Posts from people who have stopped being full time

[mikEXpat]

I'm planning to become a fulltimer but would like to hear from people who have had to stop living this way for one reason or the other.


If you know of any links, videos, blogs, groups, websites or stories, can you please share? I think we can all learn a lot from these experiences.

All the best. Travel safe!
Mike

 

[mikEXpat]

Here is one I found today from YarVee. Class A fulltimer. He found a girlfriend who can't live in an RV. He's giving up the life for a woman after living fulltime for a little over a year. Is that really enough time to say you were a fulltimer?

 

[WriterMs]

Well, I only got in a little over 6 months in 2014 before my mom's illness brought me to her s&b. Yet I don't have my own home except my van. So I'm not a full-timer but my home is my van. LOL

There are several on this forum who have gone in and out of the full-time lifestyle, so maybe they will chime in.

 

[GotSmart]

Both times I went out I had medical emergencies bring me back.  

I hope they get the health care system here fixed.  As it is, insurance companies end coverage in limited areas. I had to drive 1,600 miles for medical care.  

 

[SoulRaven]

Comfort. I initially full timed for survival. I don't trust easy, but some have earned it and I now resort to utilizing their appliances, electricity, warmth and open space when in need of a little TLC.

I see no point to making myself miserable in order to achieve some arbitrary status of "full timer". Most days I am, sometimes I'm not. The more comfy I make my van, the less inclined I'll be to leave it.

Medical stuff has definitely pulled me out. Lots and lots of times.

 

[gcal]

Have not been pulled out of full-time, yet. Will find out if that will last when I see Dr today about MRI results. As several have said, health can make a difference.

 

[mikEXpat]

Thanks so much for sharing. So far I see health issues being the biggest factor. I knew it would be one, if not the biggest. Hopefully more will reply. If health is the biggest risk then that needs to be factored in when having a plan B.

@gcal Best of luck with the results.

 

[squatting dog2]

Dreamed about a greyhound conversion and full timing for a long time. Finally did it after taking an early retirement. However, what I discovered on the road was most full timers were considerably older than me.(not much in common) So, I sold the bus and built a house (another dream of mine). While the wife had medical issues, that was not the reason to jump off the road. A side benefit from starting early was now, we are older and way more prepared for life on the road. It looks like late summer this year we will be embarking on our adventure once again. 
All this said, life is way too short, so, go for the brass ring while you're able, just prepare and never fear asking questions.

 

[grimmal]

We full timed for 8 years. For us there is nothing like it. Camping at Toroweep or Swansea where hardly anyone goes. Have been to million dollar campsites 40 miles from anywhere. We have seen and done things most people could not imagine and it is hard to explain to them even with pictures. Having popcorn and watching movies we would get from local pawn shops or thrift stores and then give to thrift stores. Every day just wanting to see what was just around the next curve or hill. Cooking every meal out in the open. Using the internet to go to church on Sunday while listening to it from someplace like Bryce canyon. Still have the van . Came back to the farm about a year ago to fix up some things and be around grandkids more. Plan on selling the farm and going back within next year. Hardest thing has been to be home and read this forum. Knowing we will be back helps get the work done quicker.

 

[Stargazer]

Bought the van, sold the house and all its contents, and hit the road. After a year or so, a grandchild was born. I hadn't been one of those doting grandparents, never understood that. But this one, just something about him, we connected immediately. I wasn't about to let him go into daycare at three months, so I volunteered to watch him until he was eight months old. I bought a 15 ft travel trailer, parked it in a nice RV park 12 miles away, and Monday through Friday went to their house and took care of the little guy through that winter. Went back on the road that next summer but missed him so much, I returned and traded the little TT for a larger fifth wheel, parked in the same RV park. That was two years ago. I have him two days a week now. I cannot imagine leaving him behind to go back out but when he gets a little older, I hope to take him on summer trips with me. See things through his new eyes.

Even as an infant, he loved the outdoors. If he was fussy, I'd take him out to the back porch, go for walks in his neighborhood, point out the birds, squirrels, bugs, trees and flowers, we'd lie on a blanket and watch the clouds. Wave at the airplanes. When he started walking and I acquired the bigger RV, I'd bring him to the RV park where we go down to the river and throw rocks into the water, "fish", search for the best sticks to poke into holes and have stick fights, walk the trail in the woods, watch the cows in the pasture across the street, fly kites, have picnics, roast hotdogs and marshmallows over a campfire which I taught him how to build (and he showed his parents how to do the next time they came out). Sometimes I'll take out my tool bag and he plays with the tools (he can tell you what they are and what they're for). On Sundays, the family comes to Gramma's "house". This RV park is out in the country, large sites, a playground near the river that flows by it, a trail through the woods surrounding it. He loves it here and so do I. I gave up the road and gained the unqualified love of this little boy.

Some day, in a few years, he and I will hit the road together to expand his horizons. In the words of Auntie Mame, "Life is a banquet, and most poor folks are starving to death."

 

[Patrick46]

Go Gramma!!!