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Buying an RV
Old 03-28-2006, 01:23 AM   #1
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Buying an RV

Another good early retirement story...

"I was fortunate to retire early from a thirty year career with the same company. Having risen through the ranks with this company, I gradually became "defined" by my position at work and in the community. My friends were those I worked with because these were the people I spent the most time with and with whom I seemed to have the most in common with. The retirement party in my honor was rewarding and reinforced my belief that I had made a difference in the operation and had helped numerous others succeed along the way.

My first two years into retirement were quite unsettling to say the least. I seemed to lose my identity and purpose except for my most cherished rolls as husband, father and grandfather. My "friends" gradually stopped calling (except for advice on work related matters) and we were seldom invited to the social activities held within this circle anymore. I hardly knew my neighbors because of my own indifference. I grew weary of people asking me: "What are you doing now?", like retirement at my age should not be an option. Perhaps it was my own "guilt" reaction to a very innocent question that even today, after being retired for five years, tends to bother me.

Buying the RV has helped a great deal. We now experience true freedom for the first time in our lives. Travel has liberated me from the need to be who I was. We have new friends with shared interests. When asked: "What are you doing now?", I simply say, "How much time have you got?".

Sorry this has been so long. In short, retirement can be a difficult transition. Each of us has to deal with it in our own way. You will find that like everything else worthwhile in life, it requires some work, a positive attitude and planning. Good luck!

Boomer"

B.
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Re: Buying an RV
Old 03-28-2006, 04:56 AM   #2
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Re: Buying an RV

boont,
Nice post,
Are you new to the board? If where are you on the RE path?
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Re: Buying an RV
Old 03-28-2006, 06:41 AM   #3
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Re: Buying an RV

boont,

Good luck with your RV, enjoy life, its so short!


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Re: Buying an RV
Old 03-28-2006, 07:12 AM   #4
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Re: Buying an RV

Howdy fellow RVer!

You're right - it is quite a transition, can require a total adjustment to philosophy of life and rebuilding a new set of friends.

We retired young and it still took me a while to deal with the "but you're too young to be retired!" comments without feeling a little guilty.

It took us a few years to figure out that fulltime RVing was the lifestyle for us. You can read more about our story at: http://early-retirement.org/forums/i...99368#msg99368

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Re: Buying an RV
Old 03-28-2006, 07:13 AM   #5
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Re: Buying an RV

Quote:
Originally Posted by audreyh1
We retired young and it still took me a while to deal with the "but you're too young to be retired!" comments without feeling a little guilty.
I tell people that I didn't know there was a minimum age for the ER discount...
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Re: Buying an RV
Old 03-28-2006, 08:08 AM   #6
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Re: Buying an RV

That's a good one!

But a lot of people do tend to think we as humans are somehow morally obligated to work until of a certain age......

I never really appreciated these super strong cultural biases towards working (or as I think of them "the work ethic gone haywire") until after I chose not to!

My husband (now 50 - but looks younger) still gets the "Well you're obviously too young to be retired, so what do you do?" question.

I'm still shaking my head over one recent incident.

Once sharing with fellow camper how much we enjoyed traveling for wildlife photography I got the strangest comment:
"I hope you sell your pictures! If you're good at something, you might as well make money at it!"

I was dumbfounded and held my tongue but my head was spinning. You mean if you are good at something you are somehow obligated to try to turn it into a money making opportunity? You can't just ENJOY it? What if, in fact, you don't actually NEED a little extra money?

I hadn't had someone express it quite so explicitly, but the cultural bias towards turning any enjoyable hobby into a money making enterprise (whether or not you need the money) is so deeply ingrained people don't even examine their assumptions.

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Re: Buying an RV
Old 03-28-2006, 08:29 AM   #7
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Re: Buying an RV

Quote:
Originally Posted by audreyh1
I was dumbfounded and held my tongue but my head was spinning.* You mean if you are good at something you are somehow obligated to try to turn it into a money making opportunity?* You can't just ENJOY it?* What if, in fact, you don't actually NEED a little extra money?

