Full-timing: Travels

[tbutler]

When we went full time we had some ideas of how we might plan our travels. It is apparent reading the posts and blogs that each of us has different ways of approaching the question of where shall we go? Jump in and share your thoughts and practices.

One of our basic tenants is common to many full timers. We will go south in winter! However, when we began talking about going full time, I envisioned spending the winter moving from place to place across the southern US. Instead, our practice for the entire eight years of our full timing has been to return to the same RV park in southern Texas. It happened by chance that we were in Texas our first trip out in the motor home. First, I signed up for a course in flying unusual attitudes. This was near Tomball, Texas at DW Hooks Airport north of Houston. While staying at the RV park in Tomball the owners mentioned the Rio Grande Valley as a wonderful place to spend the winter. The second piece that brought us to south Texas was an offer from some friends to meet us in San Antonio. They used to live in San Antonio, really loved the area and offered to show us around. We stayed for the month of December in San Antonio. By the end of the month, the temperatures were regularly near freezing at night. On New Years Day 2002 we had to either renew for additional time at the park near San Antonio or go further south. We elected to go further south. As we drove, the temperatures got warmer, the plants were green and then there were the palm trees! We checked in at one of the 100 or so RV parks in the Rio Grande Valley. We decided to stay for a week. Before the day was out, we signed up for two weeks and then for two months. We've been back to that same park every year since.

Spring and fall travels have been our time to visit family. We also take care of our doctor and dentist visits since those have to be done in the St. Louis area where our employment health insurance is based. We have family scattered across the country. One of Louise's daughters and her family live in California, another of Louise's daughters and her mother in Colorado. My mother is in the St. Louis area. My son and daughter and their families live there as well. We try to see them all whenever we can. The trips to Colorado and California are usually planned around our summer plans. The year we went to Alaska we stopped in California for a month before heading north. This spring we spent a month in Colorado before heading east to St. Louis and on to the Maritime Provinces of Canada. We'll make a swing through California this fall.

Our travels in summer are typically focused on natural wonders. We explored the deserts and National Parks of California our first summer out. We followed Lewis and Clark up the Missouri River in 2004 taking side trips to Glacier, Yellowstone and Mt. St. Helens. We've spent a summer in Alaska and climbed volcanoes, walked on glaciers and traveled to the Arctic Ocean. We're always interested in nature, we hike and climb in remote and seldom visited locations. We have been to all 49 of the continental states and through most of Canada. Our summers are never stationary. We are always touring through the late spring, summer and early fall.

Others have different habits of travel. Share your preferences with us. Those who are considering or new to full timing might find some interesting ideas among our experiences.

[sljuntunen@gmail.com]

Tom & Louise:

Hi from Duluth, Minn. Wife, Lynette, and I retired from here in Duluth back in 05, sold the house and ALL the "stuff" and hit the road full time and have been LOVIN IT ever since. We're presently back here (in Duluth) for a visit before heading on. Wife's family is from Mitchell area of S. Dakota so we'll visit there later then.....WHO KNOWS WHERE??

Read your post about choosing travel destinations and you're right, we pretty much follow a similar pattern although we don't "winter" in a single place but alternate along the Southern tier states between Florida, Texas, and Arizona. This past winter we kinda got stuck in Florida (Tampa area) for a whole 6 MONTHS!!!!....and BOY, was I ready to hit the road. NEVER again will we stay put for such a lengthy period.

Other than moving South for the winter months, we really don't have any pre-planned routes. Where we go just sorta....happens. We love Canada and ofcourse will absolutely return to ALASKA, and have not yet done so, but WILL take the rig over to Newfoundland some summer.

We simply never know where we're going till be get there . BUT IT SURE IS FUN!!! Steve & Lynette

[tbutler]

Steve and Lynette,

Thanks for the great post! Duluth! We were just telling another couple about our visit to Duluth last summer. We stayed at the marina and loved watching the Great Lakes ships coming and going under the high bridge! Really had a fantastic time and recommend a stop there to everyone.

I know what you mean about being in one place too long. We have occasionally packed up and taken a short trip during the winter and then returned to our winter home. We love our winter park and all the great people there. One year we spent two weeks at Big Bend National Park in late March. The desert plants were all in bloom and the weather was perfect for hiking. We did some 4 wheeling on some of the remote roads and just generally enjoyed the park. It was a refreshing break from the routine golf, bike rides, tennis, bowling, swimming, water volleyball and other activities at our home park. Besides the wonderful people and great activities, the advantage of staying at one winter location is that we have an annual lease on our lot. We can just show up and know our space is there for us. We have made improvements which can be sold to someone else if/when we decide to go somewhere else for the winter. The rates in south Texas are quite reasonable. If we stay five months, we are paying about $15 per night plus the electric used, about another $3 per night. Not bad for a first class facility. This coming year we will break up the winter stay with a cruise in March. We also do some weekend trips with friends. I fly small airplanes and we flew friends to Port Aransas, TX for a weekend.

