A need for a change.

[sinabu]

Howdy! Just starting the process and digging up information/researching etc. It's a little overwhelming but learning a lot and hope that reading the forums and Bob's videos will better educate me and prepare for the changes i feel I desperately need. And hope that hearing comments from others and reading others stories will give me the courage to make the leap.

My Name is Chad I'm 36 and I live in South Georgia. I have worked for a fairly large private company in the I.T. department for the past 13+ years. I own my home and it's just myself and the cat. Over the last couple years I've become restless. I am not happy here and want to be able to see friends in other parts of the country, See new things and move around some. I have some friends in South Colorado that I would love to be near so I feel this is something I need to do.

I live the typical life I suppose, In Debt and work all the time. :s Well something snapped towards the end of last year. I'm tired of being in debt and tired of living this way. Just feeling Stuck..

I'm trying to set a game plan and right now my main focus has been paying off debt and I've done really well so far and hope that by the years end (job, health willing) I should be free of Credit Card debt and only have my House, My Car and one small loan that i used to renovate my home and will be working on paying that loan off as fast as possible.

During this time I've already started having yard sales here and there to further the bill paying and start living with less but still a long way to go. My thoughts now at this point was to kind of jump start things is to go ahead and get my new living space but at this point I'm not sure what I want, What I can afford etc. I've only been looking online and plan to start looking and differences in person at a local rv center. I would like enough room for myself and the cat, a decent storage place for a litter box so it's not in the way and possibly a little work area. With my job I can work remotely so as long as i have good internet then I can continue at least for now with my current company.  The plan I guess was to get the RV, and slowly move into it while at home so I can take my time to go through things and determine what to keep and what to sell. Then ultimately sell the house and find a place to call home either at a local extended stay rv park or even a families yard temporary until I get ready to travel. The sell of my possessions and house would at this point pretty much pay off any remaining debt I have besides my car.

Probably my biggest concern now is what to get. Sadly the car I have is a  Fiat 500 which isn't suitable for any kind of towing or living in so I would either need to get something like a motorhome and tow my little car behind or sell it, Or get a truck that can tow and do a travel trailer.  But again main goal right now is remove as much debt and save some to purchase my rv/motorhome and then when I finally do sell my house./possessions I have more to set aside.

That's probably enough rambling for now. I'm still very uncertain on things right now as I venture into this but i feel as long as I'm working towards a goal to happiness things will work out in the end!

Love watching the videos and hope to get to know some of you and any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated 

 

[OutdoorFT]

Welcome aboard!!

Youll find lots of helpful info here!

 

[Wabbit]

Hi Chad and welcome. That is really great that you can work remotely. I hope you get everything worked out(you will) and have a great time doing it. Best of luck to ya!

 

[eDJ_]

Welcome to the CRVL    


It sounds like you've made a good choice to become mobile and are doing all the right things.  I would only suggest that you try somehow to take a few trips (if you haven't already)  to see how your Cat feels about the mobile life.   I'm single with a feral Tom Cat and we enjoy each other's company just fine but I don't know how he would take to the road.  He's an older Cat whose owners divorced and both took off with the small dogs and left him behind.   I've known him since he was as big as my fist with my little finger stuck straight up in the air so I couldn't turn my back on him.  He's been in this area all of his life and is well familiar with his surroundings.

I've been on the road in my past but that was before the internet.

When I go back on it much the same way you plan to,   I have things to make it easier than before.  Those being the two links below.  You're welcome to check them out.  I'll be revising the bottom one into some better organization when I get caught up with my work. 

Many years ago my Grandmother used to watch this TV show about a couple of motorcycle cop's in California titled, "CHIP's".   One of the two of them had and RV he lived in and had it in a upscale trailer park.   He told his partner that if he found a better life somewhere else he could just start the engine and go.   Grandmother was always thinking that that would be the life.   Well I never owned a Class A,  but I got plenty of mileage out of my Ford Econoline Van and the small econobox car I had. (towed it behind the Van)   So when it was time to move to another assignment with my Corporation (I worked in Industrial Design) I would pack all the quick start stuff in the car and the other not so necessary stuff in the Van.  So when arriving at my new diggs I could unload the car into the apartment to set up the kitchen stuff,  bathroom stuff, a bed, and work clothing as soon as I got there.  Then drive the car to work the next work day.  Meanwhile as I got home after work I could begin to unpack the Van and move those items into the place to have the Van ready for work if I needed it.   I had built a bunch of furniture from the book,  "Nomadic Furniture" so I could  move quickly, and that was a new method of thinking for me. 

Volume 1

https://www.scribd.com/doc/190223054/Nomadic-Furniture

There is also a volume 2 of this book.

You may find some of the thing useful and easy to build as they knock down and store without taking up much room.

All the best !

 

[DuneElliot]

As another single person with two dogs I have found that my 27ft 5W with a slide is a great size for us, with adequate storage for my stuff and the dog food, beds etc. I wouldn't go any bigger and if I had less stuff that wasn't important I'd certainly be happier in smaller. I have a small office/dining space, a nice couch, a small kitchen and bathroom and bedroom.

A camper/trailer worked well for me because I already owned the right truck and owning a truck means I can drop the trailer and still get to places most other RVers can't and just camp in the truck. I also plan on spending a few months in each place to earn money which is another good reason for a trailer...good home base without all the secondary maintenance of two vehicles (engine/drive train etc) and I really get to explore and immerse myself in an area.

My truck was 11 years old when I bought it and the camper was 7 years old. I managed to put the rig together for a hair over $20k although they were not bought at the same time.

 

[cyndi]

Welcome to the CRVL forums, Chad! While youre downsizing and getting debt free start puttling a little bit away for your future home. You'vegot time and that puts you in a great position to shop forwhat's really going to wrk. It doesn't have to be brand new. There are great used RVs and other options out there, at minimal prices.

To help you learn the ins and outs of these forums, this "Tips & Tricks" post lists some helpful information to get you started. We look forward to hearing more from you.

 

[sinabu]

Thanks so much for the warm welcome everyone! I know for sure this is the right thing to do!

@edj_ My kitty is just an indoor one so I do have some concern of moving her into a smaller place but granted I think an RV will have many more sunny places to lounge in, Shes only 3 years old and is my baby so she comes first lol. I think she will do ok though. my current house is 1000sq feet and its placed oddly and doesn't have many sunny places to lounge or look out.

@DuneElliot - Thanks! I do think a separate truck/trailer is the best way to go. I do want to kind of have a home base in Colorado so finding a truck that's AWD I think will be on the list! I will miss my little Fiat though. its such a fun car to drive but I won't survive to well up around the snowy areas that I want to be in. The one unit I looked at was I think a 30ft but I want to see it in person, it was a bunk style trailer and thought I could maybe take out the bunks and basically create a tiny little office/room in that space

@Cyndi thanks for the link! Still got a lot to read up on and research. And I do agree I am thankful I am in a position where I can take my time but the itch to get out and move around is strong hehe