Hello everyone! This is Cheryl posting. We have been thinking about going full time for a few years. Well Friday we made the decision and bought a 39 ft Voltage toy hauler 5th wheel. We traded in our 18 ft toy hauler. The toy is a 2 seater razor. Rob will pull it with his F350. We have lived in a travel trailer before, for a few months, with a teen son, 100 lb dog and a....mom. It wasn't too hard and now it will be just us 2, the 100lb dog and our newest addition, 2 yr old 70 lb German Sheppard.
Rob retired from the AF in 2012. He now works on Hill AFB as a DBA. I am a secretary for a fighter squadron here as well. Both of our sons are in the AF, one in SC and one in AK but moving to DE this fall. We have a granddaughter in TN as well. Empty nesting has been hard. We moved here to UT 2 years ago with plans to grow roots, but like normal, that didn't happen and we need change. So here we go. We currently have a 6 bedroom home that is way too big for us. This past weekend we went in hard and heavy and threw stuff away, made a few runs to the thrift stores, and had a yard sale. We sold lots of furniture. Tomorrow we are listing the house, we live in a popular neighborhood where houses are selling super fast so this might happen even faster. We are going to live locally for a bit, until Rob finds a job somewhere else, we aren't even sure where we will go fitst! Eventually we will be living on his retirement and disability.
This has been a roller coaster for us, but most of it is positive, we are excited and still scared. Those who know us aren't surprised, we have gypsy blood in us. We hope to gather experiences instead of "things". I am so excited to have found this site!
jrzygrl64 said
11:16 PM Jul 4, 2016
Welcome! The last part of your post is why most of us are here: to gather experiences and not things! You will fit right in here!
DunnDeal82 said
11:49 AM Jul 5, 2016
Rob and Cheryl, welcome!
We have a very similar story, we are planning on full-timing until we are totally retired in a couple of years. We are starting now with the house sale and downsizing part so we can be fully ready when the time is right. We are both scared and excited all at the same time.
We found this site a couple of weeks ago and I have to tell you the people on here are wonderful and so very helpful and insightful, it has made our decision much easier and helped with our fears as well. :)
Good luck and hopefully we will see you out there somewhere.
Dave
Rob and Cheryl O said
04:21 AM Jul 9, 2016
Morning all! Been about a week since we decided to jump in head first and most of it has gone smooth! We sold/gave away 80 percent of the furniture (we live in a 6 bedroom, 4 bath, 3 story home!) and had a impromptu yard sale selling off little stuff, yard stuff, junk :) We are having one more go at the yard sale today (cant have them on Sundays.....UTAH!) But then Wednesday my husband found out he IS indeed getting 100% disability from the VA (right now he is 80) and it might be none-working. We aren't sure yet, just another thing we have to figure out. But with that said, we decided not to get the 5th wheel at this time, wait and see. We have a nice, little, (sigh!) toy hauler that is GREAT for camping, but we can live in it temporarily. It will be perfect to haul across the states to NC, if Rob gets the job there (if he is 100% - working). The plan is still in motion, we just think its best to hold out on the actual purchase of the 39 footer (and much bigger payment) until after the house sells (have 2nd showing today) and he gets ALL his VA info.
I hope it is ok to still poke around here!!
el Rojo and Pam said
09:11 AM Jul 9, 2016
Welcome Rob and Cheryl! Sounds like the house is moving along quickly. Pam and I also Full time in a toy hauler and it works good for us.
Red
NorCal Dan said
04:38 PM Jul 9, 2016
Welcome, and thanks for your service. Absolutely stick around...no better place to ask questions and get answers ;)
WestWardHo said
09:44 AM Jul 10, 2016
Welcome Rob and Cheryl,
Thank you for your service. As retired Military you can stay in many inexpensive Fam camps on bases all over the country.
Hope the house sells very soon.
