My husband and I turned 60 recently so we're thinking of the future and our living situation. We're seasonal farmers in north central PA and have been farmers for the past 25 years. Haven't seen much of our country due to farming and would like to be able to travel, downsize etc within the next few years. We've already been looking for an RV, doing research and seeing what would be suitable etc. We would probably have some kind of a "home base" for several months of the year and travel the rest of the year. We have no pension, some savings, and at this point not sure what if anything will be left in social security in a couple years. All very exciting and enjoying Bob's videos and other sites he has recommended. Could we do this full time? Ahhhh, not sure....what would be the point of a home base? Grow/raise our food so when we travel we don't have to think about it....but then there's a storage issue I would think...definitely a 180 in lifestyle change. Lots to think about but right now is a great time to learn about this and see how it could work for us.
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Do not worry about SS, it will be here beyond our visit on the planet. . For decades doom gloomers have been saying [font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif] it will be depleted[/font]. Maybe so, bout not in our lifetime. my opinion
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Welcome to the CRVL forums! To help you learn the ins and outs of these forums, this "Tips, Tricks and Rules" post lists some helpful information to get you started.
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Most of our rules boil down to two simple over-riding principles: 1) What you post should provide good information (like your introductory post), and 2) Any response to someone else's post should make them feel glad they are part of this forum community.
We look forward to hearing more from you.
Tony's Dream
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Welcome and happy trails.
RoamerRV428
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Farmer here also!
About age 50 we started selling land. Sold off all the livestock which was cattle herd, about 400 layer chickens, 125 Boer goats, (kept my horses tho for a few more years
), stopped making hay and crops and sold off tractors, our backhoe etc. and more. We knew we did this most of our life farming for profit and we worked full time jobs doing both, ugh, but we loved it.
We also knew we wanted travel. Not doable with operating a farm so we shut down. Started to prepare for less and less and knew we needed time to sell it all off and get prepped for time on the road.
Most gone now with a few things left to handle but we kept our house and 5 acres. This is home base if needed but thru the years, nope. When we hit the road in a few years cause kiddo will be in college and set.....we are now more inclined to sell this place cause I don't even wanna upkeep the 5 acres with barns anymore LOL
We decided to sell and put that money aside for a new purchase in whatever location if we fall in love with a new location to live full time down the road when older.
but you are right. take your time. I wrestled with shutting down the farm and changing our lifestyle ya know but once into it, oh yea, it was the right step for us. So just downsize slowly and sell off land etc. and pare it all down to manageable size and less work and more and then your mind opens up to alot of possibilities of life can be travel and more any way you want it!!
We hit into travel. Wanted freedom on the road. Tired of being tired down to land and livestock etc. We got older and truly knew we needed and wanted big change so we slowly stepped toward it and are closing in on our final time to put our plans into firm action.
Luckily we could travel with the farm. We had his father and mother who would take care of animals and such while we hit the road on small rv trips, so we owned rvs our whole lives and also knew that lifestyle suited us perfectly. So our decision to shut down and go full time rv was not a stretch for us at all.
but yea enjoy your downsizing and walk toward all your living options you might want Not a darn thing wrong with that. We all have chapters in our lives. We closed the farming chapter and are opening up the next new chapter now too
About age 50 we started selling land. Sold off all the livestock which was cattle herd, about 400 layer chickens, 125 Boer goats, (kept my horses tho for a few more years
), stopped making hay and crops and sold off tractors, our backhoe etc. and more. We knew we did this most of our life farming for profit and we worked full time jobs doing both, ugh, but we loved it.We also knew we wanted travel. Not doable with operating a farm so we shut down. Started to prepare for less and less and knew we needed time to sell it all off and get prepped for time on the road.
Most gone now with a few things left to handle but we kept our house and 5 acres. This is home base if needed but thru the years, nope. When we hit the road in a few years cause kiddo will be in college and set.....we are now more inclined to sell this place cause I don't even wanna upkeep the 5 acres with barns anymore LOL
We decided to sell and put that money aside for a new purchase in whatever location if we fall in love with a new location to live full time down the road when older.
but you are right. take your time. I wrestled with shutting down the farm and changing our lifestyle ya know but once into it, oh yea, it was the right step for us. So just downsize slowly and sell off land etc. and pare it all down to manageable size and less work and more and then your mind opens up to alot of possibilities of life can be travel and more any way you want it!!
We hit into travel. Wanted freedom on the road. Tired of being tired down to land and livestock etc. We got older and truly knew we needed and wanted big change so we slowly stepped toward it and are closing in on our final time to put our plans into firm action.
Luckily we could travel with the farm. We had his father and mother who would take care of animals and such while we hit the road on small rv trips, so we owned rvs our whole lives and also knew that lifestyle suited us perfectly. So our decision to shut down and go full time rv was not a stretch for us at all.
but yea enjoy your downsizing and walk toward all your living options you might want
Not a darn thing wrong with that. We all have chapters in our lives. We closed the farming chapter and are opening up the next new chapter now too 
