I really can’t believe it’s been a year since we left our driveway for the last time, it’s gone so fast, but then again, part of me thinks, has it really only been a year?So much has happened in this very short year.We’ve been in 14 states over the year, mountains and coastal areas in the summer, desert in the winter, haven’t quite achieved our goal of following the sunshine allthe time, but have had more consistent good weather vs. bad weather for our first year.
We were reminiscing about the year, we’ve had a few challenges including a problematic RV fridge, evacuation due to flooding, changing plans and doing a very fast 1000 mile journey to be with Dale’s mom during her last week on earth, surviving our first ice storm in an RV, watching the news at a relative’s house showing 5 bands of tornadoes passing about 10 miles north of where our RV was parked, a few mechanical issues that always seem to happen at the worst possible time, etc.
We’ve also had a year filled with blessings, being able to spend the time needed with family when we lost Dale’s mom and since we had our home on wheels with us, we were able to stay around far longer than if we still had a S&B home, making new friends, deepening other friendships, having more ability to contribute to charity when the need arises because our expenses on the road are so much less than a S&B home, exploring new areas, etc.We had more time to hike, bike and kayak in this year than we had in the 3 years prior to this combined so we’re finding time for a little more fun time as we continue to work while on the road.We’ve been to more museums, botanical gardens and other tourist destinations in one year than we usually visit in 5 years.
It’s been a year of figuring out what kind of travel schedule works best for us with our work schedules, realizing that logistical planning is much more complex and time consuming in this lifestyle than our old one, but at the same time we’ve reveled in the flexibility we’ve had and the ability we’ve had to make plans and change them quickly when needed.Dale’s wondering where his “Type A” wife went to, well, she’s still here, just a little more relaxed than she used to beJWe’ve learned that we really like stays of 10 days – 3 weeks, moving frequently when we’re both working adds a complexity we try to avoid.We like to stay in an general area for a couple of months at a time with a few changes in campgrounds as needed, giving us a few weekend days free to explore and evenings for bike rides, kayaking opportunities or walks.Moves of 400 miles or less are, for us, best accomplished in one driving day, leaving the other weekend day free to well, have a weekend day without travel.Our second year on the road might only include 9-10 states, most that we’ve been in before, but will also include our first fly away vacation for a cruise next February.Our plans are to travel slower, less miles and enjoy life a little more along the way.
Since we’re returned back to the area we used to live, we’ve been asked several times, what do we miss?Havinga hard time coming up with a very long list, we miss a few of our closest friends and have enjoyed catching up with them, other than that we’re really having troublethinking of things we miss, the list of things we don’t miss is far longer!!!We’re in better shape for the second year on the road than we were for the first, now both of us are driving the rig so long travel days can be a shared responsibility, we’ve continued to purge and aren’t missing any of that “stuff”, we now have solar for more boon docking this winter and we are so looking forward to see what adventures lie ahead.Originally we said we would do this for 3 years and re-evaluate, we’re 1/3rd of way into that time frame and unless a health issue occurs, I don’t see us stopping any time soon.
Life on the road is GOOD!!!!!
cherylbrv said
04:01 PM Jul 14, 2014
I can't wait to meet you guys some day! You continue to be such a great inspiration. I don't think I could get through as much as I have without folks -- FAMILY -- like you and others here.
Neil and Connie said
04:50 PM Jul 14, 2014
Congrats on completing the first year…we finished our second last month as well and the time sure does fly. Been having fun and seeing places…but are seriously considering selling our inflatable SeaEagle Kayak and getting us one of those Hobie Mirages with the bicycle pedal propulsion system. The SeaEagle just doesn't track as well as it should…we've tried more air, less air, straightening the skegs and a couple of other things but nothing has really worked so far. Add in that one doesn't really want to store the thing away wet as it will quickly mildew…and this means that you generally have to be done kayaking 2 or maybe 3 days (depending on weather) before you leave and we haven't gotten paddling as much as we would like. We have gotten in plenty of hikes, lots or bike rides, and our recently completed 3 week trip to Ireland while the rig was getting worked on though…and are looking forward to the rest of our summer and early fall in the upper midwest as we've never really seen much of that part of the country.
