Introduction

I am Mark and my wife is Jackie. I retired from AF active duty in 96. Spent most of my career in Space Command in Florida and Colorado. Now I am looking forward to a fulltime deployment to all corners of the good ole USA.

Two weeks ago we began talking about full timing after we looked at a Discovery V model. We loved the open feel with the full side slide. We both agreed that we wanted to go fulltime when we retired. I was surprised when she suggested it but since she is an adventurer I guess I shouldn't have been. Over the next few days I got so excited about the possibilities I decided to run a couple of financial scenarios and see what popped up. The realization that I wasn't really working to make a heap of money and that I wasn't going to get promoted to CEO made me think that there was no real good reason to work till I was 62 or 65. So I laid it in front of her. Why don't we retire at 59. She
agreed and since then we have began thinking about 58 instead. This gives us a few years to shop, buy, configure with the right toys, sell the stuff we own, and learn all we can about the RV lifestyle before taking the ultimate step. So there is the plan. We will still do some work camping to stay busy and earn some extra cash but there is no reason to work full-time once the coach is paid for.

Being on the road will give us the opportunity to see the remaining states we haven't visited. Drop in on the kids more frequently than if we were tied to a house. Meet new people with similar interests. Spend a summer in Maine eating lobster and the winter taking the grandkids to Disney World. I don't know what the prevailing philosophy among full-timers is but personally, I don't want to pull into the same old driveway every day while I'm waiting for God. I want to fill up a chest full of memories that will keep us both vibrant till we are too frail to dump the black tank.

Hope to see you all on the road. Oh yeah, one more thing... I know that a concern of RV users is the gas mileage and the cost associated with it. So, can somebody tell me how it is that the Spaniards went thousands of miles on a galleon?

Mark & Jackie
"Married so long our DNA is the same"

Nearing retirement, I sold the house knowing that we were going to move back to our home state. The furniture was placed into temp storage and we moved temporarily into the RV. Then I was extended. I did retire after several more months, but that temporary RV living solution has turned into three years of full timing.

We have several RV friends. One is full timing, another converted to extended traveling, most are weekenders, and one sold the RV. It has been very enjoyable (well most of it), but we?ve now gotten a desire to live in more than 400 sf so we?re building a small house and will convert to extended travelers.

I think lifestyle dictates the choice. As with most things totally new, and being a full timer is a new experience, it would be a 50/50 decision. It will come with some surprises. For one, where are you going to live when the rig needs to go in the shop for a couple weeks? There are some belongings that you won?t want to part with and Uncle Sam will pay non-temp HHG storage for only one year without a good reason for extension. The retirement check by itself won?t allow for all the costs associated with traveling constantly and doing the tourist thing. Then there is getting mail, medical treatment, etc.

I found some humor in BeerSnob?s comment about the RV?s ?open feel.? I thought that too when we selected a 40? motor home with two very large slides. But the reality is that two people are living 24/7 in the space of a house living and bedroom.

I wished I had time to plan the event, but full timing was semi-forced on us. We aren?t unhappy with the outcome. We enjoyed traveling even before this and it?s been a pleasure that we would not have wanted to miss just to have a house.

What?s life for if we don?t make the most of it by acting on a few desires while we have the health to enjoy them? And being a full timer isn?t an irreversible decision.