Sitting in south Alabama and newly registered here. I go by Birdy, my husband Woody, and we're in the latter stage of life.
Married in 88, spending most of our lives in the Midwest, we tent camped, were avid hikers, biking railways, canoeing, etc. We love wandering around historical and natural landmarks, and living small. I am labeled an artist and younger, "was born with an atlas," traveling with parents to almost all 50 states, he grew up on farms, union metal worker, skilled woodworker, hunter and outdoorsman.
Woody and I counted almost 20 rigs throughout the years, from a 7ft Scotty, fiberglass Casita, Class Cs, and other trailers, ending a year ago with a Solitude 5th wheel.
After retiring, we traveled the US full-time for almost 8 years, lots of COE parks, workkamping sometimes. Then costly hardships with a diesel truck, loss of debt to a larger rig, some not so smart choices. We then moved into a campground maintenance job, made enough to get the 5th wheel sold and moved into a patio home rental almost a year ago.
And this is not us!!! For one, we're becoming rent poor, especially for anymore traveling. Had to furnish a place we thought we'd make home, ready to sell out ONCE AGAIN. We miss the outdoor living, new views, acquaintances, the aliveness.
I do worry and hesitate, I'll still make the wrong choice as life is much different as we've grown older, but in turn we feel like it will one day be the last act. We decided if anything happened to each other, we'd at least find this more affordable as a solo. And how much happier than being stuck in a home style that doesn't fill our nomadic desires.
So here we are. We've not traveled by cargo van yet. Over the last few months, exploring and weighing this choice, the pros heavily weighed out any cons. When we took off full-time in 2013, I used forums extensively and they are invaluable. Of course, we want to take off sooner rather than later, but imagine 2025 will be our year. Thanks for you sharing tips, stories and inspiration. Hope I can offer maybe some of my ideas or experiences of interest to help others at this forum.
One slow step at a time!
![Turtle :turtle: 🐢](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f422.png)
![Palm tree :palm_tree: 🌴](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f334.png)
![Dolphin :dolphin: 🐬](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f42c.png)
![Deciduous tree :deciduous_tree: 🌳](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f333.png)
![Smiling face with sunglasses :sunglasses: 😎](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f60e.png)
![Crossed fingers :fingers_crossed: 🤞](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f91e.png)
Married in 88, spending most of our lives in the Midwest, we tent camped, were avid hikers, biking railways, canoeing, etc. We love wandering around historical and natural landmarks, and living small. I am labeled an artist and younger, "was born with an atlas," traveling with parents to almost all 50 states, he grew up on farms, union metal worker, skilled woodworker, hunter and outdoorsman.
Woody and I counted almost 20 rigs throughout the years, from a 7ft Scotty, fiberglass Casita, Class Cs, and other trailers, ending a year ago with a Solitude 5th wheel.
After retiring, we traveled the US full-time for almost 8 years, lots of COE parks, workkamping sometimes. Then costly hardships with a diesel truck, loss of debt to a larger rig, some not so smart choices. We then moved into a campground maintenance job, made enough to get the 5th wheel sold and moved into a patio home rental almost a year ago.
And this is not us!!! For one, we're becoming rent poor, especially for anymore traveling. Had to furnish a place we thought we'd make home, ready to sell out ONCE AGAIN. We miss the outdoor living, new views, acquaintances, the aliveness.
I do worry and hesitate, I'll still make the wrong choice as life is much different as we've grown older, but in turn we feel like it will one day be the last act. We decided if anything happened to each other, we'd at least find this more affordable as a solo. And how much happier than being stuck in a home style that doesn't fill our nomadic desires.
So here we are. We've not traveled by cargo van yet. Over the last few months, exploring and weighing this choice, the pros heavily weighed out any cons. When we took off full-time in 2013, I used forums extensively and they are invaluable. Of course, we want to take off sooner rather than later, but imagine 2025 will be our year. Thanks for you sharing tips, stories and inspiration. Hope I can offer maybe some of my ideas or experiences of interest to help others at this forum.
One slow step at a time!
![Turtle :turtle: 🐢](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f422.png)
![Palm tree :palm_tree: 🌴](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f334.png)
![Dolphin :dolphin: 🐬](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f42c.png)
![Deciduous tree :deciduous_tree: 🌳](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f333.png)
![Smiling face with sunglasses :sunglasses: 😎](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f60e.png)
![Crossed fingers :fingers_crossed: 🤞](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f91e.png)