Technomadia said
10:01 PM Jul 14, 2014
Happy 1st Nomadiversary!!
DebbieM said
12:08 AM Jul 15, 2014
Congrats Ruth & Dale! While you're ending your first year, we are beginning ours. Glad to have met you both and hopefully we'll meet again!
Camper Chronicles said
04:38 AM Jul 15, 2014
Happy anniversary Ruth and Dale. I've been paying close attention to your travels since I joined the forum and appreciate so much your honesty and commitment to the lifestyle. There are a few couples I talked about all he time and you are one of them as I love how you are making working on the road work. That's quite a list of challenges the first year but as always your positive attitude comes through. Mainly Ruth it gives me hope that us Type A's can be truly happy in this life. Thank you for sharing your journey with us.
Trace
Joe_Camper said
05:04 AM Jul 15, 2014
Happy Full-time Anniversary, Ruth and Dale! I also have been following along and watching your progress. We are just days away from our start!
Rob_Fla said
06:02 AM Jul 15, 2014
Congratulation's on your 1st Anniversary !!!
We are closing in on our 3rd Anniversary, we are so glad we made the change.
Our health is better, our stress is much lower, we have been to and seen some awesome places in the last 3 years.
We have also met some great people in our travels and made lots of new friends along the way.
Dog Folks said
06:30 AM Jul 15, 2014
Now that you have been in the lifestyle a year, we can let in on the full timers"secret."
(scroll down)
It only gets better and better from here!
-- Edited by Dog Folks on Tuesday 15th of July 2014 06:30:32 AM
NWescapee said
08:48 AM Jul 15, 2014
Dog Folks - love it, it only gets better
bjoyce said
09:27 AM Jul 15, 2014
It does only get better.
WestWardHo said
10:58 AM Jul 15, 2014
Congratulations on your huge first year! I agree that you two are an inspiration to many besides being exceptional communicators and downright nice people - the best part of this lifestyle.
Sherry
WendysPhotos said
12:18 PM Jul 15, 2014
Thank You so much for sharing! Your account makes our views of full-timing so much more clear. We are looking forward to it and slowly moving forward.
Congratulations to both on this journey that you have made!
Hdrider said
03:56 PM Jul 15, 2014
Congrats on making through the first year!! And we are looking forward to the time we run into each other again.
Ann-Hank said
05:16 PM Jul 15, 2014
Congrats to you both. Glad we were able to meet up again on the road last summer.
Now you and Sherry are making me feel ashamed. I'm scared to death to drive this thing on the highway. I did drive and try to park at Rivers Bend Resort while in Harrisburg OR waiting to get our solar installed. There were not very many people in the park at the time, so felt OK. Guess I'll just have to pull up my big girl panties and dive in.
Hope to see ya round the bend
NWescapee said
06:55 PM Jul 15, 2014
Dave & Diane - hope to see you guys down the road somewhere, maybe AZ this winter??
Ann - Sherry is the one who inspired me to get my act together and learn to drive this rig. Now, that being said, congrats to Sherry, she posted on Facebook that she has now managed to successfully back the rig into a campsite. I've yet to even try that, so far my driving has all been highway driving and not much in cities. RV Driving school really helped and was a good marriage saver. Dale had to keep his mouth shut and sit in the back seat However, now feels comfortable enough to read his Kindle while I'm driving so I must not be doing too bad.
dianneandsteve said
09:23 PM Jul 15, 2014
Congrats Dale and Ruth on reaching year one! We just reached year 4 last month and can't believe how fast that went. Hope to meet up with you again when we head south this winter.
Safe travels!
Ann-Hank said
02:15 PM Jul 16, 2014
Thanks Ruth, I started to take Driving School class last summer, but didn't feel comfortable enough with the truck, so backed out. Now I feel very much at ease in the truck. There is a guy that teaches the class up in Sequim, may have to make a trip up and take the class and see old friends.
