Single Women Swimming -vs- the Fulltime Camping Life

[JohnHarrelson]

Ladies think of becoming a full time RV'er or Camper as going swimming.
 
TEST THE WATER FIRST .... that is, try to either borrow or rent an RV trailer from a friend. Tell them what you are thinking of doing.  Park it in a local RV park for ninety days. Especially do this during the winter months. 

Being "cooped up" in a small trailer with a 13" TV and no phone is far different from a three bedroom house or apartment with a large color TV with cable programs and a telephone to call your family and friends. 

HAVE A LIFE JACKET .... Have someone, family or good friends, or a nest egg in the bank to help you get back to safety if you find out the water is too deep and you don't want to go swimming after all. 

USE THE BUDDY SYSTEM .... If possible, find a friend to live with you during that ninety days. Being divorced or widowed after many years of having a companion is doubly tough and a friend will give you a sounding board. I've been there, done that. 

LEARN TO SWIM .... Don't let anyone tell you that a single woman all alone can't do this or that. The only way to find out if you can swim is to get in the water and try. 

LOCAL SWIMMING HOLE .... It seems that a lot of people think that just because a person lives in an RV or a camper that they should be out traveling all the time. HORSE FEATHERS !! 

There are more people living in RV's and Campers that do not travel than there are those who are constantly going somewhere, I am one of them. 

I traveled all over the world when I was in the military and after getting out of the Navy in 1966, my wife and I traveled all over America many times in a Van, a truck camper, a travel trailer, a motor home and a motorcycle.

Now I am content to stay in one place. I take my adventures in small doses via my pickup truck ... fishing, camping and exploring strange and exotic places that are close by. 

jeeeze….. if you want to see strange and exotic just go to the local mall …..
 green hair ,  pierced tongues , fat women in spandex , fat men sucking in their guts when a pretty girl walks by... (guilty) :blush:  
A Saturday at the mall is better than a day at the circus and it's free.. 

Something to remember is that many full timers living in an RV (365 days per year ) are retired and live on a pension of about $800.00 - to - $1500.00 +- a month. 

These folks can't afford to travel all over the country in fancy motor homes that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. 
But they like the feeling of being free and knowing that they can up and leave whenever they want too without worrying about having someone to watch over their home and mow the grass or water the flowers. 

The RV life is all about .... Freedom ... Independence ... Adventure ... and even a little fear of the unknown.. 

BUT ABOVE ALL Ladies .... don't play the helpless female asking the big brave man to help a poor defenseless woman because she doesn't know anything about this stuff !! 

That may work on a man's male ego, but it won't work on his wife .... and a woman living the fulltime RV lifestyle, is the one who will help you the most. 

She was there ...... when the tire went flat, out in the middle of nowhere ..... when the furnace quit in the middle of the night on a weekend and the repair shops were closed, or when the awning had to be rolled up or the tent taken down because of the high wind that came up unexpectedly while her husband was out fishing. 

Don't allow yourself to be intimidated ... a woman can handle any problem that a man can ... they just do it a little different .
Remember the old Chinese proverb ... "A trip of a thousand miles starts with a single step " 

Good luck and best wishes to all you single women thinking about pulling up roots and seeing the world … this time on your own terms and schedule.
 
John Harrelson Carson City, Nevada 

05/09/10 12:31pm  Full-time RVing Forums 

 

[lenny flank]

In point of info--I travel all over the country, from coast to coast and border to border, and spend about $1000 a month doing so.

The idea that one needs lots of "do re mi" to travel, is simply not true. The idea that "poor people" can't travel, is also simply not true. I see the very same places -- Disney World, Mt Vernon, Meteor Crater, Kitty hawk, Little Bighorn Battlefield, Smithsonian Museums -- that first-class jet travelers at the Hilton do. But it costs me a lot less to see them.

 

[John61CT]

It that your total cost of living or just the additional direct costs of your travelling so much?

 

[lenny flank]

That's my total cost.

It varies a bit depending on where I am, but it averages out to around $1k a month.

 

[John61CT]

So just including gas, not your fully amortized vehicle costs of ownership per mile / per month.

I find $1 a mile to be just adequate when barely travelling, half that I'm short-changing myself.

 

[lenny flank]

I paid cash for the van--it's paid off. I always keep enough cash in reserve to replace the van and everything in it if it becomes necessary.

As for miles traveled, I usually stay in one city for around a month before moving to another one, and while in town I take the local bus system to see all the sites. So I average about 3-400 miles a month in actual driving.

Yes, folks who drive around a lot will have higher long-term costs in gas and maintenance. Mine are pretty low. In the past three years the only van repairs I've needed (other than routine stuff like brakes) has been a new ball joint.

 

[John61CT]

I consider it important to include the fully loaded vehicle cost of ownership per mile / over time in the monthly budgeting.

