Just wanted to let you all know I just hit "publish" for the first of 2 year one end summary blog posts. WOW!
This one is about some of our year end numbers and I also talk about the mods we have done to make our rig more our own. This is my attempt at "paying it forward" and hopefully help someone else out.
I would like to thank each and everyone of you for all your help and support in helping Bill and I to achieve our full time RV'ing dream!
Please feel free to comment and let me know what you think!
This is a great blog post. Well worth the time to read. The details on their first year are amazing and well presented. If you are a numbers person you will enjoy this post.
Thanks Kelly and Bill for taking the time and effort to share your experience.
jrzygrl64 said
11:59 AM Aug 29, 2015
Thanks Russ for reading, Bill and I are very glad you enjoyed it! We loved putting it together for everyone!
Be on the look out in a week or so for the second installment!
NWescapee said
03:12 PM Aug 29, 2015
I'm a numbers person!! Great post, it's always interesting to hear different experiences and perspectives of this FT life on the road.
jrzygrl64 said
05:05 PM Aug 29, 2015
Thanks Ruth! Couldn't agree more! I am also a believer in the more info you can get the better - so it is awesome when we can all share our knowledge and help each other out!
marianne57 said
05:35 PM Aug 29, 2015
Thanks Kelly and Bill! This was really a great blog with a lot of great information for those of us preparing. We're also from PA heading out next year, so seeing some real numbers like this, seems to make it a little easier to plan. Granted, we all have different things going on, but basically it sounds like you're doing very similar to how we will be traveling also. Thanks again, and take care out there. Maybe see you somewhere!
jrzygrl64 said
05:40 PM Aug 29, 2015
That would be great Marianne! Would love it! We will actually be back in Lancaster in a few weeks - would love to meet up if we can find a good time!
bjoyce said
06:07 PM Aug 29, 2015
Interesting reading. Comparing to our first year, it is obvious that each of us fulltime's differently.
Random thoughts and comments: We physically moved to a nearby campground on July 9, 2003 after moving out of the house, so it is easy for us to use that date for when we went fulltime. The house closed in September, when we were in New York and had put over 4,200 miles on the RV. We don't miss the house and really want to live in the greater Seattle area again. We don't mind visiting it, we are here now, but the traffic gets to us quickly. We also had many 1 night stays and our longest stay of 23 nights was at a repair facility. Otherwise our longest stay was 14 nights. We still move more than you do, it seems to fit our style. (We stayed one night in 46 states during our first year. We missed Wyoming and California of the lower 48, but had camped in them pre-fulltime and have camped in them since. Yes, we/are crazy.) We also spent some time in the Florida Keys our first year. (We also spent two weeks at Sunshine Key this last November, on a Thousand Trails deal, but it was $43.88 a night with taxes.) We changed RVs our first year on the road. This was not unexpected, but is not the norm. (We still have the RV we bought that year). The biggest change to us is the internet. We were cutting edge then with a tripod mounted internet satellite dish.
Everyday is an adventure.
I hope I am not causing any hijacking of this thread.
-- Edited by bjoyce on Saturday 29th of August 2015 06:08:13 PM
BiggarView said
07:00 PM Aug 29, 2015
Great blog post. We haven't figured out the second car or not question yet but your (Bill's) numbers make a good case for having one. On the down side for us, both of our current vehicles are 11 and 12 years old. Both in excellent mechanical condition now thanks to major repairs last year. Since we are looking at a minimum 3 years till FT... not sure we we can stretch out owning them for much more than that.
Your reported CG expenses were very enlightening. We'll probably take advantage of TT thru Cindi's fathers membership when he passes it on to us. We're hoping for around 525/mth for CG expenses in 2015 dollars so it sounds like we'll have to use the TT membership and boondock for a combo of less than 100 days a year to stay within our goal. Your info helped fill in some guesses we were making in this area.
Loved the mods.
Thanks for sharing.
-- Edited by biggaRView on Saturday 29th of August 2015 07:01:18 PM
jrzygrl64 said
09:52 PM Aug 29, 2015
Thanks for reading!
Bill - we all do find our own way to live this lifestyle - just as we did in our previous lives in our S&B. Bill and I could never keep up the pace you do! I'm glad it works for you!
