My husband and I had dreamed about purchasing an RV when we were both fully retired (he is, I'm not) but...... on a trip down to MD Anderson for treatment (my hubby is battling Metastatic Melanoma) I said why are we waiting to live our dream when the future is uncertain (I had also just lost a friend in a tragic homicide the day before) and two months later - we have sold our house (it was only on the market one day and we close July 2nd) we bought an RV (2012 31 foot Flagstaff Fifth Wheel) and we got the buy in from our teenage son to HomeSchool for his Sophomore year. The only thing left is to buy a truck to pull the rig and get through with this last round of treatment and then we are off to the first of the bucket list destinations (Montana). I'm excited one minute and scared to death the next, neither one of us have ever even stayed in an RV before - so we are either crazy, brave, or some wacky combination of the two. Today not Tomorrow is the mantra, and we are out of our house in 2 weeks and living in a house on wheels after that.
I'm 50, hubby is 55, teenager is 15 - Texas is our permanent address. We love people and are really looking forward to the RV Community lifestyle that I've read about online.
Just joined the Forum - hoping to find support for what is going to be an adventure I'm sure!!!
-- Edited by spadiva on Wednesday 18th of June 2014 09:21:21 PM
bjoyce said
09:53 PM Jun 15, 2014
Your attitude will help you a lot. Welcome.
mylittledogs said
03:16 AM Jun 16, 2014
Welcome to the best forum you can find. There is a lot of info an knowledge on this forum. An friendly folks. My just starting out you will have questions along the way, just ask & someone will have the answer. Good luck on your travels.
Kenny & Frances
Lucky Mike said
05:17 AM Jun 16, 2014
Welcome!!!!!
Jo and Ben said
06:11 AM Jun 16, 2014
Welcome to the family Amy! Hope to see you on the road sometime :)
Sushidog said
06:14 AM Jun 16, 2014
Greetings friends. You're definitely not crazy; in fact that's about the most sane and sober thinking I've ever heard. Today, not Tomorrow!
Chip
Dog Folks said
06:28 AM Jun 16, 2014
Welcome. A little fear with this major change in your life, is normal, good, and expected.
You will get through this as many of us have done.
Looking forward, not back, at this point will help a lot.
Thanks for sharing your excitement, and welcome to true freedom!!
Very soon, you will wonder: "What was I so afraid of?"
Olywa said
07:13 AM Jun 16, 2014
Welcome,
You have joined the best forum out there. Love your out look, your not crazy you are living your today. A lot of our friends would ask why and my answer was always WHY NOT?
Enjoy your trip you will create some awesome memories.
cherylbrv said
07:48 AM Jun 16, 2014
Welcome to the "class of 2014" - those of us who have or plan to full time this year.
I, too, have never been in an RV, but back when hubby and I met and used to tent camp and travel to sell candles at craft shows, we loved the lifestyle and promised when we retired we would do that again (not necessarily in a tent and not necessarily selling stuff - but living on the road and traveling). We are both 56 but when our last kid left the nest, we realized the house (in NJ) was too big for just the 2 of us, we hated the upkeep including mowing & shoveling snow, and it was just too darn expensive. We did a bit of analysis and research and realized that both of our careers lent themselves well to this lifestyle, as long as we have an internet connection. So, sight unseen and never being in an RV, we took the plunge.
It took us 3 years to get to this point. We put the house on the market at the end of March and also sold within a day. Unfortunately, we are in a state of limbo at the moment. We were supposed to close on June 5th and after 2 more subsequent closing dates, still have not closed. We are buying our RV (2008 DRV Mobile Suites) from a private seller who has an RV pad with full hookups on his property, who has graciously invited us to move in while waiting to close on the house so we can pay for it!!
During the last week of packing up and leaving our sticks & bricks house, we also suddenly got scared and wondered what we were doing! But the moment we stepped foot inside our "cow" (castle on wheels), all fear dissipated. The coach screamed "this is HOME" and I know we will be very happy here.
Good luck, and prayers for healing.
BiggarView said
08:53 AM Jun 16, 2014
Adventure? Check!
Attitude? Check!
Support? Check!
Welcome aboard!
Terry and Jo said
05:41 PM Jun 16, 2014
Amy,
Welcome to the RV Dreams forums. If you are totally new here (without doing a lot of unregistered lurking), then you will find the folks here to be very knowledgeable, friendly, helpful and encouraging. Feel free to ask any questions about RV'ing and the RV lifestyle. There is a lot of experienced folks here.
You didn't say what model of Flagstaff you had bought, so I can't check the numbers. What you will want to do is find out what the GVWR (Gross Vehicular Weight Rating) is for the trailer. That will be the "upper limit" of weight with the trailer and your stuff, along with any LPG in the tanks and water in the holding tanks. Using that number, you will want to find a truck that has a GCVW (Gross Combined Vehicle Weight) rating that is more than the GVWR of the trailer added to the "practical" weight of the truck added together. Practical weight is the weight of the truck with full fuel tanks, all passengers, pets, and cargo in the truck as you would have it as you travel.