We are thinking our next trip to Alaska will be via the ferry on the inside passage, making stops at landings along the way for extended visits. Newfoundland is on our radar this summer. We're not sure if we'll take the coach or just the toad. There is a presentation at the FMCA convention in Bowling Green on Newfoundland. It is on my list of must see things. Not having to make definite plans is part of the joy of full timing.

[ClayL]

We go from warm to warm, be that north or south with east west excursions as it suits us.

We have ended up going back to a couple of places several times because we have made friends in our travels and we agree to meet up with some of them each year. Those kinds of stays are somewhat planned.

Right now we are at the Winnebago Grand Nation Rally (our first time) because a friend we met here at the factory a few years ago decided to attend the rally. When we found out a couple of months ago that he and his new SO were going to be at the rally we decided to join them.

From here we will head to NH to see our kids. It's been a couple of years since we have seen them.

Our travels have become a mix of planned and spontaneous actions.

We do tend to stay longer at most places ( at least a month unless we are going from point A to point than we did when we first started full timing almost seven years ago.

Gosh, how did that much time go by?

[Chickadee]

Say, Tom & Louise:

Now that the FMCA Rally is over, (we couldn't make it), did ya attend the Newfoundland Seminar and what do ya think? Are you heading over this summer and taking the rig, or not? Although we presently have a 45' pusher & toad, I still think we'd like to take it since we'd like to spend a good part of the summer in Newfoundland. What did the folks presenting the seminar think?

Thanks. Steve & Lynette

[tbutler]

Steve and Lynette,

Yes, we attended the presentation on Newfoundland. The presentation was by a tour company and they heartily recommended the trip to Newfoundland. They offer a one week extension on their tour to Nova Scotia and the maritime provinces. They recommended taking the long ferry across to the eastern port, St. John's and then returning via the short ferry which departs from Channel-Port qux Basques. If you want to go to Labrador, they suggested a day trip from the NW coast ferry at St. Barbe with your toad. They did say the road from the SW to the NW port is marginal but can be traveled in a motor home. That is the area where all the Norse settlement sites are. One of their cautions was to schedule the long ferry so you arrive rested in the morning rather than arriving in the dark and having to find a place to park. They also emphasized the small towns and ports as being worth visiting. I can't remember the name of the tour company but we have a copy of their booklet in the motor home somewhere. When I come across it I'll add it to this post. You could request a tour booklet from them. It had several pages on the stops they make in Newfoundland.

Our summer simply evaporated this year so we didn't get there. We have resolved to make it soon but I can't at this time say it will be next year. Like you, we plan to spend as much time as needed to see Newfoundland. We did see western New Brunswick and made a nice first pass through Quebec and saw some new territory in Ontario on our return trip. I've added some entries to my BLOG from the post Bowling Green/FMCA trip.

[mkminewine@msn.com]

Tom and Louise,

Our travel patterns are not what we had planned prior to going fulltime two years ago either. We started out with six months of travel going from Iowa to Michigan to the Florida Keys and eventually back north to the Outer Banks of NC. We thought we might be able to travel six months of the year and work or volunteer the other six months. Unfortunately, our bank account didn't agree with us. With diesel around $5 per gallon the summer of 2008 and the cost of campsites being much higher than we planned, we did not make the trip back to the midwest and farther west. We decided to stay on the east coast and volunteer. And, volunteer we have! We started volunteering in the spring of 2008 and by November 2008, we had volunteer (and one pay) positions booked all the way through Labor Day 2010. We have found we really enjoy volunteering, mostly on the state park level. It gives two people who don't have hobbies a purpose. By staying in one place for two to three months, we also get to explore an area to our hearts content. Our volunteering earns us a full hookup campsite while there, and sometimes other perks. We get to meet a lot of interesting people, some with whom we are still in contact. At this point neither one of us can imagine doing anything else. We do plan take a month off periodically though. And, next spring we head back through the midwest on our way to a job somewhat west.

[tbutler]

Welcome mkminewine! I love the handle! Isn't it great to find something that works for you and still have the option to be able to pick up and go see other parts of the country. You made a good case for volunteering when you mentioned all the wonderful people you have met. I'm glad you found a way to make full timing work for you and thanks for sharing your experience with all of us.

[lbassham@sbcglobal.net]

I strongly recommend Alaska. We spent 3 months there starting around 15 June (after the mosquito season). Try to get to Banff/Jasper by 1 Oct as winter starts around Labor Day. The fall in Alaska is much like the east coast and occurs in September. Have fun. Larry

[bobbonnell]

We started fulltiming January 4, 2007, in NE. We sold the house and donated or gave furniture to our kids. We spend 2-3 months near our grandkids in Florida around the holidays and 2 months with our kids/grandchild in Ohio/PA during the summer. Each year we visit our son---and our furniture---in PA

In between, we have traveled across the south from FL to AZ. North to OR, across the Midwest and even up to ME. We have re-connected with friends and relatives in NC, GA, TX, CA, AZ. NE, CT, MA and NH

It’s only been 32 months, but it has been a blast. Our front license plate reads "Livin' the Dream" and indeed we have been.