NWescapee said
02:22 PM Jul 16, 2014
Ann - we're headed to Sequim tonight, it's Lavender Festival time. We'll say Hi to Port Angeles for you
shystywolf said
02:35 PM Jul 16, 2014
happy anniversary! I can not wait to say the same but first I have to get a rig. :)
Trabuco said
06:41 PM Jul 16, 2014
Congrats on the first year! Ours was 32 states and 15,000 miles. Enjoyed every minute of it. We have slowed a bit, will spend the next 4 months in the Pacific Northwest.
NWescapee said
09:06 AM Jul 17, 2014
Ken and Roxanne - where are you guys now and where will you be over the next few months? Spokane?? We are headed to Coeur d'Alene next weekend. Would love to see you guys again.
Trabuco said
10:05 AM Jul 17, 2014
Ruth,
Currently Southern California. Leaving soon for the Pacific Northwest for 4 to 5 weeks. Then moving to Spokane for a week or two. After that we'll move into Idaho, Montana, Wyoming before heading south middle of October. No exact dates yet. I'll PM you guys as we get closer to see if we can get together.
Fergizmo said
01:14 PM Jul 18, 2014
congrats from the Fergs. We are glad to have met you and will see you again I'm sure. It is a wonderful life.
bjoyce said
03:35 PM Jul 18, 2014
It looks like we will be missing you. Right now we are in Poulsbo and will move to the Olympia area next week.
Bob and Lindy said
07:40 PM Jul 18, 2014
Congrats on the first year. We are working on finishing our second month, it is exciting to realize what we are doing. Congratulations!
Ann-Hank said
10:32 AM Jul 19, 2014
If anyone is close to us, would love to meet, or see again. We are at LePage Park, the confluence of the John Day River and the Columbia River about 100 miles from Portland and Pendleton . Nice park and LOTS of dispersed camping only 4-5 miles away.
I really can’t believe it’s been a year since we left our driveway for the last time, it’s gone so fast, but then again, part of me thinks, has it really only been a year? So much has happened in this very short year. We’ve been in 14 states over the year, mountains and coastal areas in the summer, desert in the winter, haven’t quite achieved our goal of following the sunshine all the time, but have had more consistent good weather vs. bad weather for our first year.
We were reminiscing about the year, we’ve had a few challenges including a problematic RV fridge, evacuation due to flooding, changing plans and doing a very fast 1000 mile journey to be with Dale’s mom during her last week on earth, surviving our first ice storm in an RV, watching the news at a relative’s house showing 5 bands of tornadoes passing about 10 miles north of where our RV was parked, a few mechanical issues that always seem to happen at the worst possible time, etc.
We’ve also had a year filled with blessings, being able to spend the time needed with family when we lost Dale’s mom and since we had our home on wheels with us, we were able to stay around far longer than if we still had a S&B home, making new friends, deepening other friendships, having more ability to contribute to charity when the need arises because our expenses on the road are so much less than a S&B home, exploring new areas, etc. We had more time to hike, bike and kayak in this year than we had in the 3 years prior to this combined so we’re finding time for a little more fun time as we continue to work while on the road. We’ve been to more museums, botanical gardens and other tourist destinations in one year than we usually visit in 5 years.
It’s been a year of figuring out what kind of travel schedule works best for us with our work schedules, realizing that logistical planning is much more complex and time consuming in this lifestyle than our old one, but at the same time we’ve reveled in the flexibility we’ve had and the ability we’ve had to make plans and change them quickly when needed. Dale’s wondering where his “Type A” wife went to, well, she’s still here, just a little more relaxed than she used to beJ We’ve learned that we really like stays of 10 days – 3 weeks, moving frequently when we’re both working adds a complexity we try to avoid. We like to stay in an general area for a couple of months at a time with a few changes in campgrounds as needed, giving us a few weekend days free to explore and evenings for bike rides, kayaking opportunities or walks. Moves of 400 miles or less are, for us, best accomplished in one driving day, leaving the other weekend day free to well, have a weekend day without travel. Our second year on the road might only include 9-10 states, most that we’ve been in before, but will also include our first fly away vacation for a cruise next February. Our plans are to travel slower, less miles and enjoy life a little more along the way.
