WanderWoman9
Member
Hello everyone! I’m a 44 year old empty nester and have been a full timer for 2 years and 3 months now. I would not consider myself a nomad as I am stationary in an RV park and have a traditional career.
My journey to this non-traditional lifestyle has been a lifetime in the making. I grew up in NJ in the suburbs of New York City. I didn’t really know how crowded it was because it’s all I knew. However, I remember being a teenager and thinking how cool it would be to jump on Route 80 at the George Washington Bridge and take it across the entire country.
I spent the first half of my life trying to be “normal”. I went to college, got a career, eventually got married and had a child. But everyone called me a “free spirit”. Given my dysfunctional childhood, I had this eternal struggle with wanting “traditional”, i.e. stability but then feeling completely stifled by it. I moved around constantly. I was never able to fit in with the soccer mom crowd. I joined a classic rock band in my 30s, after my sons father and I split up and my son got to see his mom play some shows in his younger years.
After being in NYC during 9/11, I realized I wanted out. Never again would I be trapped on that island during a real emergency. I ended up moving to the DC area (not much different, but to me it seemed a much greener city).
I ended up living as far away from DC as I could while still being able to commute (2 hours a day each way!) in a lovely small city of Frederick, MD. It was one of my favorite places nestled in the mountains (east coast version of mountains being big hills) not far from Camp David, at the center of civil war history and battlegrounds.
I tried, yet again, to fulfill the traditional role. By then I had found recovery (as an adult child of family dysfunction), I had found God (actually he found me) and I remarried thinking well, I’m doing everything the “right way” (read Christian way) now so it will work out right! WRONG!!
My supposed Christian Husband ended up being a pill popping, non working bum that stayed in bed all day, played video games all night and rang up my credit cards to the tune of $35k! I was working 3 jobs and still couldn’t keep up. I fell apart and said I don’t care if I’m a failure as a Christian wife and woman - I’m outta here!
Sent him packing, sold the house and possessions, moved into a temporary roommate situation while I figured my next move. I felt like a loser! 40 something and roommates? What is this college?
And what do I do with this travel trailer we bought for family camping trips when the truck was his and I have no way to move it and I’m paying a payment and storage on it?.....
Well that’s when the fire was relit. It was time to embrace who I was finally and stop apologizing for being a failure at fitting into the square boxes of life. I traded the trailer in for a used Class A and moved to an RV park in Virginia outside of DC. Very hefty price tag on the ground rent, in fact the whole area was too expensive. After 6 months or so it was time for a big change again - I made good on that childhood dream to ride an RV across the country and settled in to an RV Park in Salt Lake City in November of 2016.
I’ve been getting used to everything- I learned so much about RVs and full timing. The Class A main power box blew and almost burned the house down! Last September I traded it in for a 2017 Keystone Laredo fifth wheeler. I had them park it in my spot and said I’ll get the truck later. I just wanted the home I wanted and fifth wheelers have always been my favorite.
I found you all on You Tube when I was looking up how to change an LED light fixture and have been soaking up everything for the last few days. Ive been examining myself carefully yet again - do I want to be a full on nomad?
I’ve been leaning this way little by little - in February I started a new job that I can work from home full time, cutting yet another string that tethers me to the regular world. As long as I have a solid internet connection I can roam.
You guys all seem fearless to me (and all mechanical engineers or something) - I realized how scared I felt about the idea of leaving the rv park because I have no idea about how to live off the grid. I’m trying to soak up as much as I can learn about it. (I’ve learned the amps x volts = watts today, but once you start talking solar watts to DC batteries to AC amps I’m lost).
Also, I have to be honest, I like nature but I like good coffee houses, fine dining, bookstores and being around people too. Not major metropolis like NYC but bigger towns with amenities. The thought of camping in slab city for a season doesn’t seem appealing - maybe if I was traveling with a caravan of folks but not alone.