I can imagine internet being a larger issue "back in the day" than it is now - although we have considered a booster for when we don't have a good enough Verizon signal to get good wifi off the hotspot, which has happened a few times.
Thanks for your thoughts! I always appreciate hearing from the more experienced among us!
Brian - thank you also for your comments! I am glad something I wrote was helpful to you! My car is a 2006 CR-V with 155,000'ish miles on it. We've owned it since it was 3 years old, it came with all maintenance records and he has taken immaculate care of it since, so we have no worries that we can get many more miles out of it. We may have made a different decision to keep it if it wasn't in such great shape. We were also of the mindset that we can always sell it later. We read and heard about others who had gotten rid of their car and had regrets later.
We have considered the idea of expanding our TT membership - maybe looking for a "used" one through a broker, we are tabling that conversation for now, as we are also thinking we will be workkamping, therefore not using TT.
Glad you liked the mods - we do also! I'm so glad Bill is handy - it helps a lot!
Kelly
Someday said
11:25 PM Aug 29, 2015
Kelly and Bill, bless yer hearts for sharing such useful info on your first year on the road. I'm very much a numbers person as well, so it was a wonderful read. Kudos to you for bringing it all together and sharing so kindly.
May your second and subsequent years be as wonderful as the first.
SD.
PS: I was thrilled to read your comments on the Escapees forum as well. Like you we too think they are a fabulous organization to support. Happy Travels.
jrzygrl64 said
08:23 AM Aug 30, 2015
Thanks SD! We enjoyed putting it together! Please be on the lookout for the second part in a week or so!
azrving said
10:49 PM Aug 30, 2015
Great Post! Can't wait to join all you full timers...we haven't even pulled the rv out of the yard for two years now.
Camper Chronicles said
07:02 AM Aug 31, 2015
Congratulations sweetie!! So happy to have been a part of your journey
-- Edited by Lee and Trace on Monday 31st of August 2015 07:03:02 AM
jrzygrl64 said
06:39 PM Aug 31, 2015
Thanks Tracy! I'm glad too!
CJSX2fromCT said
07:41 AM Sep 1, 2015
What a GREAT read this has been, thank you for sharing. Could you possible send me the info on your solar package? place bought and all components. how hard was the install? I'm looking to purchase a solar package in the near future. On your Thousand trails purchase... did you buy in on a new package or bought from someone selling theirs? you can email me at movenit4u@yahoo.com Thank you again for posting this Chris.
jrzygrl64 said
12:38 PM Sep 1, 2015
You are very welcome, Chris! I will send an email.
Thanks for reading!
DeeJee said
04:33 PM Sep 1, 2015
Happy 1st Anniversary!! That was a very enjoyable read:) Thanks for taking the time to type out your year in review!! I LOVE the back splash!! After a few weather related power outages and too many one night, late check ins, we've decided the generator is necessary, but don't want to keep it in the truck so we're going to upgrade the rig. Next year should be even better!
jrzygrl64 said
08:39 PM Sep 1, 2015
Thanks for reading! Glad you liked it - and the back splash!
Looks like you guys are coming up on 2 years - wow! Congrats!
Hi Everyone!
Just wanted to let you all know I just hit "publish" for the first of 2 year one end summary blog posts. WOW!
This one is about some of our year end numbers and I also talk about the mods we have done to make our rig more our own. This is my attempt at "paying it forward" and hopefully help someone else out.
I would like to thank each and everyone of you for all your help and support in helping Bill and I to achieve our full time RV'ing dream!
Please feel free to comment and let me know what you think!
http://bkamericanodyssey.com/2015/08/28/year-one-summary-on-stuff/
Thanks Kelly and Bill for taking the time and effort to share your experience.
Be on the look out in a week or so for the second installment!
Thanks Kelly and Bill! This was really a great blog with a lot of great information for those of us preparing. We're also from PA heading out next year, so seeing some real numbers like this, seems to make it a little easier to plan. Granted, we all have different things going on, but basically it sounds like you're doing very similar to how we will be traveling also. Thanks again, and take care out there. Maybe see you somewhere!
Interesting reading. Comparing to our first year, it is obvious that each of us fulltime's differently.
