Ok, So Tell Me We Aren't Nuts!

[Jaimepoulin1]

Hi, everyone,

I have been following FMCA Motorhome forums only a couple of months, but I spend a lot of time here reading all of your posts.

My wife and I have taken a very straight path to motorhoming full time.....a little more than a couple of months ago the thought had never crossed our minds but today, we are the proud owners of a 2002 Newmar Dutch Star 40' Class A diesel pusher, the house is on the market, the Murano is getting traded for a 4 door Wrangler, and we hope to hit the road toward the end of November....

Although we did not rent a motorhome for a few days, we did do a ton of research. We looked at A, B and C class homes and we momentarily flirted with the idea of a fifth-wheel. New Motor homes are expensive and depreciate rapidly. In the event we don't enjoy this new life, we would suffer a huge financial hit. And contrary to normal logic, everyone seems to say that new ones have a lot more bugs in general than old ones. After scanning the country for about a month, our parents notified us that they had some friends who were retiring from the motor home life and selling their Newmar. One look, (and another one done by a professional), and we knew that it was meant to be.....

So here we are on the precipice, ready to do it, and we find ourselves wondering if it was all too quick.

Traditionally, we are not impulsive people. I am in my late 40s and my wife is finishing a 20+ year career that she has become eligible to retire from. I work as a consultant/trainer around the country, so we are not bound to a specific area. We have know that her retirement and "next" career choice were coming down the pike for quite some time, so her leaving her position is OK. But again, Retire, sell your home, uproot from the area, and go live in a motor home ALL AT ONCE has become a little overwhelming.....

Knowing us, we will probably still do it.....We keep looking at the positives and are careful not to minimize the negatives........

I would be curious to hear your thoughts about our plan......and if anyone else has a similar story to tell after having done it for a while.....

[wolfe10]

Jamie,

Welcome to the FMCA Forum.

That is how many of us fulfill our "Bucket List"-- be it sailing, RV'ing, foreign travel, etc.

You are in good company. To make becoming familiar with your RV and its systems a quicker (and less painful/expensive) process, start by reading ALL the manuals that came with our coach. With the assistance of the previous owners (sounds like you have more access to them than many buyers), assemble the "what preventive maintenance is needed" and do it/get it done. That will help keep long-term costs down. Example, changing engine coolant is a lot less expensive than waiting until it has turned acidic and you now need to replace the radiator.

And, don't hesitate to ask questions here on the Forum. Each one of us started as a newbie!

Brett

[Jaimepoulin1]

Brett, Thanks for the welcome. We really are very excited by this journey!!!! FYI, FMCA seemed to be the best that I could find for information, articles, forums, blogs etc.......

I look forward to being a long time reader!

Have a great day!

Jaime

[kaypsmith]

Jaime,

As Brett said, welcome aboard. Most all have have nutty impulses, but sounds like you put careful thought into your venture. Buying a used motorhome would definitely be a wise choice, as you probably should be able to recoup a lot of your investment, or possibility have some gain.

We are not yet fulltimers, but have a good bit of vacation time, and every weekend. I started with a 27 foot class a, then a 34 foot class a, then built a retired Greyhound into a 41 footer. So what I am telling you is that we have thoroughly enjoyed every minute of RV'ing, and hope you will as well. FMCA has definitely the best forum that I have read, with many knowledgeable contributors.

Good luck, and Happy Trails,

Kay

[tbutler]

We took the same path you are taking with slight variation. We retired after 30 years, worked another two years in a different job and then bought a used motor home, sold our house and 95% of our possessions and we hit the road full time. We began with a trip south for the winter. We only stayed in the park for two months before we headed west to California for a convention related to our professional lives. We stayed in California and spent the summer exploring the deserts, mountains and coast of California. We biked and hiked, photographed and wrote. We visited with each of our children and grandchildren as we made the return trip south for the next winter. We went back to the same park and have made many dear friends there. We were hooked. Once you leave the house behind, your whole world is in the motor home. You will be amazed how traveling while you are at home changes the way you think about travel.