Sherry
Rob and Cheryl O said
05:51 AM Sep 8, 2016
WELL, things changed, and fast! The house sold in 4 days, closed the 20th of Aug. My husband got offered a job in NC and accepted it. We sold everything we owned, well about 95%. The rest went into the rig or into weathersealed storage boxes and is now in a 4x4 storage (some military memorabilia, family heirlooms, etc). We ended up deciding on a 5th wheel, realizing that the toy hauler might be too heavy for hubbys F350. We got the Big country 3450TS. Its perfect for us and the dogs. I traded my Subaru wagon in for a new one with a bigger engine, we bought a light aluminum trailer and I pulled the Razor on that. Took us a LONG 7 days to get from UT to NC, we stopped in TX to drop some stuff off to my mom. Trip was ok, hubby did great pulling the rig, with only a small mishap at a gas station where he scrapped the side and made the steps wonky (getting new steps next week). We found an RV resort outside of Fayetteville (hubby is working on Ft Bragg) and so far are really enjoying it here. We have had some issues with internet and tv, very frustrating. Finally got internet, but its no where near as fast as we are use to and decided on Sling TV for now....we will see if that changes down the road. Got a nice spot, on a corner so we don't feel closed in.
Next week we are also getting a w/d as I have found the laundry mat gets expensive. We decided to remove the dinette set and we put our GSDs crate there with a wooden table built over it to use as a media center sort of and got a pop up coffee table to use as a desk/eating table. I found great ways to hang a few family pictures and some wall décor and it really feels like home. Trying to figure out the best way to utilize the storage (which theres actually a lot of) and trying to learn how to use the convection oven!
Want to see about a sensor for the awning as well.
I really am enjoying little living, cleaning house takes no time at all :)
Hello everyone! This is Cheryl posting. We have been thinking about going full time for a few years. Well Friday we made the decision and bought a 39 ft Voltage toy hauler 5th wheel. We traded in our 18 ft toy hauler. The toy is a 2 seater razor. Rob will pull it with his F350. We have lived in a travel trailer before, for a few months, with a teen son, 100 lb dog and a....mom. It wasn't too hard and now it will be just us 2, the 100lb dog and our newest addition, 2 yr old 70 lb German Sheppard.
Rob retired from the AF in 2012. He now works on Hill AFB as a DBA. I am a secretary for a fighter squadron here as well. Both of our sons are in the AF, one in SC and one in AK but moving to DE this fall. We have a granddaughter in TN as well. Empty nesting has been hard. We moved here to UT 2 years ago with plans to grow roots, but like normal, that didn't happen and we need change. So here we go. We currently have a 6 bedroom home that is way too big for us. This past weekend we went in hard and heavy and threw stuff away, made a few runs to the thrift stores, and had a yard sale. We sold lots of furniture. Tomorrow we are listing the house, we live in a popular neighborhood where houses are selling super fast so this might happen even faster. We are going to live locally for a bit, until Rob finds a job somewhere else, we aren't even sure where we will go fitst! Eventually we will be living on his retirement and disability.
This has been a roller coaster for us, but most of it is positive, we are excited and still scared. Those who know us aren't surprised, we have gypsy blood in us. We hope to gather experiences instead of "things". I am so excited to have found this site!
We have a very similar story, we are planning on full-timing until we are totally retired in a couple of years. We are starting now with the house sale and downsizing part so we can be fully ready when the time is right. We are both scared and excited all at the same time.
We found this site a couple of weeks ago and I have to tell you the people on here are wonderful and so very helpful and insightful, it has made our decision much easier and helped with our fears as well. :)
Good luck and hopefully we will see you out there somewhere.
Dave
I hope it is ok to still poke around here!!
Red
Thank you for your service. As retired Military you can stay in many inexpensive Fam camps on bases all over the country.
Hope the house sells very soon.
Sherry
Next week we are also getting a w/d as I have found the laundry mat gets expensive. We decided to remove the dinette set and we put our GSDs crate there with a wooden table built over it to use as a media center sort of and got a pop up coffee table to use as a desk/eating table. I found great ways to hang a few family pictures and some wall décor and it really feels like home. Trying to figure out the best way to utilize the storage (which theres actually a lot of) and trying to learn how to use the convection oven!
Want to see about a sensor for the awning as well.
I really am enjoying little living, cleaning house takes no time at all :)