I hadn't had someone express it quite so explicitly, but the cultural bias towards turning any enjoyable hobby into a money making enterprise (whether or not you need the money) is so deeply ingrained people don't even examine their assumptions.

Audrey
I cannot tell you how many times people have enjoyed my homebrew and then immediately asked whether I had ever considered opening a brewery. My standard answer is that a hobby isn't as much fun when you HAVE to do it every day the way the market demands it.

audrey, do you have a site with some of your photos?
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Re: Buying an RV
Old 03-28-2006, 08:38 AM   #8
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Re: Buying an RV

Quote:
Originally Posted by audreyh1
Howdy fellow RVer!

You're right - it is quite a transition, can require a total adjustment to philosophy of life and rebuilding a new set of friends.

We retired young and it still took me a while to deal with the "but you're too young to be retired!" comments without feeling a little guilty.

It took us a few years to figure out that fulltime RVing was the lifestyle for us.* You can read more about our story at: http://early-retirement.org/forums/i...99368#msg99368

Audrey
That is a pretty impressive rv you have. A buddy of mine just bought one that looks similar so I know they are not cheap.

I have a question concerning rv parks. A couple of summers ago I was in Colorado and stumbled on an rv park up in the mountains. The rv's and campers were packed in there like a can of sardines. What have you found in your travels with respect to spacing between rv's in the parks you have used? I would consider buying one someday but tight conditions in rv parks is not appealing to me.
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Re: Buying an RV
Old 03-28-2006, 11:14 AM   #9
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Re: Buying an RV

I retired in 2002. The passage was not mine but quoted from an RV site because I thought his comments were relevant.

Recently, I bought an RV and a truck to tow it. I have a ranch that I fool around with on weekends. The RV will be used for overflow guests.

As I started to learn about the RV I began reading comments by other owners.

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Re: Buying an RV
Old 03-28-2006, 12:12 PM   #10
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Re: Buying an RV

audreyh1,

You have a very nice looking coach.


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Re: Buying an RV
Old 03-28-2006, 12:22 PM   #11
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Re: Buying an RV

Quote:
Originally Posted by ex_CFO_now_RVer
audreyh1,

You have a very nice looking coach.


Dave
Hey! This is a family show...
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Re: Buying an RV
Old 03-28-2006, 12:23 PM   #12
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Re: Buying an RV

Quote:
Originally Posted by DOG51
I have a question concerning rv parks. A couple of summers ago I was in Colorado and stumbled on an rv park up in the mountains. The rv's and campers were packed in there like a can of sardines. What have you found in your travels with respect to spacing between rv's in the parks you have used? I would consider buying one someday but tight conditions in rv parks is not appealing to me.
We really appreciate space too and will not stay in an RV park that is tight! *Many state parks, national parks, and corps of engineers campgrounds have much more generous spacing and we use those extensively. *That's where we go anyway - because that's where the best wildlife opportunities are plus I like going on long hikes every day if I can! *

Hee hee - we are at Brazos Bend SP south of Houston right now, and our site is huge, but we have this whole quarter of the campground all too ourselves!! *I can't see any neighbors. *Love it!

Many commercial (private) RV parks have reasonably spaced sites. *I use sites like www.campgroundreviews.com to help me weed out the cramped RV parks. *Also the big books that publish campgrounds often list camp site width - 20 to 25 ft is pretty darn close! *Best to have at least 30 ft.

The RV parks that look like sardines are often the cheapest too - so that's why they are the most packed. *People love cheap campsites. *We're always willing to pay up for a nicer site.

You can easily try out the RV lifestyle by renting a motorhome. *That way you'll figure out whether you enjoy it or not.

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Re: Buying an RV
Old 03-28-2006, 12:26 PM   #13
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Re: Buying an RV

Don't worry Dave, I know what you meant! LOL!

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Re: Buying an RV
Old 03-28-2006, 12:37 PM   #14
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Re: Buying an RV

Quote:
Originally Posted by brewer12345
I cannot tell you how many times people have enjoyed my homebrew and then immediately asked whether I had ever considered opening a brewery.* My standard answer is that a hobby isn't as much fun when you HAVE to do it every day the way the market demands it.

audrey, do you have a site with some of your photos?
Not quite yet. We have a "travelogue" underway - a blog that includes our adventures, photos, etc. I'll PM you when we finally deem it fit for public consumption. Actually my husband is the main photographer. I do more video. At some point I may put video snippets up on the web too.