[tbutler]

I haven't checked on this discussion for a while and want to thank lbassham and bobbonnell for adding their comments. I didn't notice that the mosquito season in Alaska ended on June 15. I'm glad we weren't there for mosquito season! We found (actually they found us) plenty of mosquitoes that didn't have a calendar! Yes, Alaska is a must. I can't imagine not needing a return trip sometime. It is a land of endless wonder.

Like bobbonnell, we have reconnected with many friends in our travels. We didn't store furniture when we went full time and considering we are going on 9 years, I'm glad we didn't try to do that. Now, we are in the final stages of putting a mobile home on a lot at our winter resort in Edinburg, Texas. We'll have to go out and purchase furniture. I'm sure that the storage costs would have been less than purchasing new furniture but we'd have the old furniture in a new house. So the way I see it, the money for storage (which we didn't spend) can now be applied to the purchase of new furniture. Of course this logic works best if you've been full time for a long period of time. When you start out you don't know if you are going to last three months, three years or three decades! From our standpoint, it was just as well we didn't store the furniture. We have stored some of our nick-knacks with our son and later moved them to our daughters home. We'll retrieve them this summer.

When we finally move into our mobile home I suppose our full time adventure will have ended. We spend the extended time at Sandpipers Resort each winter and the motor home will still be right there with us. I'll still feel like a full timer, at least for the six or seven months we're on the road each year. After all, if we want to hit the road during the winter, the motor home will be there waiting for us.

[Guest Wayne77590]

Tom,

What are the chances of hurricanes in Edinburg? It's only about 70 miles from the coast, isn't it?

[tbutler]

Wayne,

Sandpipers Resort got hit by Dolly the summer of 2008. Dolly was a Category I hurricane so it isn't the ultimate test. The eye did pass almost exactly over Edinburg after it made landfall. On South Padre Island there was significant damage to condos and motels. Mostly roofs and windows but some structural damage as well. We toured there last winter '08-'09 and there were still many buildings with blue tarps on the roof and roof reconstruction was in high gear six months after the hurricane. Many of the buildings still weren't open for business.

Dolly caused some flooding in low areas of the park and several mobiles had damage to siding and skirting. One mobile had a portion of the roof torn off. Wind speeds near 100 mph were recorded at the Edinburg airport. There isn't much to slow the wind in the Rio Grande Valley! We're having our mobile home built to wind zone II specifications (rated for 110 mph winds) which is significantly stronger than the wind zone I specs (rated for 90 mph winds) which is the current requirement. We'll have significantly more tie downs anchoring the mobile to the pad and strapping is used to tie the tie downs into the wall studs. The roof trusses are also tied to the wall studs with strapping and we also added additional roof trusses to strengthen the roof. Currently the only areas where wind zone II construction is required is on the barrier islands so we'll be significantly stronger than any other mobiles in our area.

Given all that, it is a risk but not quite like being right on the coast! We're going into this with our eyes open and making the best preparations we can.

[Guest Wayne77590]

Tom,

In my younger, more mentally challenged days, we rode out a few Cat 1, Cat 2's in Texas City. I must have drank some smart juice, or taken a couple smart pills, because now, we evacuate even for a Cat 1. I'm sure you have given some serious thought as to what you are going to do when a hurricane is threatening that area.

I didn't mean to hi-jack the thread, I'm just concerned for anyone setting up "camp" in a potential disaster area.

Have you set a final date for giving up the full-timing and settling down? Will you sell the RV or keep it for short time trips?

Good luck.

[tbutler]

Wayne,

Texas City during a hurricane??? Looks to me like that is a mere 10 miles from the open gulf. Pretty nervy to stay there during any hurricane! I've taught Earth science for many years and I have no illusions about staying put during a hurricane.

We're keeping the motor home and will continue to travel through the summer. In fact, our mobility won't really change since we were just parking for the winter at Sandpipers. We'll just be in the mobile instead of in the motor home during the winter months.

I plan to keep that up until I can't physically keep up with the motor home any more. With any luck that could be 15 or 20 years before we give it up completely. Until then, we'll be somewhere else during hurricane season. And yes, I agree with you on riding out a hurricane. If we are ever there during a hurricane we'll hit the road for higher and dryer ground.

We were in Maine when Katrina passed over. One wet day and then some great waterfalls the next day! During Dolly we were in Canada and kept track of the situation at Sandpipers through a blog one of the ladies in the park has. She included pictures so we could see what things were like. When we leave for the summer we'll have to button things up real tight! Pretty much like everyone that leaves their home for the winter and heads south, we'll prepare as best we can and then have to hope for the best while we are gone.

[Guest Wayne77590]

The key is, "Stay safe."

Thanks for the info. I'm sure we'll cross paths somewhere in Texas. I'm looking forward to it.

[tbutler]

Wayne,

Looking forward to meeting you sometime soon as well.

Tom