Whether a paid-cash new Sprinter or a beater van financed through a "No Credit" dealer loan.

The vehicle expense part of the budget can easily equal all the rest put together, especially when covering long distances. Gasoline is usually minor compared to maintenance / depreciation, or funding for the next vehicle, however you want to look at it.

Obviously it's a guesstimation until the current vehicle is finished, but you get more accurate over time, and by overestimating rather than shortchanging yourself, you get to accumulate some savings.

 

[JohnHarrelson]

hummnnn.. somehow you guys have missed the point of my post.. it's not the "Cost" that's important .. 

it's the dream of a "SINGLE WOMAN"  to be free and travel around the country  "by herself". 
Her desire and her fear mingled together that make it so hard to "jump in the water" and try swimming alone.

as for your figure of $1000... you are extremely lucky because most of the single women I've met over the years are in their 60's and widowed or divorced and have an income of way less than $1000 a month.  Some have incomes of less than 6 or 7 hundred dollars a month.

I guess I posted this in the wrong forum, I should have put it in the "Woman's Only" forum..

 

[LivGolden]

I thought this post was very insightful.

 

[WalkaboutTed]

Golly gee, I am sure glad that someone can categorically decree that I think and dream
"it's the dream of a "SINGLE WOMAN" to be free and travel around the country "by herself".
Her desire and her fear mingled together that make it so hard to "jump in the water" and try swimming alone."

How kind of you, I truly appreciate your insight. Is that clear enough?
Ted

 

[Cammalu]

John,

I don’t think there are that many women that are afraid. I see at least twice as many solo women out there than I do men. Maybe the men are more afraid...

 

[Deb_A]

I love this post, John. I had my heart set on leaving next July when my lease is up here, but have had a lot of second thoughts since then, so I've decided to give it another year so I can get a larger van and more of the creature comforts I crave. In the meantime, I'll buy a minivan, take some long "vacations" and continue to save for my eventual full-time life.

I'm hoping by then I'll have more income as well. If I leave next year, I may only have my SS check (around $800) to live on, and very little in savings. If I wait a year, I can have a better emergency fund and possibly find a way to make more money by then.

Yes, there are fears, and there always will be, but by traveling part-time for a year, I hope to overcome most of them. As for working mechanically on my own vehicle, nope, not happening. I can do small things, but I won't be changing tires on the side of the road or replacing major parts. I'll do what I can, but the rest is what AAA Plus and mechanics are for. I'm not helpless by any means, but I am old, have a chronic illness and I've already broken bones, so I won't be risking my health and well-being any more than I have to. That's just common sense, not weakness.

I'll be staying mostly in cities or populated areas, but that's also a survival device. Yes, I'll boondock on my way from one location to another, but I need to know that civilization is not too far away. I like to camp, but I don't want to camp forever. Bob says it's "comfort or freedom," but I don't see it that way. If an extra year will give me the opportunity to afford a little more comfort, why not?

I'm a true loner, so traveling with someone who doesn't understand that is out, although having "road buddies" is not a bad thing. I just like doing things by myself, exploring new places, seeing new things. I truly cannot abide having to be with someone all the time, having to adjust my life to their needs, having to share every meal, agree on what to do and see. Nope. I'm more comfortable with being in a group that is going to the same place, but is perfectly fine with leaving me to my own devices once we get there, and not being insulted if I don't want to leave the same time they leave.

Anyway, I'm rambling, but I'll say this. Each woman is different in what they require and what they want. Me, I have a plan of sorts, and looking at that plan, I decided I needed more comfort for a full-time nomad life than I was affording myself. I don't need a fancy, expensive RV, but I do need more than a mini-van and a bucket toilet for the rest of my life.

 

[MrNoodly]

And watch out for condescending men.

 

[DannyB1954]

I guess I posted this in the wrong forum, I should have put it in the "Woman's Only" forum..

Looking at your name and picture, I don't think they want you posting in that forum.
That is why it is called women's only.

I wonder why you would know more about why women would do, or not do things than the women themselves. Seems like speculation. Why would you be giving advice to women anyway? There are plenty of them around to advise each other. You may have theories about what others should do, but the women who have been there and done that have the experience. It seems like someone trying to tell an electrician how to do their job when they themselves have never been one.

 

[lenny flank]

I consider it important to include the fully loaded vehicle cost of ownership per mile / over time in the monthly budgeting.

OK, I can live with that.  : Though of course that is an expense one has whether one travels or not.
I should also make it clear that my $1000/month includes quite a few luxuries, such as eating out at least once every day, and a LOT of museum, zoo and historical site visits.
If I wanted to, I could certainly cut my expenses to $700/month or so and still be getting along just as comfortably.

 

[highdesertranger]

I am closing this thread at the original posters request. out of 15 posts there are 2 positive replies. many replies are off topic. the rest are how dare written by men. come on people. highdesertranger