About the hobby -- We often get the " Hey you really should sell your pictures" comment.

But you know what the person is really saying most times is - your stuff is good enough that people would pay good money for it. It's a kind of validation (i.e. a compliment). But I often reply - well then it would be WORK - saying the word "work" in such a way that I imply I can't think of anything more miserable - which is true LOL!

Now we donate our photographs/video. We have given them to state parks to use in their public education programs. We have given them as gifts to friends and acquaintances. We'll pretty much given them away to any good conservation type cause. But there are always a few folks who are under the false impression that something that is donated is somehow worth much less than something that you charge for. Thankfully we know better.

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Re: Buying an RV
Old 03-28-2006, 12:41 PM   #15
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Re: Buying an RV

Quote:
Originally Posted by audreyh1

Now we donate our photographs/video.* We have given them to state parks to use in their public education programs.* We have given them as gifts to friends and acquaintances.* * We'll pretty much given them away to any good conservation type cause.* But there are always a few folks who are under the false impression that something that is donated is somehow worth much less than something that you charge for.* Thankfully we know better.

Audrey
I know what you mean. FIL has given us one of the full sized carousel horses he carves. It is a work of art and priceless to us.

Let me know when you put the blog up for all to see.
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Re: Buying an RV
Old 03-28-2006, 03:33 PM   #16
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Re: Buying an RV

Hi Audrey, if you have a chance please check your private messages.. we have a small RV and hope to camp often in central texas. It's unlikely the forum is terribly interested in the various state parks in this area.... thanks, SC
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Re: Buying an RV
Old 03-28-2006, 05:43 PM   #17
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Re: Buying an RV

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Originally Posted by sc
Hi Audrey, if you have a chance please check your private messages.. we have a small RV and hope to camp often in central texas.* It's unlikely the forum is terribly interested in the various state parks in this area.... thanks, SC
Ooops - I forgot to include this in the PM reply: http://www.wildtexas.com/talk/

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Re: Buying an RV
Old 12-06-2006, 05:51 PM   #18
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Re: Buying an RV



Speaking of used RV's they are asking 27K for this truck and trailer combo. The truck is a dually, and the trailer has three slide outs. My guess they would take 20K, cash, but I know nothing about the truck or trailer or owner, only the way this stuff sells. That covered car in front is not included, as least it didn't have a price on it. This is just an example of the many we see for sale.

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Re: Buying an RV
Old 12-06-2006, 06:09 PM   #19
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Re: Buying an RV

Quote:
Originally Posted by boont
Another good early retirement story...

"I was fortunate to retire early from a thirty year career with the same company. Having risen through the ranks with this company, I gradually became "defined" by my position at work and in the community. My friends were those I worked with because these were the people I spent the most time with and with whom I seemed to have the most in common with. The retirement party in my honor was rewarding and reinforced my belief that I had made a difference in the operation and had helped numerous others succeed along the way.

My first two years into retirement were quite unsettling to say the least. I seemed to lose my identity and purpose except for my most cherished rolls as husband, father and grandfather. My "friends" gradually stopped calling (except for advice on work related matters) and we were seldom invited to the social activities held within this circle anymore. I hardly knew my neighbors because of my own indifference. I grew weary of people asking me: "What are you doing now?", like retirement at my age should not be an option. Perhaps it was my own "guilt" reaction to a very innocent question that even today, after being retired for five years, tends to bother me.
RV's aside, Your post hit a nerve there !

This is exactly what I fear and perhaps why I haven't left Dodge yet. Having already traveled extensively worldwide I can say that traveling is OK once in awhile but I don't wan't to do it full time.

What was your plan when you stopped working ?

Were you just bored most of the time ? Too much Oprah ? Not enough social contact ?

What exactly were you feeling that made it tough on you ?
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