I did work one summer and spent a fair amount of time in interesting areas. Unfortunately to make the job work I was so busy that I didn't get out to see the many interesting things those areas. I haven't worked since and don't miss it at all. After 2 1/2 years in our used motor home we decided we were in this for the long haul so we traded for a new coach with more room and lots of conveniences the old coach didn't have. The first coach was 10 years old when we traded it. We'll celebrate 10 years since the new coach was put into service this fall. We're on the road half time after we put in a mobile home in the park where we winter. This year we have taken several out and back trips during the spring and are now on the road until the end of October. We are still traveling as much as before we just live in a fixed house during the winter.

We just finished a week with our youngest granddaughters. We took them to the California shore and visited the Monterey Aquarium, saw elephant seals at Ana Nuevo State Park and visited a goat dairy. The girls had a great time and their parents were very grateful for some vacation time without the girls. There are so many great memories from our years of travel. We wouldn't trade the great times the motor home has given us for anything. There is no way our lives would have been as full any other way.

[desertdeals69]

Just do it and don't look back!!

[Jaimepoulin1]

Thanks Everyone!

Reading just these few replies have given Michelle and I a little greater sense of comfort around our decision. Today we are buying a Jeep Wrangler to tow behind our MH.

Can't wait to get out there and visit all the great areas of our country and meet the wonderful people that already enjoy this lifestyle!

[wolfe10]

Jamie,

If you will be "migrating south" this winter, strongly consider attending the FMCA Convention in Perry GA in the spring. An excellent opportunity to attend free seminars on virtually all the systems in your coach. A great learning experience.

http://www.fmca.com/conventions/future-dates

[geeksontour]

Welcome Jaimie.

I was your same age when we decided to go full-time 10 years ago. It was a great decision, and we still love the lifestyle. Attitude is everything. You'll meet some exceptional people and have experiences that will knock your socks off.

I agree with Brett, come to Perry in the spring.

Hope to see you there.

[f424159]

Where do I start? Welcome to FMCA. I started camping/rving back in the late 60's, then 70's, then early 80's, then gave it up for over 25 years because of a spouse who did not enjoy it. He passed away seven years ago, so four years ago, went motor home shopping again and haven't looked back..

Although I have not been full timing yet, that is my wish to do so soon, as I am just in the process of purchasing a 2001 Dutch Star 40' diesel pusher, much larger than current 30' Mirada, and hope within the next few months I will be full timing myself, most likely,by myself.

Oh, by the way, I am definitely old enough to be your mother, so don't tell my kids, or they might think I lost my mind, but have wanted to do this for quite a while and am excited about things to come. Always had gas engines, so the big CAT will be a new experience for me, but saw this unit while RVing recently and loved both the inside and outside decor, and felt it would serve the purpose very well. You made a good choice with the Dutch Star. I have several friends with Newmar products and I have always admired the quality of workmanship in them and definitely liked the older ones vs the newer models, but never anticipated owning a big diesel pusher.

Regarding the FMCA Conventions, or even the regional rally's, always interesting info, and a chance to meet many new friends. .

Just always have safe travels, and don't push it to get somewhere. Maybe our paths will cross soon

[billbaldwin]

YOUR NOT NUTS

[Jaimepoulin1]

Again, thanks for all the good advice and wishes!!!!!

We are definitely moving forward!!! This past wednesday we traded in our 2012 Murano and bought a New Jeep Wrangler to tow.

We are fortunate to have made an alliance with the same Service Center that the previous owner of our coach used and they have reinforced our good feelings about this purchase.

The house is going up on the market in a few days and we are comfortable that it will sell quickly. We are not going for every dollar we can get and will sell it at a price that should make it go quickly!

We have decided on our first destination... and it will be the Napa area of California. Gonna be quite a trek as we will be starting this journey from Maine. It would be hard to pick somewhere that was farther away!!! I would like the trip to take a month to a month and a half, it will really depend on when we are able to leave....We need to make sure the kids are settled and the house is cleared away. Right now, our target is mid November.