Since we’re returned back to the area we used to live, we’ve been asked several times, what do we miss? Having a hard time coming up with a very long list, we miss a few of our closest friends and have enjoyed catching up with them, other than that we’re really having trouble thinking of things we miss, the list of things we don’t miss is far longer!!! We’re in better shape for the second year on the road than we were for the first, now both of us are driving the rig so long travel days can be a shared responsibility, we’ve continued to purge and aren’t missing any of that “stuff”, we now have solar for more boon docking this winter and we are so looking forward to see what adventures lie ahead. Originally we said we would do this for 3 years and re-evaluate, we’re 1/3rd of way into that time frame and unless a health issue occurs, I don’t see us stopping any time soon.
Life on the road is GOOD!!!!!
Congrats on completing the first year…we finished our second last month as well and the time sure does fly. Been having fun and seeing places…but are seriously considering selling our inflatable SeaEagle Kayak and getting us one of those Hobie Mirages with the bicycle pedal propulsion system. The SeaEagle just doesn't track as well as it should…we've tried more air, less air, straightening the skegs and a couple of other things but nothing has really worked so far. Add in that one doesn't really want to store the thing away wet as it will quickly mildew…and this means that you generally have to be done kayaking 2 or maybe 3 days (depending on weather) before you leave and we haven't gotten paddling as much as we would like. We have gotten in plenty of hikes, lots or bike rides, and our recently completed 3 week trip to Ireland while the rig was getting worked on though…and are looking forward to the rest of our summer and early fall in the upper midwest as we've never really seen much of that part of the country.
Congrats Ruth & Dale! While you're ending your first year, we are beginning ours. Glad to have met you both and hopefully we'll meet again!
Trace
Happy Full-time Anniversary, Ruth and Dale! I also have been following along and watching your progress. We are just days away from our start!
We are closing in on our 3rd Anniversary, we are so glad we made the change.
Our health is better, our stress is much lower, we have been to and seen some awesome places in the last 3 years.
We have also met some great people in our travels and made lots of new friends along the way.
Now that you have been in the lifestyle a year, we can let in on the full timers"secret."
(scroll down)
It only gets better and better from here!
-- Edited by Dog Folks on Tuesday 15th of July 2014 06:30:32 AM
Dog Folks - love it, it only gets better


Sherry
Congratulations to both on this journey that you have made!
Now you and Sherry are making me feel ashamed. I'm scared to death to drive this thing on the highway. I did drive and try to park at Rivers Bend Resort while in Harrisburg OR waiting to get our solar installed. There were not very many people in the park at the time, so felt OK. Guess I'll just have to pull up my big girl panties and dive in.
Hope to see ya round the bend
Dave & Diane - hope to see you guys down the road somewhere, maybe AZ this winter??
However, now feels comfortable enough to read his Kindle while I'm driving so I must not be doing too bad.
Ann - Sherry is the one who inspired me to get my act together and learn to drive this rig. Now, that being said, congrats to Sherry, she posted on Facebook that she has now managed to successfully back the rig into a campsite. I've yet to even try that, so far my driving has all been highway driving and not much in cities. RV Driving school really helped and was a good marriage saver. Dale had to keep his mouth shut and sit in the back seat
Congrats Dale and Ruth on reaching year one! We just reached year 4 last month and can't believe how fast that went. Hope to meet up with you again when we head south this winter.
Safe travels!
Ann - we're headed to Sequim tonight, it's Lavender Festival time. We'll say Hi to Port Angeles for you
Ruth,
Currently Southern California. Leaving soon for the Pacific Northwest for 4 to 5 weeks. Then moving to Spokane for a week or two. After that we'll move into Idaho, Montana, Wyoming before heading south middle of October. No exact dates yet. I'll PM you guys as we get closer to see if we can get together.