So, I think that’s all for now. And I know it’s plenty! The story is still being written, but I hope this can be a start of a new chapter with all of you part of it!
My journey to this non-traditional lifestyle has been a lifetime in the making. I grew up in NJ in the suburbs of New York City. I didn’t really know how crowded it was because it’s all I knew. However, I remember being a teenager and thinking how cool it would be to jump on Route 80 at the George Washington Bridge and take it across the entire country.
I spent the first half of my life trying to be “normal”. I went to college, got a career, eventually got married and had a child. But everyone called me a “free spirit”. Given my dysfunctional childhood, I had this eternal struggle with wanting “traditional”, i.e. stability but then feeling completely stifled by it. I moved around constantly. I was never able to fit in with the soccer mom crowd. I joined a classic rock band in my 30s, after my sons father and I split up and my son got to see his mom play some shows in his younger years.
After being in NYC during 9/11, I realized I wanted out. Never again would I be trapped on that island during a real emergency. I ended up moving to the DC area (not much different, but to me it seemed a much greener city).
I ended up living as far away from DC as I could while still being able to commute (2 hours a day each way!) in a lovely small city of Frederick, MD. It was one of my favorite places nestled in the mountains (east coast version of mountains being big hills) not far from Camp David, at the center of civil war history and battlegrounds.
I tried, yet again, to fulfill the traditional role. By then I had found recovery (as an adult child of family dysfunction), I had found God (actually he found me) and I remarried thinking well, I’m doing everything the “right way” (read Christian way) now so it will work out right! WRONG!!
My supposed Christian Husband ended up being a pill popping, non working bum that stayed in bed all day, played video games all night and rang up my credit cards to the tune of $35k! I was working 3 jobs and still couldn’t keep up. I fell apart and said I don’t care if I’m a failure as a Christian wife and woman - I’m outta here!
Sent him packing, sold the house and possessions, moved into a temporary roommate situation while I figured my next move. I felt like a loser! 40 something and roommates? What is this college?
And what do I do with this travel trailer we bought for family camping trips when the truck was his and I have no way to move it and I’m paying a payment and storage on it?.....
Well that’s when the fire was relit. It was time to embrace who I was finally and stop apologizing for being a failure at fitting into the square boxes of life. I traded the trailer in for a used Class A and moved to an RV park in Virginia outside of DC. Very hefty price tag on the ground rent, in fact the whole area was too expensive. After 6 months or so it was time for a big change again - I made good on that childhood dream to ride an RV across the country and settled in to an RV Park in Salt Lake City in November of 2016.
I’ve been getting used to everything- I learned so much about RVs and full timing. The Class A main power box blew and almost burned the house down! Last September I traded it in for a 2017 Keystone Laredo fifth wheeler. I had them park it in my spot and said I’ll get the truck later. I just wanted the home I wanted and fifth wheelers have always been my favorite.
I found you all on You Tube when I was looking up how to change an LED light fixture and have been soaking up everything for the last few days. Ive been examining myself carefully yet again - do I want to be a full on nomad?
I’ve been leaning this way little by little - in February I started a new job that I can work from home full time, cutting yet another string that tethers me to the regular world. As long as I have a solid internet connection I can roam.
You guys all seem fearless to me (and all mechanical engineers or something) - I realized how scared I felt about the idea of leaving the rv park because I have no idea about how to live off the grid. I’m trying to soak up as much as I can learn about it. (I’ve learned the amps x volts = watts today, but once you start talking solar watts to DC batteries to AC amps I’m lost).
Also, I have to be honest, I like nature but I like good coffee houses, fine dining, bookstores and being around people too. Not major metropolis like NYC but bigger towns with amenities. The thought of camping in slab city for a season doesn’t seem appealing - maybe if I was traveling with a caravan of folks but not alone.
So, I think that’s all for now. And I know it’s plenty! The story is still being written, but I hope this can be a start of a new chapter with all of you part of it!