Some of your replies to this thread have been quite humorous! Bill Baldwin and I must share the same appreciation for laughs as he literally made me laugh loudly when I read his brief but spot on post.

I am really enjoying you motor-homers....seem like a good group! Michelle and I are so looking forward to good times, fresh air, new friends, and the adventure of it all!

[danddferr]

+2 You are not nuts!

It takes a certain personality to enjoy this lifestyle. The DW has one more year till retiremant and I have 4 , but since we are both teachers we hit the road every summer fora 6-7 week roadtrip . LOVE IT and only wish I had started doing it earlier! Many happy miles and smiles to you.

Dan

[Spruijt]

Nice story! How are you doing now?

Yolanda

[Jaimepoulin1]

Well Yolanda,

We are now about ten days from our departure time and everything is pretty much in place. This has been one of the most wonderful and also very hard things that Michelle and I have ever done, and not without it's frustrations. But all in all I wouldn't change a thing. Sometimes you just have to follow your dream.

I do write in the blogs if you want to catch up and I will be posting a lot more, hopefully soon. I try to keep them humorous and light but also educational....I hope someone gets a little help from them.

What is your story?

J

[Spruijt]

Hello Jaime,

We will sure read your blogs. We are from Holland and we have just bought our first RV which is American, a Cobra Monterey. Searching the net I found this website which is very interesting for us. There are not so many American campers in Holland but with this site we can learn something from American people with RV's which is very nice. If you look at our topic right behind yours "hi there, were new" you can read some more and see a picture. As I understand it is possible quite easy to go and live in an RV permanently in America and that seems a very nice possibility to me. In Holland it would not be possible to do that very easily I think although Rien and I dream about it sometimes when we talk about what we would want to do after retiring which will take place about 13 years from now

But to start with we will go on holiday and weekends and explore Europe which we look forward to.

Have a great time Jaime and Michelle!

[andyshane]

Hi, everyone,

I have been following FMCA Motorhome forums only a couple of months, but I spend a lot of time here reading all of your posts.

My wife and I have taken a very straight path to motorhoming full time.....a little more than a couple of months ago the thought had never crossed our minds but today, we are the proud owners of a 2002 Newmar Dutch Star 40' Class A diesel pusher, the house is on the market, the Murano is getting traded for a 4 door Wrangler, and we hope to hit the road toward the end of November....

Although we did not rent a motorhome for a few days, we did do a ton of research. We looked at A, B and C class homes and we momentarily flirted with the idea of a fifth-wheel. New Motor homes are expensive and depreciate rapidly. In the event we don't enjoy this new life, we would suffer a huge financial hit. And contrary to normal logic, everyone seems to say that new ones have a lot more bugs in general than old ones. After scanning the country for about a month, our parents notified us that they had some friends who were retiring from the motor home life and selling their Newmar. One look, (and another one done by a professional), and we knew that it was meant to be.....

So here we are on the precipice, ready to do it, and we find ourselves wondering if it was all too quick.

Traditionally, we are not impulsive people. I am in my late 40s and my wife is finishing a 20+ year career that she has become eligible to retire from. I work as a consultant/trainer around the country, so we are not bound to a specific area. We have know that her retirement and "next" career choice were coming down the pike for quite some time, so her leaving her position is OK. But again, Retire, sell your home, uproot from the area, and go live in a motor home ALL AT ONCE has become a little overwhelming.....

Knowing us, we will probably still do it.....We keep looking at the positives and are careful not to minimize the negatives........

I would be curious to hear your thoughts about our plan......and if anyone else has a similar story to tell after having done it for a while.....

Don't expect me to tell you if it is the right or wrong decision. The others have covered that pretty well. I CAN tell you that you've picked a rig that people love: you'll see the "DSDP" affixed to names, meaning "Dutch Star Diesel Pusher," indicating a rig so popular ownership of the thing can be reduced to shorthand.

Now, get out there and enjoy!!