doing sugar beet harvests. Fulltimers also become docents at lighthouses or sanctuary's.

No matter what type of work we do or where we do it at least we aren’t sitting idle