The old saying around here is that we would prefer to have too much truck than too much trailer. Too much trailer leads to some dangerous situations.
Good luck with your research and planning. Prayers are out for your husband's improvement in his health.
Terry
PIEERE said
06:47 PM Jun 16, 2014
"Life is to short...Live it now! Just do it. Live it. Love it. Nothing wrong with good fear. How will one ever know if one will like this lifestyle if one never tries it. Roll with the flow. Be grateful for it cause there are many who would but have the ugly fear that it won't work.
Hi there everyone,
My husband and I had dreamed about purchasing an RV when we were both fully retired (he is, I'm not) but...... on a trip down to MD Anderson for treatment (my hubby is battling Metastatic Melanoma) I said why are we waiting to live our dream when the future is uncertain (I had also just lost a friend in a tragic homicide the day before) and two months later - we have sold our house (it was only on the market one day and we close July 2nd) we bought an RV (2012 31 foot Flagstaff Fifth Wheel) and we got the buy in from our teenage son to HomeSchool for his Sophomore year. The only thing left is to buy a truck to pull the rig and get through with this last round of treatment and then we are off to the first of the bucket list destinations (Montana). I'm excited one minute and scared to death the next, neither one of us have ever even stayed in an RV before - so we are either crazy, brave, or some wacky combination of the two. Today not Tomorrow is the mantra, and we are out of our house in 2 weeks and living in a house on wheels after that.
I'm 50, hubby is 55, teenager is 15 - Texas is our permanent address. We love people and are really looking forward to the RV Community lifestyle that I've read about online.
Just joined the Forum - hoping to find support for what is going to be an adventure I'm sure!!!
-- Edited by spadiva on Wednesday 18th of June 2014 09:21:21 PM
Kenny & Frances
Chip
You will get through this as many of us have done.
Looking forward, not back, at this point will help a lot.
Thanks for sharing your excitement, and welcome to true freedom!!
Very soon, you will wonder: "What was I so afraid of?"
Welcome,
You have joined the best forum out there. Love your out look, your not crazy you are living your today. A lot of our friends would ask why and my answer was always WHY NOT?
Enjoy your trip you will create some awesome memories.
I, too, have never been in an RV, but back when hubby and I met and used to tent camp and travel to sell candles at craft shows, we loved the lifestyle and promised when we retired we would do that again (not necessarily in a tent and not necessarily selling stuff - but living on the road and traveling). We are both 56 but when our last kid left the nest, we realized the house (in NJ) was too big for just the 2 of us, we hated the upkeep including mowing & shoveling snow, and it was just too darn expensive. We did a bit of analysis and research and realized that both of our careers lent themselves well to this lifestyle, as long as we have an internet connection. So, sight unseen and never being in an RV, we took the plunge.
It took us 3 years to get to this point. We put the house on the market at the end of March and also sold within a day. Unfortunately, we are in a state of limbo at the moment. We were supposed to close on June 5th and after 2 more subsequent closing dates, still have not closed. We are buying our RV (2008 DRV Mobile Suites) from a private seller who has an RV pad with full hookups on his property, who has graciously invited us to move in while waiting to close on the house so we can pay for it!!
During the last week of packing up and leaving our sticks & bricks house, we also suddenly got scared and wondered what we were doing! But the moment we stepped foot inside our "cow" (castle on wheels), all fear dissipated. The coach screamed "this is HOME" and I know we will be very happy here.
Good luck, and prayers for healing.
Adventure? Check!
Attitude? Check!
Support? Check!
Welcome aboard!
Amy,
Welcome to the RV Dreams forums. If you are totally new here (without doing a lot of unregistered lurking), then you will find the folks here to be very knowledgeable, friendly, helpful and encouraging. Feel free to ask any questions about RV'ing and the RV lifestyle. There is a lot of experienced folks here.
You didn't say what model of Flagstaff you had bought, so I can't check the numbers. What you will want to do is find out what the GVWR (Gross Vehicular Weight Rating) is for the trailer. That will be the "upper limit" of weight with the trailer and your stuff, along with any LPG in the tanks and water in the holding tanks. Using that number, you will want to find a truck that has a GCVW (Gross Combined Vehicle Weight) rating that is more than the GVWR of the trailer added to the "practical" weight of the truck added together. Practical weight is the weight of the truck with full fuel tanks, all passengers, pets, and cargo in the truck as you would have it as you travel.
The old saying around here is that we would prefer to have too much truck than too much trailer. Too much trailer leads to some dangerous situations.
Good luck with your research and planning. Prayers are out for your husband's improvement in his health.
Terry