Decisions, decisons, decisons

Reviewing my previous entry’s it is clear that I am feeling some distress regarding the decision to go into full time RV’ing. I will try not to bore your with these concerns unless it becomes overpowering. The funny thing about expressing my fears here is that it seems to relive some of the pressure. I think fear is a natural reaction to the radical change I have decided upon. I believe other RV’ers who read these entries and have made similar decisions will recognize my madness and those who might be contemplating making a decision of this type can recognize that their concerns are a normal progression of facing change.

Some of the many decisions that I have made over the last few weeks and months are, what type of RV I want, what I can afford, how do I dispose of my belongings, how can I make enough money on-the-road meet expenses. Each decision seems to require more decisions as I prepare to down size my life.

I have decided on a travel trailer and to use my 2006 work truck to pull it. I initially wanted a toy hauler because I have a 2005 Harley Road King Classic and I had planed to use it to cruise the area around where I end up camping. I have since decided that the Road King is a luxury that I can do with out because it is limited in its scope of function. So I have made a new decision to get a lighter motorcycle that can travel on and off road that I can load behind the truck and in front of the trailer. So the need for a toy hauler is not required. The problem with a toy hauler is that the ones that I liked were 30’ or more long and I felt hauling that much length around would be more that I wanted to tackle. Then there is the cost factor. Last weekend I went to a local RV show. Talk about a kid in a candy store. The new units have so many cool features and look so pretty that the older trailers can’t really compare. One dealership had a new 07 left over trailer that he made me an unbelievable offer coming down from $45,000 to $32,000. Other used 05 trailers I was looking at were $20,000 and did not have half the features. However there were two draw backs, the money (which I have but it would take a bite out of my nest egg) and size. The new trailer was 34 feet. That plus my truck makes me longer than an 18 wheeler rolling down the road. Eventually I dropped the toy hauler requirement and bought a 2000 K-Z Sportsmen 2505 in good condition and at a very good price. Yes it’s older and not as pretty but it works for me and it was very easy on the pocket. I will pick it up December 1. The previous owner will then instruct me on the trailers operation and features.

During the process of preparing to make this move I ran across the blog of a full timer named George. George’s blog is called “The adventures of Tioga and George. George is sort of my hero. I say sort of, because George does not stay in any one location for more than a day or so before moving on unless he has to get a job to meet expenses. I plan to stay in one location anywhere from one week to three months. George has a large internet following. He posts nearly every day and has some great information on his web site which is.

http://www.vagabonders-supreme.net/

Am I crazy?

Some mornings I wake up and think to myself “Are you nuts?” What are you doing? At these times I feel like a circus performer that is balanced on a large ball, only this ball is rolling down the side of a hill and I am scrambling to keep up. So much to do, so much to decide, am I doing the right thing? If I let my head follow this fear thinking I would have to crawl into a hole somewhere and never come out. The reality is that the ball is already rolling and it would really hurt if I tried to stop it now. Besides it’s what I want to do. So if any of the doubts turn out to be a problem I will deal with them as they arise. I have never been the type of person to just wander around from place to place. I have always had a home, family, work or organization (Army) to which I have been attached, roots if you will. This move seems totally foreign to my way of being.
I have a friend who, when we were young men, decided to travel the world with just a back pack, his self confidence and a plan to guide him. His plan, as I understood it was, warm weather, palm trees, large bodies of salt water and soft bodies of warm women. I saw him as a potted plant that could be moved from place to place and still thrive. Yet I saw myself as a tree that could only survive if rooted to safe spot. I had even written a poem that described myself as a tree.

If I were a tree.
I would be a southern yellow pine, tall and strait.
Rough on the outside, soft and warm on the inside.
Deep rooted, dependable and useful to the world
Children would swing from my limbs and dogs would pee on my feet.

Now I find that I have a new plan. When it gets cold drive south, when it gets hot drive north.

So, on with the adventure.

Doing it

Well it looks like I have a contract on the house and I am planning to sell off the business piece by piece. I have an agreement with the buyers to put my Travel Trailer (when I get it) on the property for three months after closing in order to dispose of my stuff. I am in serious buy mode for the trailer now. I have my eye on several that are interesting but are not the perfect trailer for me. I may have to buy the "not perfect trailer" if push comes to shove.
I am both excited and fearful. It's a big step, letting go of the security of home and business. Risking that I can earn enough money to sustain myself with out depleating my nest egg. I could wait in hopes to earn more before I cut the umbilical cord, but how much is enough? How much more could I put away in a year, two or five. My body is telling me that five is the most I that I have if I continue to do the very physical work that I now do. Will that be enough? It seems that my decision must rest on which resource do I spend? The money I have saved or the number of healthy days I have remaining? I choose to risk not having enough money at the end, for the health to really enjoy the experience ahead of me now. I am going to seize the moment, follow my star, full steam ahead and dam the torpedoes. I have enough confidence in myself; I can do this and come out the other side. That makes the decision less scary. I can't wait to hit the road, but first I must divest myself of my possessions.
I have negotiated with the new owner to put my trailer on the property in order to sell, give, toss and otherwise dispose of the accumulation of things that I will no longer need. Not only a home full of stuff, but a warehouse full of tools and equipment that is a dream past. A dream shop, where I could make stuff and fix stuff and have a place to put stuff. Been there, done that. Now to dismantle that dream for another. I must choose, what I need to take and what I need to dispose of. That will be an adventure in it's self. There is lots of junk that has little value, piece of cake, dump it. There is the stuff that has value but little emotional attachment, good for Ebay or garage sale. Then there is the stuff that I will take with me, (less than one percent). The stuff that has high emotional atachment that I can not take? Big problem, because I do not want to have the monetary expense of renting a warehouse to store stuff. Fortunately there isn't allot of that kind of stuff, some of it I can give to family.
Today was a good day. I got about fifty items cleaned up photographed and ready for Ebay. Now do that another ten or fifteen times and I will have most of my stuff on the net. Today was mostly small items. The big stuff 100 lbs or more will be no shipping, you pick up items.
Well I guess I will spend a little time putting some of it on Ebay tonight so I will sign off for now.
gOOch