Random thoughts and comments:
We physically moved to a nearby campground on July 9, 2003 after moving out of the house, so it is easy for us to use that date for when we went fulltime. The house closed in September, when we were in New York and had put over 4,200 miles on the RV. We don't miss the house and really want to live in the greater Seattle area again. We don't mind visiting it, we are here now, but the traffic gets to us quickly.
We also had many 1 night stays and our longest stay of 23 nights was at a repair facility. Otherwise our longest stay was 14 nights. We still move more than you do, it seems to fit our style. (We stayed one night in 46 states during our first year. We missed Wyoming and California of the lower 48, but had camped in them pre-fulltime and have camped in them since. Yes, we/are crazy.)
We also spent some time in the Florida Keys our first year. (We also spent two weeks at Sunshine Key this last November, on a Thousand Trails deal, but it was $43.88 a night with taxes.)
We changed RVs our first year on the road. This was not unexpected, but is not the norm. (We still have the RV we bought that year).
The biggest change to us is the internet. We were cutting edge then with a tripod mounted internet satellite dish.
Everyday is an adventure.
I hope I am not causing any hijacking of this thread.
-- Edited by bjoyce on Saturday 29th of August 2015 06:08:13 PM
Great blog post. We haven't figured out the second car or not question yet but your (Bill's
) numbers make a good case for having one. On the down side for us, both of our current vehicles are 11 and 12 years old. Both in excellent mechanical condition now thanks to major repairs last year. Since we are looking at a minimum 3 years till FT... not sure we we can stretch out owning them for much more than that.
Your reported CG expenses were very enlightening. We'll probably take advantage of TT thru Cindi's fathers membership when he passes it on to us. We're hoping for around 525/mth for CG expenses in 2015 dollars so it sounds like we'll have to use the TT membership and boondock for a combo of less than 100 days a year to stay within our goal. Your info helped fill in some guesses we were making in this area.
Loved the mods.
Thanks for sharing.
-- Edited by biggaRView on Saturday 29th of August 2015 07:01:18 PM
Bill - we all do find our own way to live this lifestyle - just as we did in our previous lives in our S&B. Bill and I could never keep up the pace you do! I'm glad it works for you!
I can imagine internet being a larger issue "back in the day" than it is now - although we have considered a booster for when we don't have a good enough Verizon signal to get good wifi off the hotspot, which has happened a few times.
Thanks for your thoughts! I always appreciate hearing from the more experienced among us!
Brian - thank you also for your comments! I am glad something I wrote was helpful to you! My car is a 2006 CR-V with 155,000'ish miles on it. We've owned it since it was 3 years old, it came with all maintenance records and he has taken immaculate care of it since, so we have no worries that we can get many more miles out of it. We may have made a different decision to keep it if it wasn't in such great shape. We were also of the mindset that we can always sell it later. We read and heard about others who had gotten rid of their car and had regrets later.
We have considered the idea of expanding our TT membership - maybe looking for a "used" one through a broker, we are tabling that conversation for now, as we are also thinking we will be workkamping, therefore not using TT.
Glad you liked the mods - we do also! I'm so glad Bill is handy - it helps a lot!
Kelly
May your second and subsequent years be as wonderful as the first.
SD.
PS: I was thrilled to read your comments on the Escapees forum as well. Like you we too think they are a fabulous organization to support. Happy Travels.
Great Post! Can't wait to join all you full timers...we haven't even pulled the rv out of the yard for two years now.
Congratulations sweetie!! So happy to have been a part of your journey
-- Edited by Lee and Trace on Monday 31st of August 2015 07:03:02 AM
What a GREAT read this has been, thank you for sharing. Could you possible send me the info on your solar package? place bought and all components. how hard was the install? I'm looking to purchase a solar package in the near future. On your Thousand trails purchase... did you buy in on a new package or bought from someone selling theirs? you can email me at movenit4u@yahoo.com Thank you again for posting this Chris.
Thanks for reading!
Happy 1st Anniversary!! That was a very enjoyable read:) Thanks for taking the time to type out your year in review!! I LOVE the back splash!! After a few weather related power outages and too many one night, late check ins, we've decided the generator is necessary, but don't want to keep it in the truck so we're going to upgrade the rig. Next year should be even better!
Looks like you guys are coming up on 2 years - wow! Congrats!