Lazy Daze Owners' Group

This is an interesting subject to me.  I don’t think my wife and I could make a come tent to fulltiming  permanently. But we live in the Washington DC metropolitan area. Once she retires we will not be able to live here and actually with the current traffic and congestion I would not want to no mater how much I love my neighbors and the area.  Gina brought up the idea of selling our place and living in the RV until we found a place we loved as much. My parents did a similar thing before they retired so it was not so hard to talk me into the idea. We will have to solve the issues of “home of record”, mail, and the like while we travel. So we are not really full timer Wantabee as much as we would just be vagabonds.

I’ve really enjoyed these posts.  What I am reading into the initial post is a longing for a simpler life.  One of the links I am posting is from someone who is using his RV in a stationary fashion as a tiny home, and the reason I post it is because of some of the excellent comments he makes on having less, rather than suggesting you stay put in a tiny home.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXSrsX3-oPg,   the next one is the link to theminimalists.com.  I am at the beginning of my journey to RVing full time and I can already say that I think this will be for a year, but who knows.  I am nearly 60, and a solo woman, but this is what I have done. I have a really good job, which I can rejoin if I want to, but highly stressful and I was getting burnt out. I have sold my pricey home and mortgage and bought one of these doublewide mobile homes, in a very nice senior living park,  which is safe and gated.  I bought it outright and now pay $500 a month for the ground rent, which includes water, trash and locked RV storage.  I have Xeroscaped the small surrounding land, and  I have a place to store all my belongings which is less than the rent for a climate controlled storage unit in my area. I have been slowly donating all my excess things, and may eventually “right size” my stuff .

Sawyer, as you noted, there are many living options, all of which bring their own set of challenges. You could get really simple and live in a cardboard box in downtown Los Angeles but there would be a whole new set of challenges with that.

Simply put, life is not easy and no matter your lifestyle choices, there will be challenges.  I think the key is to try and be happy where you are and to be thankful for what you have. My opinion only.

What a great thread and solid advice.  For Marie and me, it's been a process of downsizing and simplifying our lives.  After combining two households into a very large home in the Twin Cities, we bought a tiny place in Sebring, Florida, ordered a 27' MB from the mothership, chose what would fit in the Florida digs and gave away or sold everything else we were carrying with us up to that point.  After we picked up Bossa Nova in June 2017, we spent the first 5 months on the road, the next 5 in Florida and we're back on the road for five to six months.  We travel to see family and friends and sight-see along the way.  We've decided we could easily live in Bossa Nova full time if we had the urge, while at the same time, we could do the same in Sebring.  I must admit that when we get back to Sebring our tiny home seems like a "mansion", but when we are on the road, Bossa Nova doesn't feel cramped.     

Our place in Florida is inexpensive, and if a Hurricane blows it away (which almost happened last Fall), we'd be fine.  Our lives are full wherever we spend our time.  And I suppose, we'll know we've become "full-time" LDers when our friends in Florida start asking, "Whatever happened to Marie and David?"

David and Marie   

You know, Chris, I think so too.  We just visited Marie's oldest daughter Kathrine who had taken several of the paintings and pieces of pottery I had collected over the years as well as some of her mother's furniture.  I had a couple of initial twinges of "regret" when I saw a couple of the paintings I really like, but then thought, "isn't it great that someone in the family is enjoying them and we get to visit any time we want."  Loving life and looking forward to exploring Sioux Falls today.  What could be better?

David and Marie